8 Recipes Popular In The '80s That Should Never Have Been Invented

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Food trends come and go. While some recipes have stood the test of time, others have vanished. Just look at the mysterious disappearance of Watergate salad — a creamy pistachio pudding and marshmallow dessert that's largely a thing of the past. The same can be said for many recipes from the 1980s.

Hailed as the decade of decadence, the food trends of the 1980s were heavily influenced by French nouvelle cuisine, which emphasized lighter, fresher ingredients, simpler preparations, and an increased focus on artistic presentation. There was also a push for convenience, with foods that required minimal cooking or could be prepared quickly in the microwave. As a result, you saw plenty of easy-to-make yet "fancy"-sounding dishes, such as seafood mousses, inventive casseroles, and no-cook recipes like cold soups and dessert salads.

While there are many things from the 1980s to be nostalgic about — like vintage Happy Meal toys — these culinary influences also produced recipes that looked more like science experiments than meals we'd actually want to eat. From oddly fruity meat dishes to pureed seafood creations that resembled pet food, here are a few recipes from the 1980s that haven't aged well.

If the thought of combining cream cheese, cinnamon, canned pears, and lime Jell-O doesn't sound appealing, you're not alone. The vintage Under-the-Sea Jell-O salad does exactly that. While the recipe likely originated in the 1930s, it was still a common sight in the '80s, often appearing at potlucks and family gatherings.

What do you get when you mix cream cheese, mushroom soup, mayonnaise, gelatin, and crab meat? Crab Mousse — a dish popular in the 1980s that would probably send most people in 2025 running. Modern versions are far more refined, but the vintage version looks more like something from a tin of cat food.

Featured in "Betty Crocker's Casserole Cookbook" from 1981, this recipe for a Tuna Chow Mein Casserole is a crossover no one asked for. It combines the basics (condensed cream of mushroom soup and canned tuna) with crispy chow mein noodles and salted peanuts to create one gooey, crunchy mess. We think we'll stick with today's upscale tuna casserole for dinner.

As the name suggests, the Forgotten Layered Salad, also known as a Seven-Layer Salad, is a dish best left in the past. While the recipe originated in the mid-20th century, it became an iconic staple of 1980s backyard barbecues and potlucks. This classic dish was famous for its distinct layers of iceberg lettuce, peas, bacon, and cheese, all sealed with a thick, sugary mayonnaise dressing.

Cold soups were part of a food trend in the 1980s that emphasized elegant and refreshing dishes for summer entertaining. This chilled recipe of peaches, raspberries, and yogurt sounds pleasant, but eating what is essentially a smoothie with a spoon feels tedious when it could just be sipped from a glass.

The 1980s had a strange fascination with savory gelatin molds, and tomato aspic was a prime example. This nightmarish, jiggly salad was made by combining tomato juice and gelatin with olives and celery in a Jell-O mold. It's hard to imagine serving guests this dish when something as simple as a smoked mozzarella Caprese salad would be far more inviting.

Meatballs are always a hit. But in this version, they were cooked in a sauce made from only two ingredients: grape jelly and ketchup. While the recipe likely originated in the 1960s as an easy appetizer using convenience foods, it had a strong and nostalgic presence in the 1980s.

If a container of cream cheese had a baby with a Hawaiian pizza, the result would be a pineapple cheese ball. A popular — albeit kitschy — party dish in the 1980s, it featured cream cheese, bell peppers, onions, and pineapple rolled in nuts. Much like the ongoing debate about whether pineapple belongs on pizza, this dish's appeal depends on how you feel about mixing fruity ingredients with savory ones.