26 Best Amish Recipes

Amish recipes bring us back to a simpler life. But that doesn’t mean the food is plain (far from it).

Although Amish recipes use simple, natural ingredients, their flavor shines. They also use tried-and-true methods that have been passed down from generation to generation. The result is incredible dishes that stand the test of time.

Our list contains some of the best Amish recipes you’ll find, and there’s a little bit of something for everyone.

We’ve got recipes for traditional baked goods like cookies, bread, donuts, lemon bars, and don’t forget the buttermilk biscuits. If you’re looking for a tremendous Amish dish to make, you’ll find macaroni salads, casseroles, and so much more.

These dishes are filling, hearty, and rich in delicious foods like meats, noodles, milk, fruits, and eggs. Whatever you’re craving and whatever you need the recipe for, there’s something you’ll love.

We’re willing to bet you’ll enjoy all of these options!

Without further ado, here are some easy Amish recipes to make.

1. Amish Sugar Cookies

If you like any sugar cookie, you will love these Amish sugar cookies. They’re fluffier and softer than you could ever imagine. Plus, they’re much easier to make than traditional cut-out sugar cookies.

The cookies don’t need icing or glaze, but you can certainly add your own if you want to sweeten them up even more.

Getting back to basics, these Amish cookies use everyday ingredients like butter, oil, sugar, eggs, and all-purpose flour.

The “secret” ingredient is cream of tartar, something people rarely bother with these days — but they should! Used as a leavening, it’s what keeps the cookies so puffy and soft.

2. No-Fail Amish White Bread

Need a bread recipe that works at any time and that anyone (even the kids) will love? This recipe for white bread does just the trick.

Another word for this bread is “milk bread.” You can use a bread machine or tap into your Amish side and make it by hand. You’ll find instructions for both.

The bread does include a decent amount of sugar, which provides so much of its great flavor. However, if you want to cut back on the sugar, you can use less. Just expect a slightly different texture.

3. Delicious Amish-style Cinnamon Rolls

Spice up your current cinnamon roll recipe by making it Amish-style. This recipe is efficient, too — it uses double the dough.

You can make a double batch of cinnamon rolls, save the dough for a second batch later, or use the extra to make regular bread.

Amish recipes use the real stuff, including real butter over margarine. Although you could use margarine for these cinnamon rolls, they will taste best with good old-fashioned butter.

Several steps are involved in any homemade cinnamon roll recipe, but the result is more than worth it.

4. Amish Caramel Corn

You’ve probably had caramel corn from the package, but have you ever made your own? There’s no comparison. Homemade is always better!

Make this for everyone in your home to use for homemade Christmas gifts or as party snacks, such as during a Super Bowl party. No matter what, everyone is guaranteed to love it.

As you’ve probably guessed, the ingredients are incredibly simple, including popped popcorn, dry-roasted nuts, brown sugar, light corn syrup, and salt. You can use whatever nuts you prefer.

5. Sweet Amish Macaroni Salad

Make this macaroni salad, and you’ll have everybody asking for the recipe. It’s so creamy and flavorful, perfect as a side with your favorite Amish main dish.

Unlike other macaroni salads, this one uses chopped hard-boiled eggs. And after making this, you’ll never want to leave eggs out of your macaroni salad again.

The dressing recipe uses simple components like light mayo, sugar, yellow mustard, and celery seed. How much dressing you use is up to you, but whatever you do, don’t use Miracle Whip!

6. Amish Cinnamon Muffins

This Amish cooking recipe is the quick version of Amish Friendship Bread, a type of bread where the starter gets passed around between friends, similar to a chain letter.

You get all of the cinnamony goodness in single-serving muffins. The recipe should make around a dozen of these delicious baked muffins.

Remember that the muffins don’t rise a lot during cooking so that you can fill them up almost to the top of the tins. If you don’t have buttermilk for this recipe, you can make your own or use regular milk.

7. Amish Country Casserole

If you’re looking for a budget-friendly and straightforward recipe, you’ve hit the jackpot here. Plus, it’s delicious and a winner with every crowd.

Cook this up quickly and serve it with some bread and an easy side salad. Voilà, you have one of the best old-fashioned meals ready to go.

This dish should freeze well. You can even separate it into two casserole dishes and freeze one for later. If you have a large family, make and enjoy the whole thing!

8. Glazed Amish Donuts

Are you drooling yet? Wait until you try some traditional Amish donuts. The recipe and glaze are simple, but the flavor will blow you away.

Amish donuts are similar to traditional homemade glazed donuts, but using the ingredients is slightly different. You use two different wet mixtures — a milk mixture and a water mixture.

You will need to fry these donuts in oil to get the authentic flavor. For best results, keep a thermometer in the oil so that you can check it frequently.

9. Amish Caramel

Homemade candy-making is an experience like nothing else — better than anything you could buy in the store.

These Amish caramels use only five ingredients you probably already have: sugar, corn syrup, unsalted butter, heavy cream, and vanilla. You’ll love the chewy and soft texture of the caramel that melts in your mouth.

Make it for your family or friends, put it out for guests during get-togethers, or use it for gifts.

Any candy-making does require attention to detail, so follow the instructions carefully.

10. Amish Hamburger Noodle Casserole

Casserole recipes (and most other Amish food recipes) work for any time of year, especially this one. It’s also perfect for meal-prepping. Just make ahead, freeze, and use when you’re ready for a warm, creamy, home-cooked meal.

You can also easily add some veggies to this dish to ramp up the nutrition. Broccoli, peas, lightly-fried mushrooms, and carrots work well.

Keep in mind that you’ll need to cook the carrots longer than the other vegetables, though. Get ready for a tasty, traditional meal.

11. Homemade Amish Lemon Bars

There are very few people who don’t like lemon bars. They’re a simple delight that fits nicely under the Amish recipe ideas category.

For these bars, you’ll need an eight-inch square baking pan and a pastry cutter. From there, it’s all fairly straightforward to make these.

The homemade shortbread crust, lemon filling, and powdered sugar topping are sure to be a crowd-pleaser, whether that crowd is at home, at work, or a party. Everyone will rave about the old-fashioned taste and presentation.

12. Amish Pasta Salad

Once you try Amish pasta salad, you will want to eat it at any time of day! Make it for get-togethers, potlucks, holiday gatherings, or just because.

The base uses simple uncooked pasta, mayonnaise, and sour cream, and don’t forget the chopped hard-boiled egg.

You also get some freshly-cooked veggies with celery, green peppers, and sweet onion: jarred pimentos and sweet pickle relish, plus some paprika and garlic ramp up the flavor.

To fill out the recipe more, you can all baked beans and sausage for extra protein.

13. Amish Apple Fritters

Apple fritters are a type of fried donut that uses — you guessed it — apples. You’ll make these from scratch, and you won’t believe how incredible they taste freshly baked.

Think fresh chunks of apple, cinnamon spice, and a sweet glaze on the top. Before you fry the fritters, always make sure the oil is hot enough.

Bake up a batch and enjoy them with your morning coffee. You’ll love the old-fashioned feel and taste you get when creating these cakes with your own hands.

14. Pecan Praline Amish Sugar Cookies

Almond cookies are already known for melting in your mouth, but these are on another level.

They’re soft, puffy, and just the right amount of sweet with a lovely hint of caramel. And don’t forget the layer of brown sugar icing and pecans on the top.

Are you ready for the epitome of Amish baking? Then you’ll want to make these cookies ASAP.

Since these are drop cookies, they take much less time compared to cut-out sugar cookies. That’s just another reason to make them.

15. Classic Amish Oatmeal Pie

This pie recipe calls for butter, eggs, and brown and white sugar in true Amish fashion. Plus, you’ll use old-fashioned oats for an extra rich and slightly chewy bite.

Brown sugar is the star of this show, giving the pie a deep flavor that combines perfectly with the oats. It will probably make you think of pecan pie, minus the corn syrup.

Once the pie is cooked and cooled, serve it topping whipped cream or fresh vanilla ice cream.

16. Amish Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Caramel Icing

Still, looking for the best Amish baking idea for you? We have a feeling you’ll pause on this one.

These Amish pumpkin cinnamon rolls are just the fall-centered dish you need, even if it’s not Fall yet.

They’re also great for Thanksgiving morning or a slower weekend morning. Topped with caramel icing, you won’t soon forget about these, and they’ll probably become a favorite.

You can save yourself time by making the dough the night before, freezing it, and allowing it to rise in the morning before baking.

17. Amish Friendship Carrot Cake

This is like the traditional Amish Friendship Cake, but with carrot cake instead! It’s full of fresh carrots, coconut, and cinnamon and topped with decadent cream cheese icing. And, don’t forget: it’s all homemade.

The texture of this cake is fluffy and moist, and the cream cheese frosting is the perfect level of sweetness and creaminess. It’s also simple to make, which is a massive bonus for Amish recipes.

The first step is to make an Amish sourdough starter, which makes this recipe unique.

18. Homemade Amish Pretzels

Soft, buttery, warm homemade pretzels. What else could you ask for? Lucky for you, this recipe leaves nothing lacking. There’s nothing like a giant, doughy pretzel, and these come with an old-fashioned touch.

For the best results and the most accurate texture, use a mixture of self-rising flour and bread flour.

You can use all-purpose flour, but it might change the texture and flour of the recipe. Unless you want to experiment, follow the recipe to a T, and you’ll have delicious home-baked pretzels on the table in no time.

19. Blueberry Amish Friendship Bread Muffins

Here’s another alternative take on the Amish Friendship Bread. This one comes in the form of blueberry muffins! Make these to enjoy at breakfast or any time of day.

If you love blueberries, add an extra ½ cup of blueberries to the recipe.

If you only have frozen blueberries, that should work fine — know you might need to bake an additional five minutes if the blueberries haven’t been thawed.

The recipe also includes an Amish Friendship Bread starter recipe, which you’ll need for these blueberry muffins.

20. Amish Orange Cake

You’ll see traditional Amish cake ingredients for this one — plus some unique elements!

Besides the flour, eggs, sugar, and oil, the unique flavor comes from orange juice, orange zest, and orange liquor.

If you don’t want to use alcohol (or don’t have it on hand), you can use extra orange juice in place of the liquor.

Even the glaze on this cake includes orange juice and orange zest. You won’t be able to stop thinking about how fresh the orange taste is in this recipe.

21. Amish Baked Oatmeal with Apples and Cinnamon

Get ready for a sweet and satisfying Amish casserole addition. This is a make-ahead breakfast casserole featuring apples, cinnamon, maple syrup, and oats.

You can use old-fashioned or quick oats for this recipe, but quick oats seem to work best. It’s also acceptable to get a little lazy with your apples and grate them with the skin still on (in fact, it’s best that way!).

This baked oatmeal is easy to make, delicious, and you can make it your own. Add some dried fruit or nuts of your choice into the mix.

22. Amish Vanilla Pie

Although it has “vanilla” in the name, this pie is anything but “vanilla” in flavor and taste. Enjoy it for dessert with ice cream or whipped topping, or have it with a strong cup of coffee.

The recipe calls for a pre-baked pie shell, so you can save some time there unless you want to make your own. After mixing up the filling, it’s mostly a matter of waiting for everything to bake for 45 minutes in the oven.

This vanilla pie features a thicker crumb topping than on most pies you’ll find, which makes it all the more unique.

23. Amish Apple Bread Recipe

If we were to draw a picture of “Amish comfort food,” this bread would probably be it. It’s full of apples, cinnamon, and your other rich, traditional ingredients. The best part is the sweet caramel icing on the top.

The bread is sweet, soft, super moist, and the perfect breakfast, snack, or dessert. If you want to spend even less time baking, you can make it into muffins instead.

You also don’t need any yeast for this bread, which means no time waiting for it to rise.

24. Amish Pumpkin Whoopie Pie

You can’t go wrong with whoopie pies, which add a unique fall flavor to the mix. The outside features soft pumpkin spice cakes, and the inside is all about the fluffy white filling. The simple frosting was filling pairs perfectly with the heartily spiced pumpkin cakes.

If you’ve ever had whoopie pies before, you’ll notice a difference with these. There’s just something about making them from scratch that is so much tastier.

If you don’t have the pumpkin pie spice that the recipe calls for, you can make your own with cinnamon, cloves, and ginger.

25. Amish Apple Dumplings

Apple. Dumplings. Can you say “yum”? You can’t go wrong with apples cooked in a rich, soft homemade dough, complete with cinnamon and brown sugar syrup. This is another great idea for a fall-themed Amish dessert.

This dish is traditionally eaten for breakfast or dessert, so feel free to enjoy it at any time of the day or night. It’s also incredible with a scoop of ice cream.

The type of apple you use is up to you. However, apples like Galas will be softer, while green apples like Granny Smiths will be firmer inside the dough.

26. Amish Buttermilk Biscuits

Want to make Amish-style buttermilk biscuits in less than 30 minutes? This recipe will show you how to do it.

The buttery, flaky layers will have you adding this to your recipe box immediately.

These biscuits are amazing right after cooking, but you can use them later too. Have them for breakfast, with gravy, as a side dish, or with real butter and honey.

And remember: stick with real butter for Amish recipes like this. Margarine isn’t the same.