Some foods like apple pie, fried chicken, or grilled cheese will never go out of fashion. However, some dishes don’t stand the test of time. They’re too complicated to prepare, a little weird, or sometimes just plain gross. Here are 17 classic American foods that are no longer popular.
Jell-O Salad
Made with flavored gelatin, fruit, and vegetables, Jell-O Salad was popular in the mid-20th century, with lime, cherry, and grape flavors. It was a staple at family gatherings and potlucks in the 1950s and 1960s, but the rise of fresher, less processed food options made Jell-O salad less popular over time.
Tuna casserole
Tuna casserole was an affordable and easy-to-make comfort food during the 20th century. However, modern preferences for fresher seafood and lighter meals have made it less popular as a homemade meal. This traditional dish was made with canned tuna, canned mushroom soup, pasta, and breadcrumbs. Honestly, we miss it!
TV dinners
TV dinners arrived in the 1950s with options such as pot roast and Salisbury steak. They were designed to be eaten in front of the TV, as documented by History.com, which was pushed by a marketing campaign from Swanson. These days, faster casual dining and more health-conscious diets have lessened their appeal.
Ambrosia salad
Ambrosia salad originated in the South in the 1800s when citrus fruit became more widely available. It began as a simple mixture of sugar, coconut, and oranges, changing over time to include more fruit, nuts, and even marshmallows. Sadly, modern attitudes towards sugary foods have changed their status as a country-wide favorite.
Liver and onions
Liver and onions were once a popular dish, fried in butter and sometimes complemented by bacon to add extra flavor. The liver’s high iron and vitamin content makes it extremely nutritionally dense, making it a popular health food, but it grosses some people out these days, reducing its popularity.
Creamed corn
Creamed corn is a simple dish made by mashing fresh corn kernels and cooking the corn in the collected residue. The dish can be enriched with butter, milk, or cream, and sometimes bacon is added for extra flavor. Nowadays, it is typically only eaten as a holiday side dish.
Pineapple upside-down cake
Canned pineapple became popular in the United States during the early 1900s, and with that, according to the Smithsonian Magazine, came the pineapple upside-down cake. It was a unique dish with an even more unique baking technique, but it’s less popular now, with more globally inspired desserts taking its place.
Spam
Spam became popular during World War II due to its long shelf life. It can be prepared in countless ways, from frying it to adding it to recipes such as Spam musubi. Sadly, spam’s popularity has declined due to its image as a cheap, processed meat product.
Chicken à la king
Chicken à la king is a creamy mixture of chicken, mushrooms, and vegetables, served with a carb. Some people claim that it was developed in Philadelphia, while others say it was made in England. Either way, it was everywhere in the early 1900s, but interest has waned over time.
Watergate salad
Watergate Salad was popular in the 1970s as a dessert or sometimes a side dish at family gatherings and potlucks. Its ingredients include instant pistachio-flavored pudding, canned pineapple, cool whip topping, nuts, and marshmallows. However, this dish does not really hold up to modern food standards and is not as popular anymore.
Meatloaf
A hearty and tasty traditional American dinner served with vegetables and mashed potato, meatloaf was once a staple of family dinners. It was accessible, affordable, and easy to prepare, being made with ground beef, breadcrumbs, onion, and seasoning. It’s still fondly remembered, but meatloaf is nowhere near as popular as it once was.
Corned beef and cabbage
Corned beef and cabbage are rooted in Irish-American culture and are particularly associated with St. Patrick’s Day. The NY Times explains that this meal originated in the United States in the 19th century when Irish immigrants found that corned beef was more affordable than bacon. We think it needs a comeback!
Baked Alaska
Baked Alaska is an eye-catching dessert created at Delmonico’s Restaurant in New York City in 1876 in honor of Alaska’s newly acquired territory. It has a frozen ice cream center encased in sponge cake and meringue, so we can’t understand how something so delicious has lost so much popularity!
Beef Stroganoff
Beef Stroganoff is made by cooking beef and mushrooms in a sour cream sauce, and it used to be popular in the US. It originated in Russia but was adopted into American cuisine during the 20th century, but the younger generations of today find it too ‘basic.’ They don’t know what they’re missing!
Fondue
Fondue is a Swiss dish adopted by Americans in the 1960s as a novelty meal. It’s a group activity that involves dipping bread, vegetables, fruit, or meats into melted cheese or chocolate. It’s not the most convenient meal and can be quite messy, which is probably why its popularity didn’t last.
Tomato aspic
Tomato aspic was a gelatin-based meal that often featured vegetables and spices. It was made with tomato juice and gelatin and sometimes enhanced with additions like shrimp or avocado. It became popular in the 1950s when gelatin-based dishes became a stylish staple at dinner parties, but these days, it just looks downright strange.
Chipped beef on toast
Finally, how could we forget chipped beef on toast? HistoryNet remembers how this dish took the military by storm, serving chipped beef with white gravy on toast. Soldiers affectionately referred to this dish as S.O.S., which stood for ‘Save Our Sto.’chs’. It even made its way into American households, but sadly, it’s quite the rarity these days.
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