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garbage plate RoadFood.com
garbage plate RoadFood.com
Lifestyle

The Top 25 Weirdest Foods People Eat in the U.S.

This article is written by a student writer from the Spoon University at American chapter.

If you search the internet, you’ll find a lot of Americans talking about how strange food from other countries can be. However, I’m not sure we should be making any accusations because there is some pretty crazy food here too. These are some of the weirdest foods we have in the U.S:

25. Chicken-Fried Steak

weirdest

Photo courtesy of @rfung8 on flickr.com

What it is: Fried steak with lumpy gravy on it.

This food made the list solely because the name is misleading and incorrect. There is no chicken in this dish.

24. Twinkies

weirdest

GIF by Thomas Sireci

What it is: (Gross) It’s a sponge cake with a cream filling.

I’m not gonna lie. I was overjoyed when this country briefly got rid of the atrocity that is the Twinkie.

23. Tator-Tot Casserole

weirdest

Photo by Tiare Brown

What it is: Just your run of the mill casserole except it has tater tots, beef and Worcestershire sauce in it.

Have I mentioned America’s general feeling toward the arteries?

22. Spray Cheese

weirdest

Photo by Steven Depolo

What it is: Chemical cheese.

The act of putting cheese in a can is inherently wrong.

21. Peanuts in Coke

weirdest

Photo courtesy of stitching under oaks on flickr.com

What it is: Peanuts and coke mixed together.

I refuse to try this one for myself. It’s like someone said “Soda isn’t unhealthy enough. We need to add salt.”

20. Poor Man’s Gravy or Red Eye Gravy

weirdest

Photo courtesy of Tom Ipri on flickr.com

What it is: Soda in gravy.

Have you ever been eating gravy and thought this could use some soda? Don’t worry the inventor of Poor Man’s Gravy has your back.

19. Southern Fried Rattlesnake

weirdest

Photo courtesy of Kimberly Vardeman on flickr.com

What it is: Fried rattlesnake.

Do we really need to fry everything here?

18. Garbage Plate

weirdest

Photo courtesy of RoadFood.com

What it is: Garbage plates are quite intricate. On the base there are fries or home fries. Next there is a layer of macaroni salad and/or baked beans. On top of that is the choice of two: cheeseburgers, hamburgers, red or white hots (hot dogs), Italian sausages, chicken tenders, haddock, fried ham, grilled cheeses, or eggs. And finally on top of all of this are onions, mustard and Nick’s signature hot sauce — which is a spicy ground meat sauce.

I’m pretty biased on this one because garbage plates were invented in my hometown so personally I don’t find them weird.

17. Frito Pie

weirdest

Photo by Steven Labinski

What it is: It’s basically Fritos and chili.

I’m just trying to wrap my head around the fact that people willingly eat this.

16. Fried Chicken Gizzards

weirdest

Photo courtesy of Ron Dollete on flickr.com

What it is: Gizzards are a part of the stomach in some animals that help to further break down digested food. Personally, I am not a fan.

Foods like this must be stopped at all cost.

15. KFC’s Double Down

weirdest

Photo courtesy of Michael Saechang on flickr.com

What it is: Cheese and bacon in between two pieces of chicken AKA fat on sodium on fat on sodium.

Wikipedia refers to it as a “pseudo-sandwich” and I can’t say I disagree.

14. McRib

weirdest

Photo courtesy of @Ruocaled on flickr.com

What it is: A saucy riblet on a bun with pickles and onion.

If you ask me, this is one of the worst food-related things to happen to the U.S.

13. Pickled Pig Feet

weirdest

Photo courtesy of John on flickr.com

What it is: Pigs feet that have been soaked in brine.

Who did this????

12. Burgoo

weirdest

Photo courtesy of wikipedia.com

What it is: While some people make it differently, a traditional burgoo can have squirrel, possum, game bird, raccoon or venison in it.

I think I’d actually try this one.

11. Reindeer Hot Dogs

weirdest

Photo courtesy of Wally Gobetz on flickr.com

What it is: A hot dog made out of reindeer meat.

This makes me think of Christmas in the worst possible way.

10. Deep-Fried Butter

weirdest

Photo by Irvin Mai

What it is: butter covered in breading and then deep-fried.

We hate ourselves…and our arteries.

9. Panhaas or Scrapples

weirdest

Photo courtesy of Sharon on flickr.com

What it is: Pork scraps and trimmings, cornmeal and flour, which is then loafed, sliced and pan-fried to make this basically fried meatloaf.

I’m amazed that this actually has a food holiday.

8. Donut Burger

weirdest

Photo courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org

What it is: A burger with a donut bun, usually glazed.

The combination of excessive amounts of sugar and grease makes this is the most aggressively American food I’ve ever seen.

7. Pickled Turkey Gizzards

weirdest

Photo courtesy of theladysrevenge on flickr.com

What it is: Turkey gizzards soaked in brine.

I’m officially starting the #StopGizzards2016 campaign and the first one on the list will be pickled turkey gizzards.

6. Spam

weirdest

Photo by Mike Mozart

What it is: Canned meat.

It’s like bologna but worse on every level. It’s also the weirdest food I’ve ever encountered.

5. Rocky Mountain Oysters

weirdest

Photo courtesy of Wally Gobetz on flickr.com

What it is: Bull, sheep or pig testicles.

It’s all fun and games until you find out that you’re eating an animal’s testicles.

4. Chitterlings or Chitlins

weirdest

Photo courtesy of HumanitiesWritLarge on flickr.com

What it is: Chitlins are fried pig intestines and yes they smell as bad as you imagine intestines smelling.

This is the grossest food I have ever had the misfortune of encountering.

3. Turducken

weirdest

Photo by Dan Walsh

What it is: It’s chicken put into a duck, which is then put into a turkey.

I’m shocked that this was invented at all but completely unphased by the fact that it was in America.

2. Koolickles

weirdest

Photo courtesy of I believe I can fry on flickr.com

What it is: Pickles soaked in Kool-aid.

Just thinking about the possibility of Kool-aid and pickles being combined makes me ill.

1. Jell-O Salad

weirdest

Photo courtesy of @amy_buthod on flickr.com

What it is: Jell-O with various types of salad in it. The worst one was macaroni salad.

I don’t want to live in a country that thinks this is edible. *Packs bags.*

Go try these foods and see how weird they really are. But please don’t eat any Jell-O salads.

Faith is a writer for Spoon University. She is in her third year at American University studying Communications. Her favorite food is chocolate (anything). She’s from upstate New York and is waiting for the day when she can live in a Wegmans grocery store.