Home Recipes Cooking Style Comfort Food
Emily Racette ParulskiUpdated: Oct. 16, 2023
Cook like Edith Bunker, Lucy Ricardo and Caroline Ingalls.
1/22
Inspired By: All in the Family
Edith Bunker cooked comforting dinners like swiss steak for husband Archie Bunker on the television show, All in the Family.
Get Recipe for Oven Swiss Steak
2/22
Inspired By: I Love Lucy
Cuban husband Ricky Ricardo requested Latin cuisine like arroz con pollo, even if Lucy didn’t know what it was. We think he’d like this Cuban rice and beef dinner, too.
Get Recipe for Easy Cuban Picadillo
3/22
Inspired By: Little House on the Prairie
Caroline Ingalls whipped up hearty food for her family all day long. Farm life requires a filling breakfast, like biscuits and gravy, an energizing lunch and a home-cooked dinner.
4/22
Inspired By: Leave it to Beaver
June Cleaver was a quintessential housewife of the 1950s, cooking a homemade dinner for her family every day. We think Beaver would love to come home to this Salisbury steak.
Get Recipe for Salisbury Steak Deluxe
5/22
Inspired By: The Andy Griffith Show
Where would Andy Taylor and Opie be without Aunt Bee? Probably starving! We’d love some of her Mayberry-famous pancakes, biscuits and potato casserole right now.
6/22
Inspired By: Happy Days
Stop by Arnold’s Drive-In for a milk shake or other typical diner fare and chat with Richie Cunningham, Potsie and the Fonz.
Get Recipe for Strawberry-Peach Milk Shakes
7/22
Inspired By: Gilligan’s Island
We wouldn’t mind being stranded on a tropical island with Gilligan and The Skipper if it meant we could dine on this refreshing, colorful fruit salad.
Get Recipe for Refreshing Tropical Fruit Salad
8/22
Inspired By: M*A*S*H*
Private Igor, resident cook at the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, wasn’t known for dishing out exceptional food. He had to make due with what he was given. This spam hash is like something he’d serve, but it actually tastes good!
Get Recipe for Poor Man's Hash
9/22
Inspired By: The Brady Bunch
Alice Nelson, the Brady’s housekeeper, cooked all kinds of delicious meals for the family, like pork chops. Who could forget Peter’s Humphrey Bogart impression of “pork chops and applesauce”?
Get Recipe for Applesauce-Glazed Pork Chops
10/22
Inspired By: Lassie
After saving Timmy from the well, Lassie deserves a treat. These drool-worthy dog biscuits are peanut butter-flavored…yum!
Get Recipe for Dog Biscuits
11/22
Inspired By: The Beverly Hillbillies
Granny was always cooking up something…um…interesting in the Clampett’s California home. Our zesty catfish might be a tad more appealing than her catfish and apricot gumbo soup.
Get Recipe for Zesty Baked Catfish
12/22
Inspired By: The Dick Van Dyke Show
In a classic episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show, Laura Petrie bakes a batch of nut chewy bars for an FBI agent who’s on a stakeout. We bet he wasn’t used to being served such wonderful treats!
Get Recipe for Chewy Pecan Pie Bars
13/22
Inspired By: The Lone Ranger
Hi-ho, Silver! After a busy day fighting outlaws in the Wild West, the masked hero and his sidekick, Tonto, deserve a big bowl of cowboy chili.
Get Recipe for Spicy Cowboy Chili
14/22
Inspired By: Hawaii 5-0
Watching Detective Steve McGarrett catch bad guys in the beautiful state of Hawaii has our mouths drooling for Hawaiian food, like this banana-y pot roast.
Get Recipe for Hawaiian Pork Roast
15/22
Inspired By: Dallas
Perhaps the Ewing family would get along if they all gathered together for a slice of Texas pecan pie. This particular recipe won a blue ribbon at the Texas State Fair.
Get Recipe for Texas Pecan Pie
16/22
Inspired By: Popeye the Sailor
How did Popeye get so strong? By eating spinach, of course! Eat lots of leafy greens like the sailor did by making this super yummy spinach casserole.
Get Recipe for Crunchy Spinach Casserole
17/22
Inspired By: The Love Boat
Set sail on The Pacific Princess with a mai tai in your hand and love in the air.
Get Recipe for Mai Tai
18/22
Inspired By: Bonanza
The Cartwrights need a hearty meal fit for a cowboy after spending all day tending the ranch.
Get Recipe for Cowboy Calico Beans
19/22
Inspired By: Bewitched
Friends and neighbors didn’t know Samantha Stephens’ secret—she’s a witch! Grab a broom-er, fork- and dig in to this be-witching cheesecake.
Get Recipe for Witch-in-the-Moonlight Cheesecake
20/22
Inspired By: Green Acres
City girl Lisa Douglas had a hard time getting used to country life. Her “hotscakes” are practically inedible, but hubby Oliver finds a use for them in other ways. If you do have a hankering for a pile of hotcakes, try ours.
Get Recipe for Cornmeal Pancakes
21/22
Inspired By: Hogan’s Heroes
A French chef in a German POW camp made lots of tasty dishes in the show, Hogan’s Heroes. If commandant Wilhelm Klink wanted to impress guests, chef Louis LeBeau was there to help him do so, making German delicacies such as sauerbraten.
Get Recipe for Slow Cooker Sauerbraten
22/22
Inspired By: The Addams Family
They’re creepy and their kooky, this recipe is spooky! The Addams Family is wacky yet lovable, and this cake reminds us of the cemetery next to their house.
Get Recipe for Graveyard Cake
Originally Published: June 19, 2019
Emily Racette Parulski
Emily has spent the last decade writing and editing food and lifestyle content. As a senior editor at Taste of Home, she leads the newsletter team sharing delicious recipes and helpful cooking tips to more than 2 million loyal email subscribers. Since joining TMB seven years ago as an associate editor, she has worked on special interest publications, launched TMB’s first cross-branded newsletter, supported the launch of the brand's affiliate strategy, orchestrated holiday countdowns, participated in taste tests and was selected for a task force to enhance the Taste of Home community. Emily was first mentioned by name in Taste of Home magazine in 1994, when her mother won a contest.When she’s not editing, Emily can be found in her kitchen baking something sweet, taking a wine class with her husband, or making lasagnas for neighbors through Lasagna Love.
