97Kviews
People Share 30 Weird Thanksgiving Recipes That Their Families Refuse To Abandon
Rachel Green is the Queen of Thanksgiving. Her eccentric trifle has become quite possibly the most iconic holiday food in television history. However, there are rivals who are trying to dethrone her. When Maya Kosoff asked Twitter users to share the strangest Thanksgiving dishes they came across, many have stepped up to the challenge.
The thread has received over 7.4K likes and 1.1K comments, many of which are showcasing recipes that are so terrible, they're hilarious. Like, the "magic" tomato soup cake with a creamy chocolate frosting. Or frog eye salad. Yes, I know, the title alone sounds like this abomination tastes like feet.
More info: Twitter
This post may include affiliate links.
Thanksgiving Day is one of the most important national holidays in the United States. While there were many events that contributed to the tradition, it is believed that it began in 1621.
When the Mayflower (the English ship that transported the first English Puritans to the New World) left England in September 1620, it landed in Cape Cod where colonists began to settle. After the pilgrims’ first harvest succeeded, they planned a feast with the Native Americans. This get together went down in history as the "First Thanksgiving."
In 1817, New York became the first state to officially organize an annual Thanksgiving. However, it wasn’t until 1863 that President Abraham Lincoln declared it a national holiday.
that actually sounds like a good way to make regular corn bread moist. Sounds yummy and contains no jello or pimentos
I've had similar and its actually pretty decent if way to sweet to have much of. Add some rum and it might be awesome
Doesn't sound that bad or much different from an Ambrosia or Waldorf salad
That's stuff from my nightmares right there. It sounds like something a cat would barf up.
Honey, The Joy of Cooking is a classic, and that copy looks like a first edition!
The thing is... you should really try the recipes out way before the T-day holiday.
This sounds like something you make when snowed in or when you are hungry but too lazy to go get groceries
It does have a particular odour that should be enough to warn people that it is not edible.
Literally logged in to say lutefisk is the most disgusting, FOULEST thing ever on this list. And if you disagree, I challenge you go smell some. Like I would rather eat the red jello shrimp balls on this list than lutefisk.
I think the icelanders will challenge you with their Hákarl --- similar idea but you start with a shark buried on the beach. That said I'd eat lutefisk any day over all these things here involving jello and/or cream cheese. But then I'd happily eat lutefisk once a month anyway.
Load More Replies...
In some parts on Finland they eat lutefisk, lipeäkala, with whitesauce at Christmas. Personally even the smell makes me gag.
My husband tells horror stories of how his mother had to fix the lutefisk for his grandfather every year. Apparently you had to flee the house for the three-day process because the lye was so corrosive to the breathing apparatus.
I'm norwegian, we have it every christmas. I'd rather eat a bucket of that than one bite of all the weird green stuff on this list. How are you even alive. It looks radioactive :D
It's also a common Norwegian dish apparently. I grew up in the first Norwegian settlement in Texas (well it's actually Norse but Clifton is where everyone settled eventually) and even now they have an annual Lutefisk dinner to benefit the volunteer fire dept. When I was a kid it was a pretty common potluck dish too, especially during the holidays. I've never eaten it but boy I can tell you when theres a dish of it around even after all my years away.
I tried it when I was on business travel in Minnesota a few years ago, definitely an acquired taste, wasn't for me.
Real lutefisk doesn't really smell at all. Rakfisk, however... but that's delicious!
A Norwegian I used to with had Sheep's Head at Xmas!!! He said that it was a delicacy!
My friend, Bill and his family, tell horror stories about the lutefisk! I totally enjoy the stories and never cease to be thankful I never had to eat it!!
I think of eating (or even smelling) Lutefisk as a demonstration of one's dedication to Lutheranism. There is a measure of familial martyrdom involved.
So they were from southern Sweden then....mustard on lutfisk is weird indeed. But yeah, it's a bit weird as a dish however you serve it! :) But it's very traditional - great way to preserve fish (dried rock-hard) and make it moist again (with lye, followed by rinsing in cold water).
if you are brave enough to try lutfisk for gods sake bake it don't boil it it will turn in to this jelly like fish substance that is SO GROSS much better baked in butter like normal white fish
My Norwegian grandmother served lutefisk AND pickled herring. Like one vomit inducing dish wasn't enough.
I know strömming is a little different from lutefisk but this doc conveys my sentiment around the stuff :0). https://youtu.be/0SjuRjkLoD4
It feels like the recipe cards for a 1970s style sweet fruit and jello salad and a queso recipe got stuck together and someone didn't notice
Serious question: what is the purpose of tomato aspic? Like, do you spread it on toast, or just eat it like jello?
Now, if you used fresh pears, some nice double or triple cream Brie (and dumped all the other ingredients), that would work for me. 😋
Note: this post originally had 65 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
I just looked it up and apparently Jell-O was very popular in the 1950’s-60’s, so it makes sense that a lot of grandparents and great aunts and uncles would be making stuff with it. Jell-O needs to be refrigerated, and back then not many people had refrigerators, so it was a status symbol to have Jell-O foods. Also, it was in a lot of cookbooks at the time, so many people just assumed that it was something you were supposed to make. The last thing was that it was a fairly fun process to do, and also it was a good way to make lots of canned foods into one thing that looked more appealing to eat. Anyways, fun thing I learned, hope it was helpful!
Load More Replies...
Why on earth do people combine jello with cream cheese so much and THEN if that wasn't weird enough, call it a salad?
I miss my big family thanksgivings, We usually made Tamales, turkey, pies, ham, Birria, and Menudo. Loved it and maybe the oddest thing there was flan or Cabeza (tacos made of beef cheeks and other parts of the head), or Chivo (goat).
why are there so much jelly, salad, cream cheese and cool whip? Every time I try to understand this thanks-giving thing I just get more confused. Can someone please explain?
What's with all the jello? I think I've eaten jello twice in my life. And isn't that usually a dessert?
Jello and aspic (which is basically meat jello), were extremely popular in the 50's and 60's. So a lot of those recipes are still kicking around from then. Most often they would be savoury dishes, with just about anything thrown in. I guess it was seen as being 'new' and 'exciting'.
Load More Replies... 
My mother was obsessed with Jello molds during the holidays. They wouldn't have been so bad, but she insisted on putting either walnuts or pecans in them..and I'm not a big fan of crunchy things in Jello.
I don't know if it's weird but definitely not a normal Thanksgiving side. My. Mom makes stir fry noodles with ramen. She boils noodles and sets them aside, cooks a bunch of bacon sets aside cut up, cooks jalapeño slices in some bacon grease adds noodles and bacon.
After most of the kids moved away to different areas of the country, my father stopped having the traditional huge turkey with all the trimmings kind of Thanksgiving. Christmas was hardly ever the traditional big ham or turkey meal. We usually did things like Lasagna or Stir-fry. I remember one year setting an electric wok up on my Grandmother's table. My sister and I did a Chicken Chow Mien Stir Fry. My Grandmother was a little skeptical at first, but made all sorts of yummy noises as she ate it. She invited me to make it again when I visited during the summer.
Load More Replies...
Yes, I copied a bunch of those recipes. Yes, I will serve some at upcoming family gatherings :)
Can I say that I honestly feel unhappy and uncomfortable looking at these recipes? I'm not even exaggerating.
Our family has its traditional jello salad: orange jello, shredded carrots, mandarin oranges and crushed pineapple all combined and put in a jello ring mold. But we also have strict rules of jello: red jello has mixed canned fruit, green jello has canned pears and the orange is only for holidays. Lol.
I remember maw-in-law making some of these abominations, but she's been dead for 20+ years, and I haven't bothered with Thanksgiving since my son was killed 16 years ago just a few days before that holiday. It has zero meaning to me since then, and I just eat an ordinary dinner here at home, alone, as I have done since his death. Doesn't bother me, it's just another day, and it's just another meal, no abominal food involved, just good stuff I like.
My mom found a recipe on that Sunday insert with stories. It was Berry Mallow Bake, a sweet potato concoction. Somehow, it became Barry Manilow Bake. Years, decades later someone always says don't forget to make the Barry Manilow Bake! We also made Martin Luther King Jr. Jello. That was red, white and blue Jello that someone made at a church function that MLJ attended and commented on the jellow dish. OMG! It was copied and distributed to all the church ladies. We didn't even belong to that church, but my mom had to make MLK Jello!
I am seriously baffled by all the mayo combinations with fruit and sweet things, or such sweet-savoury combos, they are really not part of my country's cuisine and I can't say I've ever tried something similar, but thought of the combinations makes me want to barf. Some of the recipes actually don't seem too bad, the biggest problem I'd have with it is that it looks like a blob (oh, and the colors), but mere description sounds ok.
Someone in my wife's family always bring over yams cooked to the consistency of pudding topped with melted marshmallows.
I've seen many of these at pot lucks, but they were usually avoided.
Looks like all of the dishes from pot-luck dinners at the Methodist church growing up.
Honestly I'd prob try all these (except maybe the aspics) lmao Also anyone see the This Is Us episode last week with the 5 lbs of shrimp as a tradition lol
Our family tradition was Tom & Jerry's. Probably best comparison is egg nog, but with hot water. Of course, lots of bourbon. Loved 'em even w/no booze
Who remembers the "Green Bean Jello" from the "Lizzie Bennet Diaries"?
Which isn't weird at all, it's delicious. Though I can't drink too much cider... sadly.
Load More Replies...
Canned foods I can somehow understand, but the jello in everything is just baffling.
Load More Replies... I just looked it up and apparently Jell-O was very popular in the 1950’s-60’s, so it makes sense that a lot of grandparents and great aunts and uncles would be making stuff with it. Jell-O needs to be refrigerated, and back then not many people had refrigerators, so it was a status symbol to have Jell-O foods. Also, it was in a lot of cookbooks at the time, so many people just assumed that it was something you were supposed to make. The last thing was that it was a fairly fun process to do, and also it was a good way to make lots of canned foods into one thing that looked more appealing to eat. Anyways, fun thing I learned, hope it was helpful!
Load More Replies... Why on earth do people combine jello with cream cheese so much and THEN if that wasn't weird enough, call it a salad?
I miss my big family thanksgivings, We usually made Tamales, turkey, pies, ham, Birria, and Menudo. Loved it and maybe the oddest thing there was flan or Cabeza (tacos made of beef cheeks and other parts of the head), or Chivo (goat).
why are there so much jelly, salad, cream cheese and cool whip? Every time I try to understand this thanks-giving thing I just get more confused. Can someone please explain?
What's with all the jello? I think I've eaten jello twice in my life. And isn't that usually a dessert?
Jello and aspic (which is basically meat jello), were extremely popular in the 50's and 60's. So a lot of those recipes are still kicking around from then. Most often they would be savoury dishes, with just about anything thrown in. I guess it was seen as being 'new' and 'exciting'.
Load More Replies... My mother was obsessed with Jello molds during the holidays. They wouldn't have been so bad, but she insisted on putting either walnuts or pecans in them..and I'm not a big fan of crunchy things in Jello.
I don't know if it's weird but definitely not a normal Thanksgiving side. My. Mom makes stir fry noodles with ramen. She boils noodles and sets them aside, cooks a bunch of bacon sets aside cut up, cooks jalapeño slices in some bacon grease adds noodles and bacon.
After most of the kids moved away to different areas of the country, my father stopped having the traditional huge turkey with all the trimmings kind of Thanksgiving. Christmas was hardly ever the traditional big ham or turkey meal. We usually did things like Lasagna or Stir-fry. I remember one year setting an electric wok up on my Grandmother's table. My sister and I did a Chicken Chow Mien Stir Fry. My Grandmother was a little skeptical at first, but made all sorts of yummy noises as she ate it. She invited me to make it again when I visited during the summer.
Load More Replies... Yes, I copied a bunch of those recipes. Yes, I will serve some at upcoming family gatherings :)
Can I say that I honestly feel unhappy and uncomfortable looking at these recipes? I'm not even exaggerating.
Our family has its traditional jello salad: orange jello, shredded carrots, mandarin oranges and crushed pineapple all combined and put in a jello ring mold. But we also have strict rules of jello: red jello has mixed canned fruit, green jello has canned pears and the orange is only for holidays. Lol.
I remember maw-in-law making some of these abominations, but she's been dead for 20+ years, and I haven't bothered with Thanksgiving since my son was killed 16 years ago just a few days before that holiday. It has zero meaning to me since then, and I just eat an ordinary dinner here at home, alone, as I have done since his death. Doesn't bother me, it's just another day, and it's just another meal, no abominal food involved, just good stuff I like.
My mom found a recipe on that Sunday insert with stories. It was Berry Mallow Bake, a sweet potato concoction. Somehow, it became Barry Manilow Bake. Years, decades later someone always says don't forget to make the Barry Manilow Bake! We also made Martin Luther King Jr. Jello. That was red, white and blue Jello that someone made at a church function that MLJ attended and commented on the jellow dish. OMG! It was copied and distributed to all the church ladies. We didn't even belong to that church, but my mom had to make MLK Jello!
I am seriously baffled by all the mayo combinations with fruit and sweet things, or such sweet-savoury combos, they are really not part of my country's cuisine and I can't say I've ever tried something similar, but thought of the combinations makes me want to barf. Some of the recipes actually don't seem too bad, the biggest problem I'd have with it is that it looks like a blob (oh, and the colors), but mere description sounds ok.
Someone in my wife's family always bring over yams cooked to the consistency of pudding topped with melted marshmallows.
I've seen many of these at pot lucks, but they were usually avoided.
Looks like all of the dishes from pot-luck dinners at the Methodist church growing up.
Honestly I'd prob try all these (except maybe the aspics) lmao Also anyone see the This Is Us episode last week with the 5 lbs of shrimp as a tradition lol
Our family tradition was Tom & Jerry's. Probably best comparison is egg nog, but with hot water. Of course, lots of bourbon. Loved 'em even w/no booze
Who remembers the "Green Bean Jello" from the "Lizzie Bennet Diaries"?
Which isn't weird at all, it's delicious. Though I can't drink too much cider... sadly.
Load More Replies... Canned foods I can somehow understand, but the jello in everything is just baffling.
Load More Replies...