1940s Food: Top Dishes, Restaurants And Eating Trends
Rationing from January 1940, and cooking built around whatever the points allowed.
Below: the dishes people actually ate in the 1940s, what was new at the time, what the kitchen had in it, and honest notes on cooking any of it now.
Useful for a themed party menu, a reminiscence session or working out what to cook for someone's milestone birthday.
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Shop prints and posters Look back to 1940 Look back to 1941 Look back to 1942
Cards and prints, drawn and printed by us
Funny cards, kitchen and milestone art prints and pin badges, printed in the UK. Order on a working day and it usually goes out the same day.
Happy Valentines Day, Bab (Valentines Day Card)
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"Woof Woof" Sausage Dog Valentines Day Card
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Happy Valentines Day Card From The Cats
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Happy Valentines Day, My Love (Valentines Day Card)
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You're Purr-fect To Me (Cat Valentines Day Card)
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Happy Birthday Papa (Happy Birthday Card) (Multiple designs)
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Years covered in the 1940s
- 1940 - Rationing, Dunkirk, Churchill and the Blitz - the year everything changed. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1940
- 1941 - The Blitz continued, clothes went on the ration and America entered the war. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1941
- 1942 - The Beveridge Report, soap on the ration and the first American troops arriving. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1942
- 1943 - The tide turned, the Dambusters flew and the country got used to going without. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1943
- 1944 - D-Day, the V-1s and the Education Act that changed school for everyone. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1944
- 1945 - VE Day, VJ Day, a landslide election and street parties on bomb-damaged roads. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1945
- 1946 - Television came back, bread went on the ration and the family allowance started. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1946
- 1947 - The worst winter in memory, a royal wedding and Indian independence. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1947
- 1948 - The NHS began, the Olympics came to London and the Windrush docked at Tilbury. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1948
- 1949 - Clothes rationing ended, the pound was devalued and the decade closed on austerity. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1949
- That is every 1940s year we have written up so far: 1940 to 1949.
Classic 1940s dishes
- Woolton pie - root vegetables under a pastry or potato crust, named after the Food Minister.
- Corned beef fritters and spam fritters.
- Dried-egg omelettes and scrambled dried egg on toast.
- Carrot cake and carrot fudge, because carrots were not rationed.
- Mock cream from margarine and milk, mock banana from parsnip and essence.
- Bread pudding, heavy and sweet, made to fill people up.
Food trends of the 1940s
- Dig for Victory - allotments and back gardens feeding families.
- The Ministry of Food's radio Kitchen Front and its leaflets.
- The National Loaf, wholemeal and unpopular.
- Rationing continues after the war and does not fully end until 1954.
What the kitchen looked like (1940-1949)
- Points, coupons and queueing shaped every meal.
- One pan, one oven, and fuel saved wherever possible.
- Nothing thrown away at all - potato peelings went to the pig bin.
- Recipes swapped between neighbours and cut out of newspapers.
Eating out in the 1940s: restaurants, cafes and takeaways
- British Restaurants: government-run communal canteens serving a cheap meal off ration.
- Works canteens become the main hot meal of the day for millions.
- Fish and chips stays unrationed and queues form outside.
- Restaurant meals capped at five shillings by law from 1942.
- Forces canteens, NAAFI tea and the WVS mobile canteen.
- Chinese restaurants in the port cities quietly building a customer base.
Cooking these now: honest notes
- Wartime recipes are naturally low waste and cheap - worth cooking for that alone.
- Use a real egg where the recipe says dried egg; the ratio is roughly one egg per tablespoon of powder.
- Woolton pie is much better with stock and herbs than the original leaflet allowed.
How to use this
- Themed party: pick three dishes, not ten - one thing to pick at, one main, one pudding everyone remembers.
- Put era music on while you cook and the theme does half the work.
- Reminiscence session: food smells prompt more conversation than photographs do.
- Milestone birthday: cook what they ate at eighteen, not what was around when they were born.
Found your words? Now find the card
Shop prints and posters Look back to 1940 Look back to 1941 Look back to 1942
How to write it so it lands
- Write the menu on a card and put it on the table - it makes a themed meal feel deliberate.
- Cook one dish nobody has had for thirty years; that is the one people talk about.
- Check for allergies before you build a menu around pastry, nuts or shellfish.
Where to shop next
- Look back to 1940
- Look back to 1941
- Look back to 1942
- Look back to 1943
- Look back to 1944
- Look back to 1945
- Look back to 1946
- Look back to 1947
- Look back to 1948
- Look back to 1949
- 1940s calendar: year by year
- 1940s trivia: fun facts
- 1940s music: albums, artists and songs
- 1940s fashion: clothes, hair and accessories
- 1940s books, films and TV
- The 1940s: the whole decade
- Wartime and 1950s party games
- Traditional British party games
- Pen and paper games
- Card games your nan taught you
- Decade history: key events, politics and culture by era
- Decade books: best novels, authors and reading trends
- Decade recipes: dishes and food trends by era
- Music by decade: albums, artists and songs
- Decade fashion: clothes, hair and accessories by era
- Decade guides: books, films and TV by era
- Decade calendar: every year from 1920
- Decade trivia: fun facts by era
- Nostalgia gift shop
- Retro party supplies
- Guess the year quiz
- Milestone birthday cards
- Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
- How to make a balloon arch
- Photo booth prop ideas
- Wedding cards
- Wedding cards guide
- Pin badges
- All guides
Frequently asked questions
What food was popular in the 1940s?
Woolton pie - root vegetables under a pastry or potato crust, named after the Food Minister. The full list above covers the dishes that turned up week in, week out, not just the special-occasion ones.
What were the big food trends of the 1940s?
Dig for Victory - allotments and back gardens feeding families. The rest are listed above, including what was arriving in the shops for the first time.
Where did people eat out in the 1940s?
British Restaurants: government-run communal canteens serving a cheap meal off ration. The eating out section above lists the restaurants, cafes and takeaways of the decade.
Can I cook 1940s recipes today?
Yes, with small adjustments. Old recipes assume more time and different kit, so the honest notes section above tells you what to change - mostly seasoning, cooking times and which ingredients are hard to buy now.
Do you sell food or recipe books?
No. We make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK. This page is free to read, print and copy for a party or a care-home session.