Adults Are Recalling The "Nightmare" Meals They Were Forced To Eat As Children (2025)

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As children, some of us never really had the option to pick what was made for dinner — in fact, there were even some instances where we absolutely hated what was being served. So when Reddit user coldpizza4brkfast asked: "As a child, what is one meal that you always dreaded?" so many adults shared their "tortured" experiences. Here's what they said below. 1. "Liver and onions." 2. "Brussels sprouts. Back in the day, they were bitter and boiled until gray. My parents claimed their marriage was based on a mutual love of Brussels sprouts, so we had them often. Nothing like modern BSs." 3. "Pork chop night. Mom overcooked them. Every time. Brown pucks of protein that I drowned in ketchup." 4. "Borscht. This was the only mealtime fight I ever won with my parents. I sat in front of that bowl from lunch until bedtime, but would not eat it. My parents swore the bowl was fuller at the end, from my tears. But I never ate it, and they never tried to make me, again." 5. "Tuna fish casserole. Tastes awful, smells even worse, put me off canned tuna for practically my entire adult life." 6. "Canned peas were the worst." 7. "Corned beef and cabbage. Cabbage was overcooked to the degree that it was liquefied. My parents had no clue about cooking vegetables. My brother and I used to smuggle veggies into a napkin and then into our pockets, and then bury them in the backyard. We got in trouble when my mom was gardening and found a cauliflower graveyard." 8. "Anything with lima beans as a side." 9. "Pickled beets — the purple colored, canned ones." 10. "Wild answer here, but steak. My mom would buy these London broil steaks and broil them in the oven. It was like eating your shoe. I would just drown it in A1 to get through. It wasn't until probably high school that I discovered that steak could be awesome. Now, it's probably my favorite meal and the number one thing I pursue when we are going to go have a nice meal somewhere." 11. "Beef tongue." 12. "Salmon Patties/croquettes, depending on your location. Can't eat salmon to this day." 13. "Rabbit stew. My dad would put the carcass in whole instead of stripping it, so you'd be spitting out tiny bones all meal long." 14. "Chop suey from the La Choy kit. I could not stop myself from gagging on it, and my Mom would smack me because she thought it was intentional." 15. "Scalloped potatoes. It’s the only way I know of that a person can prepare potatoes that I don’t like." 16. "A meal involving Nellie’s Sweet and Sour Beets. I can’t think of anything I hate more than these, except maybe mayonnaise. My sister loved those beets, and she was the golden child, so it was a constant battle. The smell of them makes me gag to this day." 17. "In Mississippi we call it 'SOS' aka shit on shingles… basically hamburger gravy over toast. Refuse to eat it to this day!" 18. "Mashed lungs. Literally ground, fried up in a pan, lungs. shudder." So, tell us, what is one meal that you always dreaded as a child, either anonymously in the Google Form or in the comments below?


    "My mom would cook them until they curled up and made a 'clink' sound when they hit the plate."

    by Raven IshakBuzzFeed Staff

    As children, some of us never really had the option to pick what was made for dinner — in fact, there were even some instances where we absolutely hated what was being served. So when Reddit user coldpizza4brkfast asked: "As a child, what is one meal that you always dreaded?" so many adults shared their "tortured" experiences. Here's what they said below.

    1. "Liver and onions."

    Adults Are Recalling The "Nightmare" Meals They Were Forced To Eat As Children (2)

    Studioimagen73 / Getty Images

    —MollySleeps

    "After my little brother threw up at the supper table, liver and onions were never served again."

    —NeutralTarget

    2. "Brussels sprouts. Back in the day, they were bitter and boiled until gray. My parents claimed their marriage was based on a mutual love of Brussels sprouts, so we had them often. Nothing like modern BSs."

    Adults Are Recalling The "Nightmare" Meals They Were Forced To Eat As Children (3)

    Feifei Cui-Paoluzzo / Getty Images

    —Utterlybored

    "My mom used to steam them in a dark beer, and toss them with butter and sliced almonds. They were good, and I didn't get the hate until I had some awful boiled mushy sprouts.

    Now, I roast them with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Delicious, especially the leaves that fall off and get crispy. My kids actually get excited when we have Brussels sprouts."

    —Severe_Departure3695

    3. "Pork chop night. Mom overcooked them. Every time. Brown pucks of protein that I drowned in ketchup."

    Adults Are Recalling The "Nightmare" Meals They Were Forced To Eat As Children (4)

    Krit Of Studio OMG / Getty Images

    —liziamnot

    "My mom did the same. She would cook them until they curled up and made a 'clink' sound when they hit the plate. I remember sawing them with a steak knife and seeing 'pork sawdust' coming off of them. It wasn't until I was an adult that I realized that I don't actually hate pork chops, I just hate dried-out pork jerky."

    —A911owner

    4. "Borscht. This was the only mealtime fight I ever won with my parents. I sat in front of that bowl from lunch until bedtime, but would not eat it. My parents swore the bowl was fuller at the end, from my tears. But I never ate it, and they never tried to make me, again."

    Adults Are Recalling The "Nightmare" Meals They Were Forced To Eat As Children (5)

    Alernon77 / Getty Images

    —Wienerwrld

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    "I can't even be in a house where it's cooked. I don't know what it is about it, but even the smell makes me gag. Our family recipe involves spare ribs, beets, cream, dill, etc. I'm not sure if it's the spare ribs or just the entire combination of smells, but it's a nope for me."

    —LunchDependent265

    5. "Tuna fish casserole. Tastes awful, smells even worse, put me off canned tuna for practically my entire adult life."

    Adults Are Recalling The "Nightmare" Meals They Were Forced To Eat As Children (6)

    LauriPatterson / Getty Images

    —Ceorl_Lounge

    "My mom made a tuna noodle casserole with cream of mushroom soup, canned mushrooms, and frozen peas. I would refuse to touch it and just go to bed hungry, but one night, she told me I couldn’t leave the table until my plate was clean. Dinner was at 5 p.m.; she finally gave up around 6 a.m. and let me leave. We never had it again."

    —Competitive_Web_6658

    6. "Canned peas were the worst."

    Adults Are Recalling The "Nightmare" Meals They Were Forced To Eat As Children (7)

    Photosiber / Getty Images/iStockphoto

    —tbrick62

    "No, just second to worst. Canned peas and carrots tasted terrible separately, but were another level of horror together. It wasn't until I had been on my own for a few years that I realized fresh carrots and frozen peas were easy to cook, cheaper, and delicious."

    —PunkCPA

    7. "Corned beef and cabbage. Cabbage was overcooked to the degree that it was liquefied. My parents had no clue about cooking vegetables. My brother and I used to smuggle veggies into a napkin and then into our pockets, and then bury them in the backyard. We got in trouble when my mom was gardening and found a cauliflower graveyard."

    Adults Are Recalling The "Nightmare" Meals They Were Forced To Eat As Children (8)

    LauriPatterson / Getty Images

    —AddendumPuzzled3202

    "My mom was born in the '40s, and she cooked the hell out of vegetables! I’ve read cookbooks from the '50s-'70s, and they mostly loved to boil veggies in water —FOREVER. LOL

    I joke that it’s amazing any of my siblings love vegetables now. I like mine raw or steamed until crisp. LOL."

    —YogaChefPhotog

    8. "Anything with lima beans as a side."

    Adults Are Recalling The "Nightmare" Meals They Were Forced To Eat As Children (9)

    Ruslan Lytvyn / Getty Images

    —indictmentofhumanity

    "I am the least picky eater ever, but I am overjoyed that I never have to eat lima beans again. WHY WAS MY CHILDHOOD PLAGUED BY LIMA BEANS?"

    —OffbeatCoach

    9. "Pickled beets — the purple colored, canned ones."

    Madeleine_Steinbach / Getty Images

    —Stardustquarks

    "I eat those in a salad every night if my life. And when they’re gone, I put hard-boiled eggs in the pickle juice to make them pink and tasty."

    —AnitaIvanaMartini

    10. "Wild answer here, but steak. My mom would buy these London broil steaks and broil them in the oven. It was like eating your shoe. I would just drown it in A1 to get through. It wasn't until probably high school that I discovered that steak could be awesome. Now, it's probably my favorite meal and the number one thing I pursue when we are going to go have a nice meal somewhere."

    Adults Are Recalling The "Nightmare" Meals They Were Forced To Eat As Children (11)

    LauriPatterson / Getty Images

    —RunsWithPremise

    "Omg, I had the same experience. Steaks were always well-done and awful. Got a ribeye at an actual steakhouse and almost died, it was so good. Now, I’ve learned to pan cook my own steaks, and I can finally enjoy."

    —cephalophile32

    11. "Beef tongue."

    Adults Are Recalling The "Nightmare" Meals They Were Forced To Eat As Children (12)

    Narcissus Studio / Getty Images

    —Sea-Election-9168

    "My grandmother would grind the beef tongue up and make it into Sloppy Joes. None of the siblings or cousins knew it was beef tongue. Guess it depends on presentation?"

    —Tools4toys

    12. "Salmon Patties/croquettes, depending on your location. Can't eat salmon to this day."

    Adults Are Recalling The "Nightmare" Meals They Were Forced To Eat As Children (13)

    Caziopeia / Getty Images/iStockphoto

    —naked_nomad

    "Thank you! Ugh, the smell would permeate the house! We rebelled and just evacuated. My sister and I agreed that no punishment would be worse. That smell would make me gag.

    Mom would sneak us PBJs later in the evening when Dad wasn't watching."

    —Zestyclose-Smell-788

    13. "Rabbit stew. My dad would put the carcass in whole instead of stripping it, so you'd be spitting out tiny bones all meal long."

    Adults Are Recalling The "Nightmare" Meals They Were Forced To Eat As Children (14)

    ALLEKO / Getty Images/iStockphoto

    14. "Chop suey from the La Choy kit. I could not stop myself from gagging on it, and my Mom would smack me because she thought it was intentional."

    Adults Are Recalling The "Nightmare" Meals They Were Forced To Eat As Children (15)

    Retro Ads / Via youtube.com

    —Apprehensive-Crow-94

    "Twinsies! Chop suey from a can was so gross. I hated it so much that my mom started letting me make myself a hot dog for dinner instead. The crunchy noodles were okay.And Lima beans were not edible. Bleh."

    —FadingOptimist-25

    15. "Scalloped potatoes. It’s the only way I know of that a person can prepare potatoes that I don’t like."

    Adults Are Recalling The "Nightmare" Meals They Were Forced To Eat As Children (16)

    DronG / Getty Images

    —Bazoun

    "Ham and scalloped potatoes, the worst. My mom always undercooked the potatoes, and they had a flavorless sauce that was the consistency of glue. Always served with a few cold, cheap glazed ham."

    —Second_breakfastses

    16. "A meal involving Nellie’s Sweet and Sour Beets. I can’t think of anything I hate more than these, except maybe mayonnaise. My sister loved those beets, and she was the golden child, so it was a constant battle. The smell of them makes me gag to this day."

    Adults Are Recalling The "Nightmare" Meals They Were Forced To Eat As Children (17)

    Aunt Nellie's / Via youtube.com

    17. "In Mississippi we call it 'SOS' aka shit on shingles… basically hamburger gravy over toast. Refuse to eat it to this day!"

    Adults Are Recalling The "Nightmare" Meals They Were Forced To Eat As Children (18)

    Cowboy Kent Rollins / Via youtube.com

    —BlueDotLove

    "Chipped beef on toast. That is the classic 'shit on a shingle' brought to you by the U.S. Army."

    —GeoBrian

    18. "Mashed lungs. Literally ground, fried up in a pan, lungs. shudder."

    Adults Are Recalling The "Nightmare" Meals They Were Forced To Eat As Children (19)

    AlizadaStudios / Getty Images/iStockphoto

    So, tell us, what is one meal that you always dreaded as a child, either anonymously in the Google Form or in the comments below?

    Adults Are Recalling The "Nightmare" Meals They Were Forced To Eat As Children (2025)
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