It’s Time for a Roadtrip to Yoder’s Country Market

Located around an hour away from Knoxville, off Interstate 81, lies a location which, when mentioned, causes women to begin speaking in hushed tones and excited whispers. If you dare speak its name to serious bakers, their eyes might even begin to glaze over. What is this place? It’s Yoder’s Country Market, located at the Bulls Gap exit on I-81.

For years, I’ve heard about Yoder’s Country Market, and I’ve always meant to stop by. This country store, which also has a deli counter, is famous amongst my friends who cook. But despite traveling I-81 frequently, I’ve never managed to visit.

That changed last week. On a sunny, but cool, Thursday morning, I jumped into my Honda Ridgeline, grabbed my friend K at our church, and cruised out I640 for what could be called by many cooks and bakers…. the Promised Land.

You might be wondering why I’d be willing to drive over an hour just to visit a country market. Well, it all started with a loaf of bread we bought at Kroger (or Ingles, I can’t remember).

We’re not huge bread eaters at my house, but for some reason, this loaf of bread lasted a lot longer than normal. In fact, it sat on our counter for at least a month. When I went to throw it out, I made an astounding discovery. After all that time, that loaf of bread didn’t have a speck of mold on it.

How does that work? What did that bread have in it that prevented it from molding? That started me on a journey to begin looking for healthier food options. You can read more about that here.

Since that time, Hubby has been doing some reading, and he’s been sharing his concern about the questionable ingredients in food that you get at the local grocery store. That led me to this mid-morning jaunt to Yoders Country Market. I’d heard it was the place to get wholesome food.

After an uneventful trip (although we did see a lot of state policeman…thankfully we didn’t get stopped), K and I arrived at Yoder’s Country Market. At first, I was a little disappointed. It was nowhere near as big as I had assumed it was. But once I began looking around, I was amazed by how much food could be crammed into such a small location.

Although it was still early, K strongly suggested that we eat first. Apparently, Yoder’s is very popular with the locals and truck drivers. She was concerned if we didn’t  get in line now, we’d be waiting for a while.

So, here’s how it works at Yoder’s. The deli counter is located at the back of the store. When you get up to the deli counter, there are pieces of paper strewn on it. Your job is to circle what type of bread you want, what kinds of meats and cheese, and what kind of condiments you want on your sandwich.

If you’re lucky, you’ll be in line with one of the locals who’ll tell you about the special for the day, let you know if it’s any good (it is), and even help you fill out your paper if you need it.

Once you’ve given one of the deli ladies your order, you can walk by the cooler and pick up your sides while you wait for your sandwich. Make sure and get some potato salad. It was amazing with these tiny pieces of Gerkin pickles that exploded with flavor when you bit into one.

Yoder’s Country Market has no indoor seating, so once you get your sandwich, and pay for it at the front of the store, you have a choice. You can sit in your car, or you can sit at one of the many tables on their covered front porch. While it was chilly, K and I decided to sit at the tables out front. We sat down to dig in.

The sandwiches at Yoder’s Country Market are piled high with meat and cheese. While they tasted amazing, neither K nor I were able to finish ours. Thankfully she had a small cooler we could store them in while we set off to discover if Yoder’s was really worth the trip.

We started off in the bakery area. This is fresh bread that is baked in-house. We’re talking sourdough, brioche, yeast rolls, and whole wheat bread just to name a few.  And once you get past the breads, you’ll see the pies, cakes, cookies and sweet breads.

The selection was amazing. It was so tempting to load up on baked goods, but I resisted temptation and only purchased a Blueberry Amish Friendship Cake. It was refreshing to read the ingredients list and see only ingredients that I had used myself…no ingredients that I didn’t recognize.

Believe it or not, I didn’t manage to get a picture of all those baked goods. I was so busy looking at the selection of jams and jellies in front of the bakery area that I totally missed it.

Speaking of jams and jellies. I chose a blackberry jam that had only five ingredients…and I could pronounce them all.

If you want candy, this is the place to go. We’re talking lots and lots of candy. All different kinds of candy. In addition, there seemed to be a good selection of sugar free candy.

I picked up a gift package of 10 four-ounce bags of Amish country popcorn. With names like Rainbow, Lady Finger, and Blue popcorn, I can’t wait to try them. After all, what is better when you sit down for a movie than a big bowl of buttered popcorn?

Apparently, Yoder’s Country Market has quite the reputation for good bologna. When I checked out Trip Advisor, many of the comments listed talked about it. Our family’s not much on deli meat, so I skipped that area. K stood in line and picked up some of that infamous bologna for her hubby.

I headed to the cheeses where I found an interesting selection. There was Espresso Cheddar Cheese, Ghost Pepper Cheddar Cheese, Guggisberg Swiss Cheese, and Habanero and Jalapeno Cheddar Cheese, just to name a few.

In addition, this is where I picked up a roll of Amish butter. It is unbelievably flavorful. I don’t know if I can go back to regular butter.

At the risk of dating myself, I took a trip down memory lane when I saw this package of creamed chipped beef. My mom used to make that and serve it over toast when we were growing up.

While K waited in line for her bologna, I investigated the baking aisle. I was overwhelmed with the selection of flours and sugars. I stood there for several minutes before I finally decided on whole wheat flour, and I also picked up some stone ground cornmeal. That was enough for today. I’ll come back and try something more exotic.

For my friends who enjoy making candy, they have a huge choice of flavorings including Pecan, Butter Rum, and Chocolate Hazelnut. They have Backstrap Molasses (whatever that is), Cinnamon Maple Syrup, and vanilla beans.

And for those of you who love dips of all kinds, Yoder’s has a huge selection of dry mixes. All you do is add the liquid ingredients.

Just to make sure no-one feels left out, Yoder’s Country Market has both a Kitchen and Kids area. The kitchen area has all kinds of nifty gadgets. That’s where my friend found the sourdough bread starter I was looking for. Wish me luck on that project. If it turns out, I’ll post it on Facebook and Instagram. There are all kinds of gadgets here that you simply can’t do without.

And if you make it out of the kitchen aisle, you are sure to get struck by the hummingbird houses. Yes, that’s what I said, hummingbird houses. These tiny hummingbird abodes are handmade out of wood and come complete with directions on how to endeavor to get the hummingbirds to nest there. I am kicking myself for not getting one.

Finally, Yoder’s Country Market doesn’t leave the kids out. They have a small selection of toys including Coca Cola Checkers, Pound Puppies, Sock Monkeys, and logs to construct your own log cabin.  Make sure not to forget to pick up your harmonica.

And while my goal was to only buy food, I couldn’t resist purchasing some goat milk lotion handmade in the Appalachian Mountains from a veteran owned farm – Bates Family Farm. It was a difficult choice between the Black Raspberry Vanilla and the Cherry Vanilla, but the Black Raspberry won out. It’s sitting on my desk right now, and I use it almost every day.

I know that there are probably some stores here in Knoxville that have some of the same products that I found at Yoder’s Country Market. And I’m going to be looking for them and writing about them if I like them.

Saying that, this trip to Yoder’s Country Market was more than just a shopping trip. It was an opportunity to spend some much-needed time with a friend I don’t get to spend as much time with as I’d like.

So, my suggestion is to grab a close friend (or two) and head to Yoder’s Country Market. Make sure you get there in time for lunch. You don’t want to miss those sandwiches. You’ll have a couple of hours of drivetime to reconnect, and I’m sure you’ll find something you absolutely can’t live without at Yoder’s.

Yoder’s Country Store is open Monday-Wednesday, 830am-5pm, Thursday & Friday, 830am-6pm, and Saturday, 8:30am-5pm. They are closed on Sunday. You can get more information at their website by clicking here. 

What about you? Have you ever been to Yoder’s Country Market? What did you think?