THIS TIME OF YEAR, throughout the long stretch of winter months in Minnesota, I crave comfort foods. Food that warms me from the inside out. Food that fuels me with energy. Food that makes me feel better simply because it tastes so darn good. Basic, often carb-packed, foods that are staples of generations of Minnesotans.
Topping the list of comfort foods for me is tomato soup served with a grilled cheese sandwich. Both are easy to prepare. Nearly every Saturday from November to March, Randy opens and mixes a can of condensed tomato soup with milk before preparing accompanying sandwiches. He smears butter onto slices of bread, layers processed cheese between and toasts the bread to golden perfection in a frying pan. There’s nothing better for lunch on a cold Minnesota winter day than a bowl of steaming tomato soup with a sandwich oozing melting cheese.
Soup and chili are the ultimate comfort foods. There’s comfort in the scent of soup simmering on the stove, in the taste, in the act of wrapping hands around a bowl warmed by hot soup or chili. And then that first spoonful of chicken noodle soup or chicken white chili or tomato-based beef chili loaded with beans or chicken wild rice soup, all homemade. Ah. Every bite tastes of comfort. With the exception of tomato soup, all soups served in my house are homemade by me.
The same goes for macaroni and cheese, another ultimate comfort food. Years ago as a busy mom of three, I occasionally resorted to boxed mac and cheese in my hurry to get a meal on the table. But the unnatural yellow powdered cheese stirred into the cooked pasta was visually unappealing and didn’t taste any better than it looked. Today I make mac and cheese from scratch using evaporated milk, butter and shredded cheddar cheese. I love mac and cheese as much as any kid, unless, of course, theirs comes from a box.
I also love tator tots. We joke about Tator Tot Hotdish here in Minnesota. I haven’t made it in years. But I still like tots. Plain or, even better, topped with shredded cheddar cheese, a dollop of sour cream and bacon bits. Yes, it’s calorie-laden and likely not at all good for me. But, gosh, that combo pleases my palate like no casserole ever could except homemade Chicken Wild Rice Hotdish (not casserole), which I absolutely love.
Potatoes are a comfort food. Whether shaped into a tot, mashed, baked or scalloped, potatoes are, for me, a comforting link to my childhood. I grew up eating meat, boiled potatoes with gravy and a side vegetable every night for supper, with rare exceptions. Our food came from our land, from our animals. It was good and wholesome, filling our stomachs, fueling our bodies to labor on the farm.
I also find myself craving sweets during the winter. Banana bread and chocolate chip cookies fall into the comfort food category by my definition. A just-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookie with melty chocolate or a slice of day-old banana bread satisfy my craving for something sugary. I try not to bake often, though, unless I’m shipping a care package to my son in Boston, the grandkids are coming or there’s a birthday to celebrate. Or the bananas on the counter are getting overripe.
In a few months, comfort food will hold less appeal as winter transitions into spring. Then my food focus will turn to fresh asparagus, rhubarb and spinach salad topped with sliced cucumbers, portabella mushrooms, tomatoes and blue cheese made and aged in sandstone caves blocks from my house. I’ll eat healthier, feel less laden by heavy food. But when the seasons shift again to shorter and colder days, I’ll once again crave grilled cheese and tomato soup, mac and cheese, tator tots…all the foods that comfort during a long Minnesota winter.
TELL ME: What are your favorite comfort foods?
© Copyright 2024 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
I’m all about comfort foods in the winter, love the ones you mentioned here, and grilled cheese with tomato soup is like a warm and gentle hug
That’s a good description of grilled cheese and tomato soup.
Your comfort foods and mine are similar. Condensed tomato soup mixed with milk. One of the few times when taste trumped thrift in our house. Or, perhaps my mother didn’t know that some people mixed their cans of soup with water (unlikely for someone who grew up during the Depression).
Once again, thank you for your thoughts and words.
Ken, yes, definitely milk, not water. Since I grew up on a dairy farm, we always had plenty of fresh milk. No rationing there.
My mouth is watering reading your post – YUM! I have family and friends that ask for my cakes. I also take cookies and make them into bars and sometimes mix with brownies. I love a good chili (veggie, chicken or beef) and make a pretty good minestrone (crock pot) and split pea soup when I have the time since that one is done in a dutch oven. I love a good baked potato/yam or chicken pot pie or lasagna too (need to try the lasagna in a crock pot again). I make sure we have a lot of fresh veggies in the house too. I have a new recipe that “dumps” everything into a braiser and within 20 to 30 to 50-mins have a hot meal out of the oven that is well balanced with proteins, starches , and veggies. We love to grill too, especially a good cut of a pork chop. Happy Cooking, Happy Eating – ENJOY 🙂
Thanks for sharing your favorite comfort foods. Those are some good ones to add to the list. It sounds like you really enjoy cooking and baking. 🙂
We are both foodies and cooks. We make homemade pizza (dough and marinara), turn pork belly into bacon and beef brisket into corned beef, make our own home brew, etc. We garden. Most of all we love to share it with family and friends 🙂
If only you lived near me…I love that you share.
I’ve never had Gopher.
Is it good? A Faribo, southern Mn thing? (emoji smile n’a wink here)
(see photo of sandwich board at Belview Bar and Cafe)
My favorite sign from a Texas roadhouse is: Steak & Lobster Dancing Nightly.
Which actually sounds kinda romantic. Or the lead-in to a story.
Nancy, great catch. You’ve made this sign into even more of a gem. My eyes read only that the Gophers were playing at 11. And you saw the humorous version of the singular Gopher. That Texas roadhouse sign is a gem also.
Ok, I’m hungry now. Time to raid the fridge! 🙂
I hope you found a comfort food in your fridge. With the frigid temps we have in MN today, it’s the ideal day for comfort food.
Aaah! Grilled cheese and Tomato soup! One of my favs is “Captain Jinx of the Horse Marines” (a song), that inspired me in the 4th grade to mix corn with beans and hot dogs. Also on my list are Corn or Clam chowder with Oyster crackers (from my time I spent in Maine). Fresh buttered Lefse from my time in Minnesota or Chili from my time “down South” ( I make a mean chili with Bison, and 7 different beans and cactus along with green chillies). Some like it hot – not me!
Gunny, thank you for sharing your list of comfort foods. I’m especially intrigued by your chili with bison and cactus. Cactus? Oh, if only you lived nearer, I’d invite myself over for dinner.
Right down the road, just off I-35! Let me know, I will put this together.
Thanks for the invite, Gunny. Maybe some day.
Favorite comfort foods include fried macaroni and cheese, chili, potato soup lodded with rivels and topped with cheese and spring onions and sometimes bacon, a good old roast cooked long and slow in the crock pot and also ham and beans. Yum. There is nothing like those foods to make me feel all warm inside on a chilly day.
Your comfort food favorites sound delicious. But I’ve never heard of fried macaroni and cheese.
My Grandma Bonnie’s invention. I am sure there is a blog post somewhere about it! 😄
I googled fried mac and cheese. If it’s the same as your Grandma Bonnie’s, it sounds delicious but like an incredible amount of work.
I agree with your entire list of comfort foods Audrey. They are all yummy and feel decadent in a cold, dreary, long winter. Fortunately, in the spring, we get back to eating lighter and healthier.
Exactly. After eating those comfort foods, we need healthy. I try to eat salads often. But it’s easier in the summer with fresher produce.
Yes, so true Audrey, and nothing warms me up like rib-sticking winter meals, especially ones with childhood memories. I love the names used for favourite English dishes: shepherds pie, toad in the hole, spotted duck, bubble & squeak and bangers & mash. I especially enjoy dumplings in a beef stew. Spring will come, but meanwhile I’m cooking a spicy chilli to fend off a chilly evening.
Those are some interesting names, only two of which I’ve heard. Enjoy your comfort foods.