10 Unlikely Food Pairings That Taste Great
Lennon and McCartney, Sonny and Cher, bananas and mayonnaise? There are some duos that are well known across the world, but then there are some that are very esoteric. This is mostly in the food world where we combine ingredients to capture the perfect taste. It doesn’t always work out, but when it does, it can be amazing. Here are some unique and unlikely food pairings that you’re sure to like.
10. Oreos and Orange Juice
Chocolate and citrus have gone together in a great way for some people for a long time. So have milk and Oreos, but milk tends to make your cookies extremely soggy and crumbly. Instead, try using orange juice for a great kick of citrus while keeping the structural integrity of your Oreo intact.
9. Pickles and Pizza
While there have been wars waged over whether or not pineapple belongs on pizza, many people have been letting pickle pizza fly under the radar. We’re starting to see it more frequently in national pizza chains and for good reason. Give it about 10 years and we bet that pickles will be just as polarizing as pineapple.
8. Mango and Chile
An extremely popular combination if you’re south of the border in Mexico, the combination of mango and chile is starting to catch on further north. The spiciness combined with the sweetness is a unique combination that hits every one of your taste buds in just the right way.
7. Chicken and Waffles
Of course, we can’t talk about odd food pairings without mentioning perhaps the most famous one. Fried chicken on top of waffles with a smothering of syrup is an American classic, especially if you’re visiting the south.
6. Steak and Berries
It might sound pretty weird to have berries included on your steak, but is it really? We tend to eat salads with protein like chicken that have blueberries and strawberries, so why should steak be any different? After all, it’s just another protein.
5. Peanut Butter and Potato Chips
We like salty things and we like sweet things, it’s simple science. Peanut butter and potato chips combined hit all of the right spots. This is especially true when you add chocolate to the mix, which is why Reese’s came out with a peanut butter cup that also included a potato chip in the middle.
4. Jelly and Hamburger
At first thought, it might be crazy to put jelly on your hamburger (it might already seem weird enough that a lot more people are using peanut butter). But when you think about it, it makes sense. A lot of people use grape jelly when making meatballs, and what are hamburgers besides just large meatballs in patty form?
3. Milk and Popcorn
Popcorn on its own without all of the butter and salt is basically a breakfast cereal, right? There has been a growing number of people that have been eating bowls of popcorn with milk in lieu of cereal, citing that it’s just as good if not better.
2. Bananas and Mayonnaise
People tend to get a bit wild with their sandwiches, and combining bananas with condiments is one way they do just that. Perhaps the most perplexing combination is bananas with mayo, which a lot of people scoff at upon seeing, but change their minds when trying it out.
1. French Fries and Ice Cream
This really shouldn’t work, but if you’ve been to a Wendy’s, there’s a great chance that you’ve seen someone dip their French fries in their Frosty and enjoyed it.