This Old-School Steak Dish Was Born During WWII

In the United States, World War II brought about rationing because the conflict affected food stocks in the country. To conserve supplies, the government created a system in which citizens were issued 'points' that had to be used in order to buy certain goods. One of these foodstuffs was meat, and better cuts of meat required a person to turn over more of their rationing points. Thus, home chefs got creative in order to enjoy their favorite meals within these conditions, and a dish called emergency steak was born.

Emergency steak is essentially a meatloaf-type dish in the shape of a T-bone steak — one of the more expensive cuts under rationing. The recipe appeared in a Betty Crocker cookbook called "Your Share" (via Internet Archive), but it may have been created even earlier by General Mills in the 1940s. Emergency steak was part of Betty Crocker's "Stretching the Meat" section, and the recipe is quite simple. It calls for ground beef, milk, Wheaties (hence the General Mills connection), salt, pepper, and chopped onion. Readers are instructed to mix all of those ingredients together, then pat the mixture into a 1-inch-thick T-bone shape. Finally, the emergency steak is broiled at 500 degrees Fahrenheit. The result is a steak-adjacent concoction fit for wartime.

While the recipe sticks to the basics, there are ways you can dress up emergency steak if you choose to try it. In another variation of the recipe, Betty Crocker suggests using carrots to enhance the look of the steak. Slice them into thin strips and then insert them into the meat when forming it into the T-bone shape — the carrots act in place of what would be bone.

While items like shortening and butter were subject to rations, modern chefs can use them in side dishes to accompany their emergency steak. During the war, Kraft sold over 50 million boxes of mac and cheese, which would be great to dig into alongside your meat. Without the need to ration, you can craft the side from scratch. (You could also use these hacks to improve your boxed mac and cheese.) As the fake steak is basically a meatloaf, a great mashed potato recipe could provide the perfect side.

Meat and potato recipes appeared multiple times in Betty Crocker's wartime cookbook. Two dishes, which were described as "escalloped potatoes and meat in new form," were Dutch potatoes and Full O' Bologney. The former is essentially baked spuds with their centers removed and a hot dog placed in the empty space. The latter (which sounds slightly more visually appealing) is sliced or cubed bologna layered with sliced or cubed potatoes in a dish — think, a bologna and potato lasagna.