Whether they were family recipes or culinary self-discovery, we all ate some pretty weird foods as kids. While some of us simply outgrew (or eventually began to dislike) these meals, many of us didn’t realize they were ~unusual~ until later in life…
That’s why when a Redditor asked, “What’s a childhood food you thought was normal but later realized was unusual?” hundreds of adults shared the bizarre dishes they realized were weird AFTER they grew up. From “banana croquettes” to “Fart on a Plate,” here are 19 of their best responses:
If you ate a weird food combo or dish as a kid, feel free to tell us about it using this anonymous form!
1.“My family takes bananas, cuts them in half, spreads Miracle Whip on them and tops them with crushed salted peanuts and chills in the refrigerator.”
2.“Fifty years ago, I would eat cooked noodles in a bowl and sprinkle fried bread crumbs and fresh strawberries over them. It was delicious.”
3.“‘Applesauce milkshakes’: It’s basically applesauce diluted with milk and a bunch of cinnamon and sugar added in. It’s actually really good.”
4.“Pineapple Salad: I believe this was a relic leftover from the ’60s, but it was a single-leaf cup of iceberg lettuce, a sliced ring of canned pineapple, which was then topped with mayo, and shredded cheddar cheese was sprinkled over that.”
5.“In my family, it was cornbread in milk. (Some people used buttermilk, but I didn’t like it.) The first time my wife saw me eat it, she looked at me as if I’d grown a third eyeball.”
6.“My mother used to cook double mashed potatoes one night, then the next night add cut up onion and tuna to it. We usually put it on toast. She and I preferred it when it was burnt on the bottom. I’m 60 and it’s still the only tuna I’ve ever willingly eaten.”
7.“Peanut butter and dill pickles. I don’t eat them as often as I used to, but my older brother recently moved in with my husband and me, and he still eats peanut butter and dill relish on a plain tortilla all the time.”
8.“Make beans and dumplings, then take the leftover ham and beans, thin them out, and cook (flat rolled out) dumplings in them. Dad and I loved to put butter and vinegar on them.”
9.“Chicken ‘taco salad.’ The chicken was in a sauce of Thousand Island dressing and diced tomatoes. Plus shredded lettuce and cheese, and served over chips. I don’t think I’ve heard of anyone else eating this particular combination.”
10.“Cod fish balls. My mom would get cod that came in a wooden box. It had to be soaked for several hours before it could be cooked, and it stunk up the house. Then she’d take breadcrumbs, egg, and the cod and form them into balls and fry them in hot oil.”
11.“Tuna ‘noodies,’ we still call it that because my brother and I couldn’t pronounce ‘noodles’ as toddlers.”
12.“When I was a teen in a group home, many of the girls would melt some Crisco in a fry pan, toss in a slice of bread, sprinkle it with Lowry’s seasoning salt, and fry until it was crispy. It was greasy, but back then, it tasted pretty darn good.”
13.“Cheese sandwiches were a big thing in my house, but I’ve never met anyone else who ate them. It was basically raw grilled cheese. You didn’t toast this masterpiece. Two slices of Kraft American cheese, a healthy spread of butter or margarine on the inside, placed between two slices of white bread. Served with plain Lays and a side of ketchup, and chocolate milk as a bonus.”
14.“Growing up, we put cucumbers instead of lettuce on our tacos. My mom never bought iceberg lettuce because it has no nutritional value. Since iceberg is the lettuce that goes on tacos, we didn’t have lettuce for our tacos. So, she used cucumbers instead.”
15.“Fart On A Plate.”
16.“‘Hungarian Goulash’: This was a poor family’s dinner my mother would make when we had no other food available; it was absolutely disgusting.”
17.“Hamburger biscuits with tomato gravy. You’d mix cooked ground beef into homemade biscuit dough and bake it as drop biscuits. Home-canned tomatoes were cooked into a sauce. My mother was very thrifty. All five kids loved it.”
18.“Macaroni pie. I now know it’s an Italian-American staple, but growing up, I never knew anyone else who ate it or had even heard of it. It’s pasta with an egg-and-Parmesan batter to hold it together, cooked in a pan in olive oil. It’s so good.”
19.Finally, “Scrambled eggs and squirrel brains. My grandfather’s favorite dish. I used to eat it and I liked it until I found out what it was.”
Have you ever tried any of these foods? What weird dish or combo was a staple in your home growing up? Tell us about it in the comments or using the anonymous form below!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
