What the Heck Do People Put on Scrapple?

You're at your kitchen table and scrapple is sitting there on your plate next to your eggs and pancakes. Or you're at the diner and there's a beautiful side dish of crispy scrapple slices sitting there.

Before you dig in to the scrapple, what do you put on top of it?

Every scrapple lover has their own answer to this question.

Nothing!

Ketchup!

Maple syrup!!

These are some of the standards that scrapple lovers are most passionate about, and I wanted to get an idea of

1. What are the definitive scrapple toppings? and
2. Are there any odder scrapple toppings out there we can all learn from?

I put the question out there to the Scrapple Facebook Page and was not disappointed.

I counted up the answers and below are the not-at-all-scientific results.

I know, that's a lot of stuff crammed into "Other" and we'll explore that later, but first let's look at the clear winners.

How Most People Top Their Scrapple

I don't think there are any surprises in the top four. These are classic scrapple topping selections in order of popularity.

Nothing At All

The clear favorite for a scrapple topping is, well, no topping at all. 

"Scrapple is amazing as it is." ~Jeff H.
"Scrapple on top of scrapple is good for me." ~Kenneth L.

The thing that goes best with scrapple is, apparently, scrapple. Hard to really argue with this.

Ketchup

Ketchup is a very strong second place as a scrapple topping. And I'd say the most passionate supporters.

"Ketchup. Anything else is just wrong." ~Joseph D.
"Ketchup. The only way to go." ~Jeremiah C.

And many people just wrote: "Ketchup!" feeling no further explanation was needed. 

There is, of course, some debate about this topping. I won't take any sides but I'll leave this here for everyone to think about. 

"Not to start a feud as it's been known to do, but here's the thing about ketchup. Ketchup is for people who like ketchup - because it covers up the taste of everything it goes on. It's all you taste." ~Paul F.

🔥 🔥 🔥 Paul F. throwing shade to ketchup lovers everywhere.

Maple Syrup
A lot of scrappler lovers enjoy the perfect combination of savory and sweet.

"I love syrup on my scrapple. Preferably the pure maple kind. The sweetness just cuts the savory and crunchy things going on with the scrapple. It's heaven." ~Bob W. 

Or perhaps you just eat breakfast and take what the breakfast gods give you.

"Real maple syrup is not bad, it happened by accident and I am not sorry." ~Dave L.

Runny Eggs

Perhaps not a "topping" exactly. I'd say this is a bit of a combination with "nothing." But there were plenty of people who specifically plan out their plate with eggs cooked just so that when you break into them, you'll have plenty of yolk to run your scrapple through. 

"I like my eggs cooked sunny and runny. Love dipping the scrapple in the eggs." ~Tony K.

Simple. But you can certainly get more creative:

"Instead of egg in the bread I make egg-in-the-scrapple. Then throw some hot sauce on it. Breakfast of champions." ~Brian K.

That is certainly a scrapple creation I'm looking forward to trying.

The "Other" of Scrapple Toppings

This is the fun part. As more answers started coming in, I saw a few surprises bubble to the top. These are much of what make up the 22% of "Other" in the pie chart above.

These might not be surprises to everyone, but most of the items below were new to me as scrapple topping ideas. Most of these are reflective of where you grew up eating scrapple, or who introduced you to the dish.

Apple Butter
Apple...and butter? Not really, it's probably more of an apple jam. I've never had the pleasure of eating apple butter, but I certainly want to try it now with my scrapple. 

"Pork, spice and apple are always a winning combo." ~Michael K.

I'm told it's readily available at the Apple Scrapple Festival where they like to share fun scrapple experiments.

King Syrup
People were very specific -- not "maple syrup" but King Syrup. This was not something I'd ever even heard of. Doing a bit of research, King Syrup started in Baltimore and seemed to move south. It's not always easy to find, but those who know King syrup swear by it.

From what I can tell, King Syrup is kind of a thicker pancake syrup. Besides topping scrapple, several people mentioned it makes for an excellent "Wet Bottom Shoo-Fly Pie." Another thing I'll have to take their word on for the time being but am excited to try.

Hot Sauce
Definitely something mentioned as a topping, though people were not super passionate about this option. A few folks listed it as their number one option, though many listed it as their third or fourth. 

A few people also mentioned sriracha, which is certainly different than hot sauce but worth noting since it's a similar category.

Mustard
This was perhaps the biggest surprise for me. Some eaters mentioned mustard as the perfect topping if you're eating a scrapple sandwich, but several people said they enjoy it alone too as a pure scrapple topping. Yellow mustard only.

Grape Jelly
Perhaps not that far off of the Apple Butter eaters. But most jelly voters specifically mentioned Grape Jelly as their jelly of choice. 

"I've tried strawberry and peach and the flavors just didn't mix for whatever reason." ~Jeff J.

I find jelly to be an interesting topping idea but I find grape jelly to be an absolutely fascinating scrapple topping in its specificity. Especially since most people mentioned this getting passed down from other scrapple eaters.

Also Mentioned as Scrapple Toppings

There were a few toppings that were mentioned only once or twice, but they are interesting enough to note!

• Raw Horseradish
• Applesauce
• Tomatoes (in a sandwich or just right on top)
• Mayonnaise
• Old Bay
• Cut up in grits. ("High scrapple to grits ratio, of course." ~Sean T.)
• Homemade pepper relish (which has me wondering about other homemade scrapple toppings)

The scrapple eaters have spoken. Did we all get it right? Is there something missing? Speak your mind in the comments below!