56 Of The Most “Mediocre” Food Opinions That People Shared On This Twitter Thread

It’s pretty easy to start a fight over food, just say you enjoy some pineapple on a pizza or call that orange Kraft product ‘cheese,’ and you’ll find a handful of people ready to go blow for blow. But cooking doesn’t have to be about the extremes, sometimes it can be nice to discuss what underappreciated and humble ingredients more cooks should give a chance. 

So one curious person asked the internet what were their ‘mediocre’ cooking opinions that they still stand by and got a heap of interesting answers. We reached out to chef Ben Ebbrell from the team at Sorted Food to get some tips for the novice home cook. So make sure you’ve eaten so scrolling won’t make you hungry, and be sure to upvote your favorite options. And if you want to see some more controversial food takes, you can find them here. 

More info: Reddit | Sorted

#1

99% of the time, dry generic brand pasta is just *fine* for dinner. I spend all of my culinary efforts on the sauce/topping.

Image credits: junkman21

#2

Butter on a grilled cheese.

I've tried mayo. It's just not as good.

Image credits: starglitter

#3

There are actually some really excellent frozen pizzas (Screamin' Sicilian).

Image credits: d0gf15h

We wanted to know how a novice cook should approach the ocean of information there is online without getting overwhelmed and Ben Ebbrell from the team at Sorted Food had a few tips. "Firstly, food needn’t be stressful. Sorted has always been about finding the JOY in food and cooking. We’re a group of life-long mates who are constantly learning when it comes to food, but the bit that makes the initial hurdle easier is that we’re not doing it alone."

"Find friends or family to learn with… the collaborative experience is far less daunting. Also, don’t just learn textbook-style… grasping the details of something you don’t care about just because that’s in somebody else’s cooking education agenda. Instead find a subject, topic, ingredient, or dish that you love and begin with expanding your repertoire around that."

#4

If you live in a northern country, just buy canned tomatoes. I've wasted so much time grinding fresh but flavourless tomatoes into a watery pasta sauce

Image credits: nonamee9455

#5

Burgers should be very flat and overly cooked. I don't want a giant meatball of a burger wiith some artisan cut of beef. If i wanted beef I'd have a nice steak. My burgers are just the textural middle of a magical blend of condiments.

Image credits: HaddockBranzini-II

#6

Not every meal has to be a culinary adventure. It's fine to just eat something to not be hungry anymore.

Image credits: Sanjuko_Mamaujaluko

Ready-to-eat and pre-prepared meals and ingredients might get a bad rap. but as this list shows, reputation isn't everything. "The quality of products has come on a LONG way in recent years. In fact, they have outstretched some of their own reputations. Have a look for frozen, freeze-dried, or even canned/tinned options of the fresh versions. In many applications, not all, they end up just as good as the fresh. Sometimes, even better. Peas are a prime example… they are nutritionally better when frozen since that’s done within hours or even minutes of picking them, whereas the fresh ones you may buy in season could be days old!"

#7

The Whopper Theorem: Larger burgers should be wider, not taller.

Image credits: BenjaminGeiger

#8

I will drink red wine with fish and white wine with beef. Who gives a s**t.

Image credits: Blewedup

#9

Jam before cream on a scone

Image credits: AndrewG0NE

"Fusion foods remain popular… why not try some of those. Begin with a pre-made element and twist it up with the addition of an extra ingredient or two. For instance, while tomato sauce is easy to make, sometimes you might just want to skip that step and buy one. But then add in a dollop of Korean gochujang and a spoonful of creme fraiche and you have a whole different approach… the spicy fermented tang turns it into a phenomenal sauce for pre-made potato gnocchi for example," Ben added, when we wanted to know how a home cook might improve a store-bought sauce or other items.

#10

Broccoli is the f*****g best.

Image credits: JohnnySasaki20

#11

This will get me roasted because I think people will think it’s not even mediocre. More like awful lol

I like to use buttered bread for my sandwiches. All of them. Ham and cheese, chicken salad on toast, etc. butter is the first condiment I use.

Image credits: ASardonicGrin

#12

Sometimes a McDonald’s cheeseburger is the only thing I want in the world. Not often but that craving hits hard!

Image credits: Food-and-Wine

Lastly, Ben was gracious enough to share some other tips and tricks he found helpful as a professional cook. "Cooking at home needn’t be a chore… but it’s easy to understand why people might think so. There’s a lot of thinking, planning, and admin to be done upfront. Pick or choose some recipes for the week, work out the shopping list, cross-check it to make sure you don’t miss anything when you go shopping, then you have to swap up on the recipe to make sure you nail it in the kitchen. Even then you’ll likely end up with food waste since the recipe calls for quantities of fresh ingredients less that the packet sizes you have to buy. Our suggestion is to outsource all of that thinking to find a smart solution. We have one, it’s free to use for a month… it’s called Sidekick. It allows you to be the hero of your kitchen and just enjoy the fun bits and great results… without the stress or food waste."

#13

When I say I like coffee, that means I like *all* the coffee.

I appreciate high end coffee, but I also like truck stop coffee, church basement coffee, reheated late afternoon coffee. I just like coffee.

Image credits: battlelevel

#14

Frying at home isn’t worth it. It’s messy, time consuming, and uses too much oil. My southern ancestors are rolling over in their graves as I type.

Image credits: xxrachinwonderlandxx

#15

PB&J is a great sandwich

Image credits: 123timing

#16

Totally with you on the american cheese. Everytime someone on the internet mentions american cheese, someone chimes in saying it isn't really cheese. Well so what? I can still like it.

Image credits: majesticjules

#17

A lot of “generic” or store brand products top the name brand. Lookin at you my sweet, sweet Frosted Mini Spooners.

Image credits: Circirian

#18

Pretty much all of my unpopular food opinions boil down to "your food elitism is stupid."

American cheese tastes good, including kraft singles.
Spam tastes good.
Ketchup tastes good.
Who cares if someone likes their steak well done?
Nothing wrong with using minced garlic from a jar.
Nothing wrong with using pre-made spice blends.
Instant mashed potatoes taste good.

Sure, you can get better results with fresher and higher quality ingredients. But if someone doesn't have the time, money, or patience for that, who caaaaaaares.

Image credits: PicturesqueCocktail

#19

In a lot of dishes, like American-style Bolognese, powdered garlic and onion powders are just as important if not better than using the fresh minced onions and garlic. You can add up to a whole tablespoon of each, as well as the freshly chopped stuff. Don't skimp on the dried Italian seasoning either.

Image credits: Philboyd_Studge

#20

Liquid Smoke works well for a lot of things. Not every bbq chicken dinner at home has to smoke for 10 hours. It's also great for adding to dips and sandwich condiments.

Image credits: beestingers

#21

Beef Wellington is overrated. Give me a juicy ribeye any day of the week.

Image credits: spotless1997

#22

Kraft Parmesan Grated Cheese is a multifaceted kitchen ingredient that tastes good and serves as a fantastic thickener for a variety of sauces. Anyone who complains about it being "wood pulp" or "literal cardboard" is an ignoramus who has no idea about the role or use of cellulose in vegetables or cooking in general.

Image credits: WallyJade

#23

Food opinion- Italian American food is just as valid as Italian-Italian food. Just because some stuff had to me made with different versions of ingredients doesn’t mean it’s a radioactive evil sludge abomination. People get wayyyy too pissy about food cultures and trying to gatekeep it. Food is food. You need it to live. Who cares what shape of noodle it goes in your mouth? Either way, it’s gonna come out the same.

Image credits: Green_Cauliflower27

#24

Mustard is the most versatile condiment.

Image credits: theebudha

#25

Philadelphia cream cheese or no cream cheese at all

#26

Hamburger helper is delicious and Spam is only good when fried/griddled.

#27

I like food. Food tastes good.

#28

I dunno about burgers- not big on cheeseburgers in general- but it surely is the only way to have a struggle meal toasted cheese sandwich. On cheapo buttered white sandwich bread.

#29

I eat canned ravioli a few times a year.

I loved it as a kid and crave it sometimes now as 44 year old adult.

#30

Fried Bologna with mustard on white bread is a delicacy.

#31

Chicken tendies are tasty even if you’re a grown a*s person

Image credits: Shigy

#32

Cream cheese on hot dogs is good. Shout out to Seattle for teaching me the dark arts.

#33

Ketchup on a hot dog is fine.

#34

chili has beans

Image credits: Uareatfaultandonlyu

#35

“Mouthfeel” and “deconstructed” are overused terms

Image credits: cartersa87

#36

"Cream of" soups are a terrific ingredient if used properly.

Image credits: DryInitial9044

#37

Velveeta is not evil.

Image credits: TransportationOk1780

#38

I don’t know what the best dessert in the world is, but I know it’s something baked and served warm with vanilla ice cream.

Image credits: connivingbitch

#39

Kraft Mac and cheese is the superior boxed Mac even if it’s mid.

#40

Mushy, sticky rice is delicious.

Not everything is better topped with a fried egg.

Salmon skin is gross.

#41

Boxed cake mix is the way to go - just add an extra egg, use milk , butter instead of oil, homemade frosting, and so on..

#42

Asian culinary just tastes better in restaurants. No amount of effort will fix the lack of flavor in homemade asian food.

#43

I like water.

I don't need to add cordial, I don't need it to be fizzy, I don't need to add syrup or lemon/lime. Plain water is just fine.

#44

Ketchup belongs on hot dogs

#45

Fries dipped in mayo! I like ketchup but mayo is def better.

#46

Mayonnaise is versatile



You can use it in place of vegetable oil & eggs for cookies!

#47

Not all burgers fulfill the same craving. There are like four stages of burger and each meets a different need.

S****y fast food burgers like Jack N the Box or Wendy's.
Still fast food but less s****y like In N Out, Five Guys or White Castle.
Sit down chain burgers like Red Robin, The Habit, etc.
Restaurant burgers which are typically thick and "fancy" in some way like special cheeses or sauces.

Personally I almost never go for a restaurant burger because I prefer thin pattied smash burgers. But I can crave a burger and mean something different on this list every time.

#48

Sometimes the Little Caesar’s pepperoni hits just right.

(Pizza pizza)

#49

You will have to pry my iceberg lettuce out of my cold dead hands.

I can't imagine homemade Mexican/New Mexican/TexMex food without its cold refreshing thinly shredded crunch.

And I will never give up my "1950s" salad with iceberg, canned pickled beets, and blue cheese dressing. I'm fine if that's gross. More for me.

#50

As a Mexican, Taco Bell, Chipotle, Burrito Beach, and Qdoba are absurdly fire. I hate when I have pretentious mexican family or friends say “ew that’s not even real Mexican food” like no s**t Sherlock, I didn’t think a Doritos locos Supreme taco, or my burrito bowl was the real deal on authentic Mexican eats. I don’t crave Mexican food and say “damn, I need some Taco Bell”. When I crave Taco Bell I get Taco Bell. It’s good damn it, and I’m tired of pretending it’s not. Diablo sauce> anything else

#51

Costco hot dog is the best quick lunch in the USA.

#52

The best vessel for emulsifying salad dressings is a shaker bottle with a ball whisk (you know, the ones made for mixing up protein powder).

#53

powdered buttermilk is totally legit. Now I only buy a carton of buttermilk if I run out of powdered.

Also if I'm not feeling like it , I have no problem using pre ground spices.

#54

But have you tried a burger with Muenster?

#55

I like to judge people on whether they like McDonalds or not.

Is McDonalds fine dining ? Absolutely not. But if they honest to god say McDonalds is nasty and inedible, I don't think they are capable of thinking about food objectively. Cause that s**t is delicious from time to time as long as you stick with the classics.

People who universally say it's disgusting are just regurgitating what they think they are supposed to say.

#56

I like jarred pasta sauce (with some additions to make it tastier) and imo it's not worth the hassle of making sauce from scratch. (tomato sauce only, not alfredo, homemade alfredo is THE BEST.)