a lovely living

Grandma's Ham Pot Pie

Grandma’s Pennsylvania Dutch ham pot pie with homemade dough and potatoes

You know those family recipes that are warm, comforting and taste better each time you have the chance to enjoy them? My grandma’s ham pot pie is one of those such recipes. My mom, sister and I are always saying that we need to learn how to master this meal on our own, but I’m not sure my grandma will ever let that happen! For the time being, I have at least taken the next step and documented the meal as it was being prepared, mostly by her! For those of you that are precise with measurements, you’re going to hate this. I’m one of those people, but I’m trying to learn how food can turn out delicious with a dash of this and handful of that. So just note, measurements in this recipe are approximate. Feel free to add more or less of anything as needed.

My grandma, mom, sister and I always have a great time when we’re together. They’re three people that I am so very grateful to have in my life. We actually spent this afternoon together a few weeks ago and my grandmother has since headed to Florida for a few weeks leaving us to enjoy all of this snow alone. Since we seem to be back in the thick of winter weather, I figured this was an appropriate recipe to share.

Here are the step by step pictures followed by the recipe. If it sounds foreign to you, it’s because it’s a Pennsylvania Dutch recipe and if you’ve never had it before, you definitely need to add it to your list. Or at least throw it on Pinterest and get back to it at some point ;)

Step-by-step photos of Grandma preparing Pennsylvania Dutch ham pot pieIngredients:

  • 10-12 C and 1 1/3 C water
  • 4C flour
  • 4 tbsp crisco
  • 7-8lb half ham with bone
  • 1-2tbsp parsley
  • 1/2 dozen potatoes, peeled and diced
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  • Boil the ham with the bone in 10-12 cups of water for approx. 30 minutes to make ham broth. Once complete, cut ham into pieces and set aside.
  • Mix 1 1/3 C water, flour and crisco to make dough and then separate into a few sections.
  • Roll out each section of dough to approx. 1/4 inch and cut into 2 in. squares.
  • Bring broth to a boil and drop pieces of dough in for approx. 20-25min.
  • While dough is boiling, bring a pot of water to boil and boil potatoes for approx. 10 minutes.
  • Add potatoes, ham, parsley, salt and pepper to the dough/ham broth.

I could kick myself for not getting a picture of us girls that day, but here’s a shot of the four of us (plus my daughter) on Christmas day. Thanks for a fun day girls, let’s do it again!

Marisa with her grandmother, mother, sister and daughter at Christmas

What are some of your favorite family recipes?

 

Comments

Rebecca Bartron says:
Your posts always inspire me to eat something or buy something :)
marisa says:
Haha, this is one I would highly encourage ;) xo
Carrie says:
We can't wait to make this! Thanks so much!!
Aubrey says:
This is the same way my family prepares it except we cook the potatoes the whole time with the ham and dough so the starch makes it a bit more like gravy instead of a thin broth! Delicious!...ps im from pa dutch country;)
Mare says:
Thanks for sharing this recipe! My hubby said his granpappy used to make this and he wished I could find a recipe. Lo and behold I did on Pinterest, and it led me here. (o: I made this and it was hubby approved. He said his PapPap would have been proud. Thanks again for helping me make some good memories be remembered from my hubby's youth. A PA gal livin' in GA.
marisa says:
Thanks so much for sharing! I'm so happy to hear that others are just as big a fan of this recipe as I am. Hoping some of us can keep the tradition going :)
Mary Jo says:
Hi, Thanks, so much for the recipe. My Mom, used to make something very similar (no crisco, or parsley & the potatoes & dough were cooked together). Like your Grandma, Mom, prepared the dish & nothing was ever measured or written down! Anxious to try. Thanks again, for bringing back wonderful memories. Mary Jo
Cindy Ross says:
Thank you for sharing this recipe for "ham pot pie ". My grandmother made this every January to celebrate all of the birthdays for that month. You guessed it mine was one of them. Like you I once spent an afternoon with Grandmom trying to learn her secret for making the treasured "ham pot pie" but as you mentioned it was a pinch of this and a dash of that. I never was able to figure it out and that recipe and a few others passed away with Grandmother in 1998. Thanks to the Internet and your post I may be able to finally make Grandmom Smiley's famous "ham pot pie". Thank you Cindy
Derek says:
Can I add some cornstarch to thicken the broth? I like a more gravy consistency.
marisa says:
Although I do not claim to be a cook, I'd say you could certainly use some cornstarch or flour to thicken up the broth to your liking! :)
Liz says:
My momma makes this recipe and it is super yummy. I am a chicago girl but country at heart and my mom is born and raised pennsylvania Dutch. She makes all kinds of recipes like this but she calls hers ham popeye. I make it for my hubby now and he loves it but i can never seem to get the noodles as soft or tasty as my momma.
marisa says:
Thank you for sharing! Those Momma's (and Grand-momma's) always have that special touch! I just hope it finds its way to me at some point ;)
Marcia Knepp says:
I love your recipe. If you like I have a lot more Pennsylvania Dutch recipes to share
George Jarden says:
Can the ham be smoked, I.e., precooked?
marisa says:
Yep! We typically use this recipe for any leftover ham meals!
Tamara Hill says:
I have been looking for this recipe forever , thank you so so much , I loved the way my mom made it , but she passed before I had time to get recipe. So thx very much for that.
Adam Stauffer says:
This is wrong. The dough is made with eggs not crisco! Flour, water, eggs, salt and pepper. That is all that is in the noodles. Not crisco. However, I know a Mennonite who adds bacon fat to the dough.
marisa says:
Hi Adam! Yes, that's certainly another option and I'm sure it would turn out well! I wanted to keep this recipe authentic to my grandmother without changing any ingredients, just as she makes it.
PC Baier says:
PA Dutch heritage here....born in Williamsport, PA in 1961. This was one of my absolute favorite meals my mother made. Your's looks exactly like hers and it brings back fond memories. I'd always sneak a raw square of dough. That being said, I don't eat red meat any longer and wouldn't go near Crisco. No wonder the men in my heritage had heart issues.
Ellen says:
My mom always boiled her potatoes in the ham broth; then added the dough to cook and added ham at the end to reheat. I also add parsley to my dough.
Carmen says:
I no longer eat pork so I haven’t been able to have this for decades... I also missed Ham Green beans and Potatoes... my husband tried that with Turkey Ham and it worked .... so we are gonna try ham pot pie with the turkey ham now and pray it’s just as delicious or satisfyingly close. Just a thought for you if you wanted to try.
GRETCHEN HARTMAN says:
My grandma and mom always made this with the leftover Easter ham. I don't think they used Crisco in the noodles though. Once we had a serving on our plate we always splashed a little vinegar on it to taste.
Margaret M Parr says:
Thank you for posting the ham pot pie. As soon as I saw it it brought back wonderful memories of my grandma and my mom and I am 79! We make it with chicken (that is our favorite) beef and then ham. My question to you is why cook the potatoes separate? We through them in first with the broth boiling then the pot pie dough squares. It all gets done never had hard potatoes. Another good thing to add to the broth if you are using chicken and that is: saffron! It adds a whole new flavor.
Leora Read says:
I love this recipe and you all look beautiful. Merry Christmas to you all.
D. Jean McGinley says:
My husband just pre-baked our New Year's Eve ham ( our first spiral) and I salvaged the broth, the unpicked bone and some decent chunks of ham to cut up to make Ham Pot Pie after the New Year. His family only ever had Chicken Pot Pie, so I've made it over the years for our family, but never Ham Pot Pie. After the year we're finally closing out the coming year is gonna be mine! We'll be having Ham, Potatoes and Eggs (mine topped with cheese), grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, Ham Pot Pie, and plain ole Ham and Eggs this month till my birthday on January 29th! For the record, Chicken Pot Pie's really good, too -- I had to pass that one along to my middle boy who now has a son to teach cooking to. Thanks for the recipe!
Liz says:
My family recipe (and they were/are PA Dutch) was Flour, Crisco, pepper, eggs and hot water. So I guess it all depends on the family.
Cindy Friedman says:
It has always been Crisco for us too. There is a completely different taste if one makes an egg noodle. This is really a boiled pie crust dough. I think of it as PA Coal Country food when Crisco is used. I’m making it today and just checking on the proportions! The ham stock makes the house smell so good!
Carol says:
I am so excited to find this recipe. It looks like the recipe my mom made that my dad's mother taught her. I never paid attention when she made it. She never measured ingredients. Just threw a hand full of this, a handful of that into the pot. I must have measurements to make things! Now she is gone and i have had big regrets about not being able to make this. I look forward to making this! Thank you for sharing!
Shirley T. says:
I was raised in the South and in the country. My mother made ham pie, but did not put dumplings in it. She only used ham, eggs and a broth mixture. Very good.
Janet says:
My recipe for potpie noodles is flour, crisco, salt and a little baking powder. No eggs...my mom always said that was "pasta not pot pie.
Katie says:
If you are using leftover spiral Ham (no bone) that has already been baked, do you still boil it to cook it again?
April R says:
Yes from my Grandmother, dough MUST be made with crisco for Real PA Dutch (or German) Ham Pot Pie. With egg noodles is a whole different dish. This recipe always comes out just right for me, just like when my Gramma made it for me when I was a little girl. I always looked forward to the holidays when we would have ham because I knew the ham pot pie was coming soon after
Cheri Arnold says:
I have been teaching my granddaughters to make pot pie. This will make 6 generations in my family, that I know of, that will carry on the tradition. I can trace it back to my great-great grandmother. Hoping to discover more generations who made it. Our recipe calls for lard not crisco, so I’m thinking our recipe is probably older than yours since crisco wasn’t around in my great-great grandmother’s day. When I learned to make it, I asked how much lard I needed to use and was told the size of a walnut, how’s that for exact measurements.
Cassie says:
This is exactly the way my graandmother and my mother taught me to make the dough, best ham pot pie ever
Cindy says:
Boiling the potatoes in the broth is a perfect way to remove some of the saltiness of the country ham broth. I only use flour and water for the noodles, rolled as thin as I can get it on floured waxed paper. I do several little batches as needed to fill broth.Broth thickens as it cooks. I save back some broth in case I overdo it on the noodles. This dish gets requested more than I care to make it.
Constance Appleyard says:
1 1/2 tablespoons of crisco, 3 cups of flour and one cup of broth, 1 1/2 tsp. Of salt. 2 in. squares, drop in boiling water add potatoes 20 minutes. I quarter my potatoes . Drop cut ham in with potatoes
Marge Bradley says:
I have been trying forever to remember how my Mother cooked this and now reading your directions it all came back to me. Bless you for this delicious recipe and I am going to make it right now. You've made my day.
Shanda says:
Can I ask why you boil the potatoes in another pot? They can be cooked with the dough and broth. Just asking. I never seen anyone do this. I make the dough differently also but a lot of people make it differently. I make the broth with ham,onions,butter,seasonings,parsley and take the broth out cool in a bowl and then just add flour roll and put in with the potatoes and ham.
marisa says:
I was simply following my grandmother's instructions on this one. My guess is it was the way her mother did it!

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