5 Things a Brit Finds Genuinely Gross About American Thanksgiving Food

We love a good autumn celebration in the UK. We love roast dinners, cozy sweater weather, and pumpkin pie is actually delicious!

But when Thanksgiving rolls around in America, there are a few traditional dishes that make most British people gag. Here are five things on the Thanksgiving table that we find genuinely gross.

1. Mac and Cheese

Now, to be fair, macaroni and cheese is technically a British invention. A recipe for baked pasta and cheese sauce appeared in an English cookbook back in the 1300s, and it remains fantastic comfort food on a Tuesday night.

But serving pasta smothered in thick, heavy cheddar sauce right next to roast turkey, stuffing, and gravy is a complete war crime.

In the UK, a roast meal has strict rules: meat, potatoes, vegetables, and gravy. Dropping a massive spoonful of cheesy pasta onto a roast dinner plate ruins the gravy, clashes with the turkey, and feels like combining two completely different meals on one plate.

2. Sweet Potato Casserole with Marshmallows

Sweet potatoes are great for dinner, and marshmallows are great over a campfire. But putting them together in one warm dish? Gross.

American recipes call for mashing sweet potatoes, adding sugar, and topping the whole thing with melted, gooey marshmallows. To a Brit, eating candy on top of hot vegetables right next to turkey and savory gravy makes no sense at all. It feels like eating dessert in the middle of your main meal.

3. Jell-O Salads

I don't actually know how popular these are in real life, but I see them mentioned online regularly, and the concept alone is terrifying.

In the UK, jelly is a sweet dessert for kids. In America, someone can make a bright green lime or orange Jell-O mold, mix in shredded carrots, celery, canned fruit, or even mayonnaise, let it set, and serve it alongside the main course as a "salad."

Watching a block of neon jelly wobble on a plate with bits of raw grated carrot trapped inside feels like a prank. Combining cold, sweet fruit jelly with crunchy dinner veggies is a texture nightmare no Brit is ready for.

4. Green Bean Casserole

Green beans are supposed to be crisp and fresh. American green bean casserole ruins them completely.

The recipe mixes green beans with canned cream of mushroom soup and bakes it into a thick, gray, slimy mush topped with oily fried onions. It looks like gray sludge and turns a healthy vegetable into something unappealing.

5. Stuffing (Soggy Bread Mush)

To be fair, plenty of us in the UK bake our stuffing in a separate dish too, so we can't complain too much about it not being inside the bird. Food safety guides tell Americans not to stuff the turkey because raw meat juices soak into the bread and cause food poisoning.

The real crime is what they actually end up making. In many parts of the US, they don't even call it stuffing, they call it "dressing" (which to a Brit sounds like salad dressing). Then, to keep it moist in the oven, they drown the bread cubes in cups of turkey broth. Instead of a nice tray-bake with crispy golden edges, you get a giant pan of soggy, wet bread mush that looks like someone chewed it for you.

The Final Verdict

We'll gladly eat the roast turkey, the roasted veggies, and definitely a big slice of pumpkin pie! But keep the mac and cheese, the melted candy, the wobbly Jell-O, and the gray vegetable sludge far away from our plates, please!