Iconic Foods Beloved Only by Baby Boomers

Boomers used this spice back in the day, and many still use it today. Promising to “bring your taste buds back to life,” this spicy mixture is known for being a flavorful salt substitute and has stood the test of time. However, there are always risks associated with salt substitutes. Mrs. Dash contains over 20 ingredients, including onion, cayenne pepper, tomato, garlic, carrot, orange peel, citric acid, oregano, thyme, black pepper, oil of lemon, and others. If that’s not overkill, we don’t know what is.

Baby Boomers have been known to choose convenience and quick meals over quality and health. And it’s therefore no surprise that they love canned goods so much. The Vienna Sausage was all the rage in the ‘60s and ’70s, and people just overlooked the fact that it contained ingredients like sheep intestines and parboiled pork. Sheep intestines, really? Once again, we can’t see the appeal Boomers find in this meal.

Let’s be honest. It’s okay to be one of those people who refuse to add sugary toppings or the ever-versatile cheese to your food just because you want to truly appreciate the product for what it is. However, it’s tough not to judge anyone who enjoys the taste of plain dry toast. How can anyone consider eating plain dry toast rewarding, constantly choosing it as a breakfast option day after day?

What comes to your mind when you think of salads? We bet you think of green and healthy, right? Salad dressings should also be light and low fat, but Boomers missed the memo. Why prepare something that’s supposed to make you healthier if you’re only going to slather it in mayonnaise? We can’t imagine how Boomers ate salad this way. It’s even more difficult to understand how they still eat it this way. 

Have you ever asked your grandparents for the recipes of dishes they made for you and you loved as a child? You’d be surprised at the amount of processed ingredients they use. Boomers are all about dishes that take little time to prepare. Consequently, canned soup is one of the things you’ll likely find a Boomer enjoy. Millennials, on the other hand, care more about using fresh ingredients while cooking.

When you think you’ve seen it all and Boomers can no longer surprise you with their insane dishes, you see a culinary crime like ham salad, and you’re rendered speechless. Ham salad is enough proof that some people should never be allowed in a kitchen. We know how much Boomers love adding mayonnaise to everything. What we didn’t know is that Boomers considered everything fair game. Ham and mayonnaise? Sounds great. They even took it a step further and added grapes to the mix.

Created as a substitute for butter, margarine is prepared from liquid vegetable oils by the process of hydrogenation. Boomers jumped on this product because they were told that it was a healthier alternative to butter, and they believed it. What many Boomers don’t realize is that although margarine may have low amounts of saturated fats, it contains unhealthy trans fatty acids and toxic metal residues. These trans fatty acids can result in inflammation in various tissues, severely impacting conditions such as arthritis.

Some things should never be combined. Milk and chicken are some of those things. Milk will always be refreshing, and we will always find chicken to be delicious. There are some unspoken rules that we thought everyone knew, the first one being: Never combine milk and chicken. The fact that someone came up with this culinary abomination blows our minds. Milk chicken? It’s a resounding NO for us. Regardless of how disgusting we think milk chicken is, Boomers thought it was great. The dish hailed from the Southern States and is known for being a budget-friendly party food.

Anyone would expect cookies called “Snackwell’s Low-Fat Foods” to be healthy and slimming. But the shocking truth is these cookies aren’t anything like that. Although the cookie boasts of being “low fat,” it’s been heavily processed and packed with mysterious ingredients. Boomers who indulged in these cookies thought they’d found a magical way to eat branded cookies and stay healthy. Millennials know enough to stay away from these fat-free, mysterious alternatives.

Baby Boomers grew up eating this classic dish. It’s made from ground meat mixed with breadcrumbs, onions, and, most times, ketchup. We tried so hard to find the appeal, but we couldn’t. Why eat something that neither tastes or looks good? What’s with slathering the entire thing in ketchup? What’s with the brown glaze on the outside, and why does it look weird? Why does the meal look so oily? It’s no wonder millennials are giving this meal the side eye.

We have no idea why Boomers thought wrapping cheese individually in single plastic pieces was a good idea. It’s almost as if they forgot about cheese boards or the fact that they had knives to cut up cheese into slices. Processed cheese usually comes in brick or single-slice plastic packaging, which is enough to tell you something is fishy. These “cheese products” aren’t brick slice plastic packaging, which is enough to tell you something is fishy. These “cheese products” aren’t really cheese, and the younger generation knows the truth. It’s no wonder there’s been a decline in their sales over the last few years.

Potatoes are the ultimate comfort food, and mashed potatoes are loved by many. They are cheap, easy to make, and delicious. Leave it to Boomers to opt for canned mashed potatoes when they can easily prepare it from scratch. Once again, Baby Boomers show us that convenience trumps quality. Many would grab a box of instant mashed potatoes instead of making it themselves. Mashed potatoes are easy to make, and there are several recipes for them online.

As a Boomer, you probably have fond memories of the Saturday morning TV shows you enjoyed as a child. Those shows were vehicles of advertisement, and that’s probably where you first came across brands like Kellogg’s. You probably remember always sitting in front of a TV on a Saturday morning, a bowl of cereal in your hands, downing it as you watch TV. Kellogg’s is known for breakfast cereals, such as Frosted Flakes, Froot Loops, Rice Krispies, and Corn Flakes. Let’s talk about the latter.

Boomers consumed artificial sweeteners like Aspartame as an alternative to calorie-packed sugar. They were told they could have sugar but without any of the terrible side effects. In an interesting plot twist, we discovered in recent decades that artificial sweeteners were even more hazardous than sugar. Countless research has shown that Aspartame and others like it can help you lose weight if used minimally. However, completely depending on it as a substitute for sugar can lead to an aversion to healthy food, weight gain, and generally mess with your metabolism.

Boomers are attracted to processed and canned goods of any kind, and they especially love canned tuna. One of the dishes they enjoy making with canned tuna is the classic tuna noodle casserole. We have no idea why they enjoy a dish packed with tuna, cooked noodles, condensed soup, and frozen peas. Thinking of this combination alone is enough to make anyone gag. Tuna noodle casserole is a sad, disgusting excuse for a dish.

A lot of us have sweet memories involving Cool Whip. Cool Whip is a brand of whipped topping popularly used as a dessert. We remember how cool it felt to have some ready-made and convenient whipped sauce to ice our cakes. Cool Whip offered a creamy delight with a low-calorie count. It was one of the most iconic desserts of the 70s. Sadly, this whipped sauce is crammed with questionable ingredients that we can hardly pronounce. The fat-free version is just as bad as it’s filled with hydrogenated oils.

People have referred to strawberry bonbons as an eternally old candy. And there’s a good reason for that, as you’ll see. You’d remember seeing them almost everywhere if you were around in the 80s and 90s. From convenience stores to teachers’ jars, these candies seemed to pop out of thin air. And they’re still around now. This would have been great if the candies tasted nice. But they don’t. They were horrible.

The bologna sandwich is a staple in the USA. It’s popular among lazy cooks and those too busy to spend too much time cooking. We’re not even upset that Baby Boomers consider bologna a proper type of meat. But what’s with slapping cream cheese in between it and white bread? Cream cheese deserves better. With the exciting food trends we have these days and the incredible ongoing food research, eating a sandwich like this is inexcusable.

The very thought of anyone eating liver pate sounds wild and strange. We recognize liver as being on the list of nutritional superfoods. It supports immune function, acts as a high-quality source of protein, and is an excellent source of iron and Vitamin B12. The problem isn’t the fact that Boomers eat liver. The issue lies in how they prepare and present it. Molded liver pate is not just liver. It is a concoction containing liver, mayonnaise, sausage, and unflavored gelatin. Knowing what is used in making molded liver pate is more than enough to make us lose interest in it.

Sometimes, you come across a weird meal, and you can’t help but wonder how someone came up with the idea. How much free time would a person have to come up with the idea of mixing grape jelly and barbeque sauce? Why would someone even consider that a great idea? And why do Boomers love this culinary abomination so much? Why don’t they like finer things in life? Why do they constantly subject themselves to eating unappealing monstrosities and bizarre experiments? We have so many questions.

It’s apparent that food is where the generation gap is widest. Baby Boomers prefer one type, while the younger generation prefers another. One food quirk Boomers have is their love for Schwan’s Foods. The food company has a selection of frozen meals which can be conveniently delivered. And if we know anything about Boomers, we know they’d choose convenience over anything else. Schwan’s Co. has been around since it hit the market in 1966, introducing frozen pizza. And they’re one of the brands Boomers can’t let go of.

If there were a gathering of abominable, unappetizing food creations, meat pate would feel right at home amongst them. Like the other culinary nightmares in this article, this food is popular among the Baby Boomers. Meat pate is a paste stuffed with meat and usually makes an appearance at special holiday cookouts. This dish doesn’t make sense, no matter how we look at it. Pate can be made into something delicious, depending on how good the chef is.

For many Boomers, being able to whip up a meal quickly for family and friends was the dream and goal for each day. And it’s perfectly understandable. TV dinners, also called frozen meals, were known for their convenience and completeness. Boomers saw the appeal in buying a complete meal all at once. And with TV dinners, they didn’t need to deal with the hassle of spending long hours preparing and cooking their meals.

We must admit that we admire the idea of opening the same restaurants in every city. These restaurants create brand recognition and familiar menus for customers. They also offer some nice dishes at an affordable price. But if you forget their familiarity and comfort for a second, you’ll see that the food isn’t entirely great. The primary focus for chain restaurants is increasing sales and profits. Culinary excellence is secondary.

Aspic is one of those foods that gets a considerable amount of hate from Millennials, even those who have never tried it. Do we think the hate is unfair? No, we do not. Aspic uses a gelatin base to encase meat, resulting in a disgusting, horrifying meal. Why would anyone think combining meat and gelatin was a good idea? Any Boomer would tell you that Aspic is a congealed hunk of meat-infused jelly that’s saltier and more savory than Jell-O.

Many Millennials have wondered how boomers figured out vegetables should be boiled and overcooked. Who told them vegetables should be gray mush before eating them? Overcooking vegetables probably started when many of the canned veggies people ate were canned at home. They had to boil these veggies for so long and considered it a safety measure. The truth is that plain-boiled vegetables are bland. They have little or no taste, and their texture is almost non-existent.

Back in the day, you’d know it was the holidays when summer sausage platters were exchanged. Summer sausages would abruptly appear at local gift and meat stores, and the thought of receiving these platters as gifts excited Boomers. On the other hand, most Millennials would probably consider it a joke if you gifted them summer sausage snack platters. There are more creative and exciting gifts, so why would anyone settle for summer sausages?

Soda has never been and will never be healthy for consumption. People worldwide are struggling with soda addiction thanks to a trend started by Baby Boomers. Sodas are made with addictive ingredients like caffeine and sugar, which make them enjoyable and addictive. Drinking them every day is a sure way to invite several health problems. Soda comes in different varieties, ranging from diet to zero calories, and each has its drawbacks.

We don’t blame you if you have yet to realize just how unhealthy and disgusting buffets are. When you have access to unlimited food for a single price, you probably won’t stop to think about how healthy what you’re consuming is. Buffets are a bit icky if you take a moment to analyze them. There’s always that one person getting up close and personal with the same utensils and dishes you’re using. They may even carelessly run their hands all over the food, exposing you to germs and illnesses.

We honestly get why Boomers think juice concentrates are a great option. With the ridiculously high price charged for a glass of orange juice, it’s no wonder the older generation prefers juice from concentrate. However, you can get fresh-squeezed and affordable orange juice in your local store. It’s cheaper, more convenient, and way healthier. Many juice concentrates are highly processed and contain several types of food additives. You also have to go through the entire process of thawing it, mixing it with water, and waiting for it to be ready. 

Savory Jell-O products are undoubtedly one of the most horrifying food creations that emerged in the 70s. Jell-O is that dessert that can bring joy to a kid’s party or make an adult smile as it brings nostalgia to their taste buds. Thanks to Boomers, we discovered that Jell-O can go from an innocent treat to a horrifying monstrosity called Jell-O salads. Let’s not even get started on the dreadful visuals of this dish.

It’s difficult to forget those candies that always seemed to be constantly hidden in your grandpa’s coat pockets or just casually lying around in your grandma’s home. Do you remember your mom digging into her purse and handing you buttermints as a “treat” for being well-behaved? The makers of the candy combined mint with butter, salt, powdered sugar, and peppermint oil. This is definitely not a combination that anyone needs.

Why choose a balanced diet when you can enjoy an unbalanced diet stripped down to meat and carbs? Boomers lived through the war and lived on war rations. Who cared if the meal wasn’t well balanced as long as they weren’t starving? If you lived on war rations, it’s understandable that you’d consider meat and potatoes a healthy, well-rounded meal. There are worse foods out there, we know. But no one should subject themselves to a dish of meat and potatoes when they have other options.

While the younger generation prefers Mexican food, Italian food has always been a fan favorite among Boomers. However, the classic spaghetti and meatballs combo you love, or the garlic bread you enjoy aren’t exactly what you’d find on Italian tables. These dishes aren’t authentic Italian meals. The global love of Italian food began with the mass Italian emigration to the United States. The food cultures gradually became so intertwined that Americans found it impossible to distinguish one from the other.

Ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise: you could hardly walk into a kitchen or restaurant in the 60s without seeing these condiments. Of the three, Boomers heavily relied on ketchup. They used it as a condiment for everything, from hot dogs and meat pies to cooked eggs and fried meat. They even used it with meals that didn’t require it. Boomers consider ketchup a comfort food. It’s one of the reasons they slather it on almost everything. You can never go wrong with ketchup, yeah?

What’s Thanksgiving dinner without stuffing the Thanksgiving turkey, right? No, wrong. Turkey stuffing is a tradition that should have died out decades ago. It’s wrong on so many levels. Stuffing the turkey not only dries out the turkey, but it also opens you up to foodborne illness. The stuffing touches the salmonella in the turkey, and you inevitably consume it, as bacteria can survive in stuffing that has not reached 165° F.

Parsley comes in two varieties – flat-leaf and curly parsley. Curly parsley has an extremely mild taste that can go undetected. As a result, it’s primarily used as a decorative garnish. It had its heyday in the 60s and is now less popular than flat-leaf parsley. Besides its slightly iron-like taste, curly parsley’s coarse texture also contributed to its decline in popularity. The grassy-flavored herb requires more chopping time than the flat-leaf variety does. You may have to deal with the unpleasant sensation in the throat caused by its frizzy leaves if it’s not finely chopped.

Also called Pistachio Delight or Shut the Gate salad, the Watergate salad is a side dish that gained a lot of popularity during and after the Watergate scandal. Not that we can understand why anyone would want this “salad”. The salad is almost as terrible as the scandal. It contains pistachio pudding, canned pineapple, whipped topping, crushed pecans, and marshmallows. It’s hard to suppress a gag reflex when you think about what’s in the salad.

Seeing this bread is sure to make Boomers feel nostalgic. Do you remember the “good old days” when you were more than happy to eat your American yellow cheese sandwich on white processed bread? Wonder Bread was everyone’s favorite back then. But people have realized just how little nutritional value it has and how unhealthy it is. Wonder bread is loaded with simple carbs that your body breaks down quickly. At the end of the day, it seems like you’ve barely eaten; you’re loaded with sugar and want more calories.