Scrapple Recipe

By
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Southern-cuisine expert and cookbook author Diana Rattray has created more than 5,000 recipes and articles in her 20 years as a food writer.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 01/12/22
sliced fried scrapple with a fried egg

The Spruce Eats / Diana Rattray
Prep: 30 mins
Cook: 3 hrs 30 mins
Chill Time: 3 hrs
Total: 7 hrs
Servings: 8 to 12 servings
Yield: 12 slices
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
264 Calories
15g Fat
10g Carbs
23g Protein
Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8 to 12
Amount per serving
Calories 264
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 15g 19%
Saturated Fat 4g 22%
Cholesterol 73mg 24%
Sodium 404mg 18%
Total Carbohydrate 10g 4%
Dietary Fiber 1g 4%
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 23g
Vitamin C 1mg 6%
Calcium 28mg 2%
Iron 2mg 8%
Potassium 344mg 7%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Scrapple, a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch food, is typically made with pork scraps or parts you might otherwise discard, such as trotters, liver, or heart. Some recipes use the head of the animal. This version uses easy-to-find cuts of pork—a combination of pork butt and bone-in pork shanks, hocks, or rib tips. Tender, long-cooked pork is finely chopped in a food processor or meat grinder, and the cornmeal cooks in the savory herbed broth. The pork, cornmeal mixture, and seasonings come together to form a tasty loaf with a sausage-like flavor.

There are several steps and long cooking and chilling times, but preparation is not complicated. You may plan to make the scrapple in one day or divide it up and make it over two days. The cooked shredded pork and broth can be refrigerated in separate containers until the next day.

Cut the chilled loaf into 3/4-inch slices, dust with flour, and fry it up for a tasty breakfast or lunch. It's a delicious protein to serve with eggs, hash browns, pancakes, or baked beans. Add a bit of ketchup or applesauce on the side, or drizzle the scrapple with maple syrup.

Ingredients

For Scrapple:

  • 3 pounds boneless pork butt, or about 5 pounds bone-in

  • 2 pounds bone-in pork, such as rib tips, pork hocks, or shanks

  • 1 large onion, peeled and quartered

  • 1 whole bulb garlic, sliced in half crosswise

  • 5 large dried bay leaves

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons black peppercorns

  • 2 teaspoons fine salt, plus more, to taste

  • 12 large sage leaves

  • 2 sprigs thyme

  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, or marjoram

  • 1 cup cornmeal

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste

For Serving:

  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, optional

Steps to Make It

Make Scrapple

  1. Gather the ingredients. 

  2. Place the pork in a large stockpot or Dutch oven along with the quartered onion, garlic bulb, bay leaves, peppercorns, and 2 teaspoons of salt. Cover with water (at least 5 to 6 cups) and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 3 hours.

  3. With a slotted spoon, remove the pork pieces to a bowl and set them aside.

  4. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl; discard the solids.

  5. When the pork is cool enough to handle, shred it and remove any bones. At this point, you may refrigerate the meat and broth in separate bowls and finish later or the next day.

  6. Measure 4 cups of the pork broth into a large saucepan and add the sage, thyme, and oregano. (If you have leftover broth, put it in a container and refrigerate or freeze it to use in other recipes.) Bring the broth to a boil; reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes.

  7. With a slotted spoon, remove the sage leaves and thyme to a cutting board—chop the sage and remove the thyme leaves from the stems; set the herbs aside.

  8. Gradually whisk the cornmeal into the simmering broth. Bring the mixture to a boil; reduce the heat to low and simmer, frequently stirring, until thickened, about 20 to 25 minutes.

  9. Meanwhile, put the shredded pork in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Alternatively, put it through a meat grinder fitted with a coarse disc. If you chop the pork by hand, chop it as finely as possible.

  10. Add the thickened cornmeal mixture and reserved chopped herbs to the pork mixture along with 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Mix and adjust the seasonings with salt, to taste.

  11. Line a 9-by-5-inch or 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving some overhang for easy removal later. Spoon the scrapple mixture into the pan and then spread to form a loaf. Let cool, then cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, until firm.

Fry Scrapple

  1. Gather the prepared scrapple and other ingredients.

  2. Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a heavy skillet.

  3. Cut the scrapple into 3/4-inch slices and dredge in flour, if desired.

  4. Fry the scrapple slices for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side, or until crisp and golden brown.

Recipe Variations

  • Instead of plain flour, dredge the scrapple in seasoned flour before frying. To 1/2 cup of flour, add 1/4 teaspoon each of garlic powder and onion powder, and 1 dash each of salt and ground black pepper.
  • For more sage flavor, add 1 teaspoon of rubbed dried sage to the simmering broth along with the fresh sage, thyme, and oregano.
  • Instead of vegetable oil, fry the scrapple in bacon drippings.

How to Store

  • Refrigerate the scrapple loaf in a covered container for up to 4 days.
  • To freeze, wrap the loaf (or individual slices) in plastic wrap and foil and put it in a resealable freezer bag labeled with the name and date. Freeze scrapple for up to 12 months. To reheat, defrost the scrapple enough to slice and fry as directed, until hot and golden brown.



Can you eat scrapple raw?

Whether homemade or store-bought, scrapple is fully cooked, but it tastes best when it's fried until hot and crispy on the outside.

Is scrapple gluten-free?

This scrapple is gluten-free if you skip the flour coating, but always check the label on the cornmeal to be sure.

Recipe Tags: