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Food is something universal. We all have to eat to survive. But beyond that, cooking and baking can be tons of fun, eating is a way to connect with other people, and it’s delightful to try new and exciting flavors. However, innovation and originality are far from easy if you’re in the restaurant business.

Some chefs… well, they go overboard with their ideas. Like, epic fail levels of overboard. That’s where the popular Stupid Food online group comes in. It’s a community of people who gently poke fun at some of the most pretentious, bizarre, and confusing dishes people have stumbled across. We’ve collected some of the finest specimens to show you. Scroll down to go down the rabbit hole of weird gastronomic designs, and be sure to upvote the pics that made you do a double-take, Pandas.

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The Stupid Food group was created all the way back in April 2015. In the nearly decade since then, the community has grown to a jaw-dropping 2.4 million food critics from all around the globe. The subreddit presents itself as a “place to lambast idiotic methods of serving food, or any other epicurean inanity worthy of ridicule.”

The group continues to be extremely popular to this very day and ranks among the top 1% of all subreddits by size. After all, who doesn’t enjoy being an armchair critic?

#4

Excuse Me? Cursed

Sushi being cooked in a frying pan, shown humorously as one of the "dishes so stupid."

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Kira Okah
Community Member
8 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

From what I can see, there is zero fish in these rolls, looks like avocado. Jut a joke.

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#5

What On Earth Is That?

Ham shaped like a fish in packaging with a humorous tweet above.

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Food, aesthetics, and taste are all potentially very divisive topics. The moderators who are in charge of keeping the community running smoothly point out that Stupid Food is primarily meant for ridicule.

They do not care about how creative and artful the images are. “We're here to poke gentle fun at other people's creativity, and we do not care whether it is just or reasonable.”

#8

I Just Don't Understand It Lol

Biscuits soaked in gravy, showing a humorous take on unusual dish combinations.

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Sally Moen
Community Member
8 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

For all that Americans love sweets, I don't think this combination would ever take off

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#9

The "Vegan Salad" At A Wedding I Went To That Is Literally Just Dry Romaine

Plate of plain lettuce leaves, resembling a simplistic dish concept.

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When you’re not physically there at the table, eating the food, a huge part of the experience is missing. Namely, the taste, smell, texture, and mouthfeel.

You’re also missing out on the ambiance of the restaurant or fast-food place, which can affect your mood and expectations a lot. As can the staff and how they talk and serve you. When you post on Stupid Food, all you have to go by are the aesthetics, the plating, and the idea behind the dish.

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#11

My Friend’s 25 Dollar Gluten Free Vegan Pizza

Unusual dish with cheese slices and sauce in a cardboard tray.

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Skogsrået
Community Member
5 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Looks like a punishment, tbh i rather go to bed hungry then eat this abomination.

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A big reason why Stupid Food continues to be so active to this day is the level of quality everyone brings to the content. The moderators warn that you should stay on topic while posting photos.

For example, you shouldn’t be sharing images “featuring anything featuring idiotic, dangerous, and pointless eating ‘challenges’ such as the Tide Pod Challenge.” As a rule of thumb, photos related to these sorts of challenges are usually disliked, so they’re downvoted or ignored. Meanwhile, when it comes to recipes, you should only share them with the group if they’re actually stupid. In short, they need to stand out.

#13

My Mom's Atrocious Dinner Every Night: Pumpkin Seeds, Barbecue Sauce, Cottage Cheese, And Spinach

A strange dish with spinach, cottage cheese, barbecue sauce, and pumpkin seeds on a blue plate.

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#14

Excessive Levels Of Stupidity

Garlic and pepper butter candle melting on a loaf of bread, a unique dish idea.

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Nicole Weymann
Community Member
6 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've seen this on Pinterest. Much as I love anything garlic/herb butter related, particularly with fresh bread, this somehow puts me off.

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#15

I Used To Work At Dunkin. Don’t Miss It

Overcomplicated coffee order on a delivery cup with humorous caption.

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Redditor u/Clackpot, the founder of Stupid Food, previously told Bored Panda all about the community and shared their thoughts on pretentiousness and cooking. According to them, pretentious cooking and fancy food are not actually a binary choice. “Supremely wonderful food can also be sphincter-tighteningly precious, and I will cheerfully deride the pretension whilst also applauding the skill and imagination required,” they said.

“And really the pretension in food is about the creator, not the food itself nor the outcome. Consequently, although it is very difficult to define what makes food stupid, it's actually very easy to decide whether it is stupid or not, it's a subjective call which we are all equipped to make," the founder of the community told us earlier.

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The founder revealed that they allowed the community to grow naturally. “Stupid Food is an entirely different creature to what I originally envisaged, but I've allowed it to grow in its own way and here we are. To be honest, I don't like the modern Stupid Food nearly as much as the thing I conceived but it has been fascinating to watch it grow and mature," they said about their perspective at the time.

#21

My Friends Hated This, Cranberry Sauce Over Rice. Is It Really That Bad?

Bowl of pink, unconventional dish on desk with keyboard, book, and mug, representing strange food ideas.

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For u/Clackpot, food is “highly subjective,” so making any absolute statements about it would be “unmitigated piffle.” They said that “literally every human being consumes food and we each have our own view, some of which will differ wildly from one another.”

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#23

What The Hell Is This

A pickle sub filled with deli meats and vegetables, showcasing bizarre and unexpected food combinations.

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Brenda Spagnola-Wilson
Community Member
4 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I am a pickle fanatic! I'd eat that in a heart beat. But the pickle should be sliced a bit thinner. How are you supposed to take a bite!?!

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#24

Asked For Extra Cheese In Bean Burrito, Got Almost All Cheese Instead

Burrito filled solely with shredded cheese on a red-checkered paper.

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From the founder’s perspective, pretentiousness ought to be confronted head-on and should “have its feet held to the fire of ridicule, it needs us to laugh in its face.” However, the customers are partly to blame for so many chefs going bonkers with their creations, too.

#25

What Do You Think About This?

Layered burgers in glasses with toppings, one of 65 unbelievable dishes.

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Beth H
Community Member
Premium
13 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They didn’t leave room for the Bloody Mary.

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#26

Hamburgers Or Hotdogs? Why Not Both??

Hot dogs split and filled with meat and peppers cooking on a grill, showcasing a creative and unusual dish idea.

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Beak Hookage
Community Member
12 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There's something about this picture that puts me in mind of something but I can't quite put my finger in it uh I mean on it.

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#27

One Slurp Each I Said! 🎃

Halloween bucket filled with pho, sign says "one slurp per trick-or-treater."

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Kira Okah
Community Member
8 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is an oft edited picture, think I saw over 20 different photoshops of it this October alone.

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“For culinary pretension to work requires credulous individuals to buy into the conceit that, for example, dropping salt onto your steak via your elbow—lookin' atchoo Salt Bae—is somehow an improvement over a salt cellar or a grinder; that serving dishes directly onto tabletops and worktops gives them an indefinable je ne sais quoi which is simply not available from common-or-garden crockery; or that adding gold leaf to excessively expensive liquor effects some great improvement which is too subtle for the hoi polloi to understand. It is essentially a confidence trick,” they said.

#28

The After Effects Of This Seem Unpleasant, At Best

Plate of cooked onions and garlic with humorous text about dinner effects.

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Beak Hookage
Community Member
11 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You made your bed. Your extremely stinky one. Which you won't be sharing with anyone for long.

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#29

The Size Of The Pasta Dish I Ordered In A Fancy Hotel In India

Two small tortellini in sauce on a white plate, captured with a hand gesturing size, illustrating a unique dish concept.

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Kira Okah
Community Member
8 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That does look fancy place small indeed. At least it is on a plate?

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Which of the dishes featured in this list did you think was the stupidest of them all? Were there any that you’d be willing to try, no matter how much people judged you? Which ones made you say ‘yum’?

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What is the weirdest dish you’ve recently seen at a restaurant in person? Grab a snack and let us know in the comments.

#34

Old Guy I Worked With Mixes Peanuts With His Coca-Cola Apparently This Is An Old Country Thing

Peanuts floating in a cola bottle, next to a Planters peanuts pack, illustrating a bizarre dish concept.

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#35

This Is A Real Post On Facebook

Takeout fettuccine dishes with broccoli; a dish from the list of "stupid dishes" featuring creamy pasta in takeout containers.

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#36

My Dad Made Ribs And Beans But I Decided To Have This Instead For Dinner

Silly dish with sprinkled bread and cereal on a paper plate.

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#40

Ice Cream! Except By That I Mean I Stuck Buttercream In The Freezer And Started Eating It With A Spoon

Hand holding a cup of Betty Crocker Rainbow Chip frosting with a plastic fork, showcasing a unique dish concept.

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Pernille
Community Member
10 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I once mistook frozen chocolate buttercream for ice-cream, it was the best ice-cream I've ever eaten. If you want to have an ice-cream that doesn't need to be made in an ice cream machine just freeze buttercream.

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#42

British Food Strikes Again

Strange dish with a baguette, sausage, and beans on a plate.

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Kira Okah
Community Member
8 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Whoever told you to go to that eatery should apologise. There are some absolutely amazing eateries and restaurants in London, you did not go to one of them.

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#44

My Dad Cooks Chicken In The Microwave

Bland cooked chicken pieces in a white dish, highlighting unusual dish preparation.

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Beak Hookage
Community Member
11 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Whatever sins those chickens committed in life, none of them deserved a fate like this.

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#45

I Thought Y’all Would Appreciate My Office Grilling Technique

Ground beef and waffle maker on a kitchen counter, showcasing a bizarre dish concept.

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Rizzo
Community Member
4 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The waffle iron reaches 200°C. Should be enough to grill a burger. I wouldn't eat it, though. Not because of the waffle iron, but because of the pattern that makes a juicy burger nearly impossible.

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#47

Discovered You Can Glue Meat Together - It's An All-In-One Surf And Turf Steak

A bizarre food creation featuring a tortilla-wrapped salmon roll garnished with a cilantro leaf, presented in a white dish.

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#49

There’s Stupid And Then There’s Facebook Level Stupid

Plate with raw cheese, liver, swordfish, pork fat, and a glass of ice cream; part of unusual dishes collection.

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#52

Mother-In-Law’s Homemade Eggnog. Cognac Did Not Want To Mix

Unusual dish in a cup with orange, brain-like contents held in hand, showcasing a bizarre culinary creation.

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Robert Beveridge
Community Member
12 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

During my wasted days, there was a wonderful little pub in Fort Washington that served a drink called the brain hemorrhage. Looked similar, but was intentional.

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#53

Stupidly Giant Ice Cream Servings

Ice cream cones in various sizes labeled humorously, showcasing a quirky menu from Cobleskill Diner.

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Owen
Community Member
7 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So... if you want a larger one, it will just all fall out?

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#58

In A Weight Loss Sub

Yellow Jell-O and cream cheese balls in a container, showcasing one of the unbelievable dishes.

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Robert Beveridge
Community Member
12 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It helps you lose weight by making you lose your appetite. Genius, really.

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#60

I Present To You All The Furger And Bries

Unusual dish with a burger and fried breadsticks on a glass plate.

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#61

$60 After Tax And Tip

Two Erewhon smoothies, one pink and one blue, with orange straws on a dark table.

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A. Br.
Community Member
3 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Geeez. You are either, Stupid or rich, or stupidrich. Who in their right mind would pay 60 dollars for a couple of milk shakes?

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#63

How Do Yall Like Your Pancakes Cooked? I Like Mine Medium Rare

A pancake split with a slice of cheese inside on a floral plate, showcasing unusual dish creativity.

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#64

My Mom Made A Gravy For Dinner Tonight Containing 21,000+ Mg Of Sodium

Jar with blue lid featuring a detailed ingredients label, categorized as a bizarre dish concept.

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Kira Okah
Community Member
7 hours ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Used the wrong image of the lot. Each bullion cube from that jar is 910mg (40% daily) of sodium, their mother used the entire jar of cubes, and added even more salt from the shaker to make the gravy. Also salted the rest of the food, and suggested that the leftover gravy be frozen and revived at a later date with even more bullion cubes.

#65

Who Wants To Attend With Me ?

Stromboli featuring unusual fillings, pink and blue cheese, advertised for an event.

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