10 Terrible Food Combos You Should Never Try
Ujjal Lohar | Feb 18, 2025, 06:00 IST
People love experimenting with food, but not all combinations are winners. Some pairings create bizarre, unappetizing flavors that most people find hard to stomach. This list highlights ten of the worst food combinations, from peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwiches to ice cream with soy sauce. Odd mixes like Oreos with salsa or black coffee with pickle juice challenge taste buds in all the wrong ways. While adventurous eaters may dare to try these strange duos, most will agree that some flavors simply don’t belong together. This list serves as a reminder that not every kitchen experiment leads to delicious results!
People have always loved trying new food combinations, and sometimes they discover amazing flavors. But not all mixes work well together—some taste strange, and others are just plain terrible. Here are ten of the worst food pairings that might make even the most adventurous eaters think twice!
In terms of texture, peanut butter and mayonnaise appear to work together creamily, but the taste is sharply at odds with each other. The nutty, deep sweetness of peanut butter clashes with the tangy egg-based creaminess of mayonnaise, leading to a sandwich that many find difficult to stomach. Even for the obnoxious-minded, sometimes people have been known to have it anyway.
Bananas are sweet and soft, while ketchup is tangy and acidic. Mixing the two creates a clash of flavors many would rather do without. Some have tried this pairing, but not before registering it forever in their minds for all the wrong reasons.
Marmite is a yeast extract spread that can be highly salty so much that it drowns the subtle taste of tuna. When the two are fused, the outcome is a very salty, somewhat fishy sandwich that most people would not appreciate. This pairing, among others, is flagged as one of the more bizarre food creations.
Though there is nothing wrong with the current trend of lending a salty hand to sweet dishes, drizzling soy sauce on ice cream goes too far. The savory and umami-laden soy sauce does not mingle well with the creamy sweetness of ice cream, creating a strangely disturbing combination. Those who have dared to sample it have voted it among the worst.
Very sweet, with pure sugary chocolate cookies and sweet white creamy filling-well, Oreos are a beloved treat! Right next to salsa - a blend of tomatoes, onions, and a mix of other spices- completing a very peculiar contrast; sweet versus savory, crunch versus wet. There seems to be an odd person who tries this trick; however, by and large, the difference stands wide as the two should never come together.
It remains unchanged and is combined with a bitter taste of black coffee, something that is highly acidic, creating a drink that is both bitter and acidic. The ill-fated matching is dubbed as an "unholy concoction" by those who live to taste it.
The marshmallows are all soft, and sweet, and garlic croutons are crunchy and savory. The combination is sugary and garlicky, combining properties that are offensive to most connoisseurs. It ranks among the food pairings people eat, as the worst of the lot.
Peanut butter and cheese are both rich and creamy but do not complement each other's rich flavors. The nutty sweetness of peanut butter works against the cheesy salty flavor, resulting in a sandwich that is not satisfying at all. Food-beer is the list of bad food pairings.
This dish makes a hot dog meal. It is a blend of hot dogs with rice, bell peppers, onions, pineapple chunks, and ketchup. Processed meat with sweet pineapple and sour ketchup creates a sweet yet salty taste, perhaps for some undesirable. Worst combination of food cited under this category.
It just doesn't do it for sweet-savory with Kraft singles cheese on Eggo waffles, and a little syrup. The gooey artificial cheese flavor clashes with sugar sweet for a food that's more perplexing than delicious. Worst combinations had in food with real consumers.
Trying new food combinations can be fun, but not all flavors go well together. Some mixes, like peanut butter with mayonnaise or Oreos with salsa, create strange and unpleasant tastes. While a few people may enjoy these unusual pairings, most find them hard to eat. This list shows that not every food experiment is a success. Some flavors are simply too different to mix well, proving that just because you can combine two foods doesn’t always mean you should!