This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (2024)

Table of Contents
When writer Wendy McClure, of the site Candyboots, stumbled upon a set of 1970s diet cards, she couldn't stop laughing. Instead of cooking the recipes (and why would she? Why would anyone?), she made them into a book. 1. Molded Asparagus Salad. 2. Chilled Celery Log. 3. Frankfurter Spectacular. 4. Fluffy Mackerel Pudding. 5. Crown Roast of Frankfurters. 6. Broiled Appleburgers. 7. Peach Melba. 8. Stuffed Lettuce Wedges. 9. Spinach And Egg Mold. 10. Jellied Tomato Refresher. 11. Inspiration Soup. 12. Cucumber 'Cream' Salad. 13. Perfect Pizza Lunch. 14. Frozen Cheese Salad. 15. Liver Pâté En Masque. 16. Fish With "Butter" Sauce. 17. Snacks On A Stick. 18. Fruit And Cheese Mold. 19. Lettuce Potage. 20. Fish "Tacos". 21. Madrilène-Cheese Salad. After a while, Wendy's fans started to recreate some of the recipes at home. Here's the Chilled Celery Log: Molded Asparagus Salad: Fluffy Mackerel Pudding: Crown Roast of Frankfurters. FAQs References

Molded asparagus salad, anyone? Via Candyboots, where you can see these recipe cards with their original captions by Wendy McClure.

by Hilary MitchellBuzzFeed Contributor

When writer Wendy McClure, of the site Candyboots, stumbled upon a set of 1970s diet cards, she couldn't stop laughing.

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (5)

Wendy McClure

Wendy explained: "When I found the card for the "Rosy Perfection Salad" I Iaughed so hard I started coughing. I waved the card at my mom, who just rolled her eyes. "Can I please have these?" I begged. "What do you want them for?" she asked. "To cook?" "No," I said."

Instead of cooking the recipes (and why would she? Why would anyone?), she made them into a book.

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (6)

Wendy McClure / Via amazon.co.uk

Wendy said: "These cards mystify me. None of them have calorie information of any kind, and in some instances it's hard to tell what's dietetic about the recipes at all, except that they're unspeakably grim. And yet also, completely insane."

Here are 21 of the 'best' diet cards from her collection.

1. Molded Asparagus Salad.

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Wendy McClure

"In a small saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup tomato juice. Stir over low heat until gelatin dissolves. Stir in remaining tomato juice, vinegar, sweetener, salt and hot sauce. Chill until syrupy. Fold in asparagus." Mmm, syrupy asparagus jelly.

2. Chilled Celery Log.

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Wendy McClure

This recipe for a stuffed, chilled celery 'log' invites you to mash a cauliflower, stir in some chopped green pepper, insert the mixture into some celery and then refrigerate for 45 minutes before slicing. Delicious.

3. Frankfurter Spectacular.

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (9)

Wendy McClure

Yes, this really is a mixture of frankfurters, pineapple, onion and carrot. To give the dish a particularly jaunty air, you're encouraged to staple the frankfurters onto the pineapple core before serving.

4. Fluffy Mackerel Pudding.

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (10)

Wendy McClure

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Do you have dehydrated onion, mackerel, egg and a green pepper in your house? You do? Then you have everything you need to make this delightful pudding. Simply mash everything up, bake the fish-gloop in the oven and top with sliced egg.

5. Crown Roast of Frankfurters.

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (11)

Wendy McClure

This meaty crown filled with shredded cabbage is definitely a dish fit for a king, as long as said king doesn't have eyes or taste buds.

6. Broiled Appleburgers.

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (12)

Wendy McClure

These burgers are made with actual beef (rather than mackerel, gelatin or frankfurters), but instead of frying them you're asked to 'broil them on a rack' then serve them with apple because whoever made these cards hates people.

7. Peach Melba.

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (13)

Wendy McClure

This dish looks almost normal (if you ignore the ceramic cheetah, that is), but when you check the recipe you find that the cherry-like objects are actually made from diet soda mixed with gelatin. Argh.

8. Stuffed Lettuce Wedges.

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Wendy McClure

"What are they stuffed with?" I hear you cry. Why, cottage cheese, of course! The most disappointing of all the cheeses.

9. Spinach And Egg Mold.

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (15)

Wendy McClure

These diet cards were clearly sponsored by a gelatin manufacturer: it's in everything. This recipe combines gelatin, egg, cottage cheese and spinach to make a radish-topped horror jelly that will haunt your nightmares for years to come.

10. Jellied Tomato Refresher.

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (16)

Wendy McClure

This crime scene of a meal is basically a jellified Bloody Mary without the vodka, decorated with bits of green pepper and served in brandy glasses. WHY?

11. Inspiration Soup.

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (17)

Wendy McClure

The only thing inspiring about this watery tomato, beansprout, asparagus and green bean soup is the jaunty napkins. The candles are quite nice too.

12. Cucumber 'Cream' Salad.

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (18)

Wendy McClure

Bet you can't guess what the 'cream' is in this dish. No, it's not that: don't be disgusting. It's cottage cheese, of course! Everything is cottage cheese!

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Swedish cardamom buns | Recipe

13. Perfect Pizza Lunch.

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (19)

Wendy McClure

There is nothing perfect about this. Nothing at all.

14. Frozen Cheese Salad.

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (20)

Wendy McClure

"So you want me to mix cottage cheese with blue cheese, freeze it and then serve with brocolli?" "Yes." "Can I at least cook the brocolli?" "No."

15. Liver Pâté En Masque.

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (21)

Wendy McClure

This mixture of liver, gelatin and green beans with a delicious grey 'glaze' is the colour of sadness.

16. Fish With "Butter" Sauce.

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (22)

Wendy McClure

The sauce in this dish is made from something called 'diet margarine'. Nope.

17. Snacks On A Stick.

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (23)

Wendy McClure

What was that? You thought this was chocolate ice cream? Don't be silly. These 'sticksnacks' are actually made from coffee mixed with- you guessed it- gelatin.

18. Fruit And Cheese Mold.

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (24)

Wendy McClure

This recipe combines cottage cheese with orange flavoured diet soda and - of course- gelatin to create this monstrous, lettuce fringed ring. Kill it with fire.

19. Lettuce Potage.

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (25)

Wendy McClure

Spoiler alert: this is just hot, blended lettuce.

20. Fish "Tacos".

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (26)

Wendy McClure

Because all the very finest Mexican food is made from shredded cabbage, bits of cod and a piece of wholemeal toast.

21. Madrilène-Cheese Salad.

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Wendy McClure

This recipe somehow manages to combine all of the misery of the previous 20 into one dish. The red stuff is jellied tomato juice and the white stuff is- of course- cottage cheese. It's served with lettuce, raw brocolli and a side order of tea towels.

After a while, Wendy's fans started to recreate some of the recipes at home. Here's the Chilled Celery Log:

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (28)

TheKarenD / Via Flickr: karen_d

The canoeist really adds a certain je ne sais quoi to the dish.

Molded Asparagus Salad:

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (29)

Miranda / Via Flickr: mirandala

Jesus would not have approved of this.

Fluffy Mackerel Pudding:

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (30)

Miranda / Via Flickr: mirandala

The horrified expression on that fish's face really does say it all.

Crown Roast of Frankfurters.

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (31)

Andrew Huff / Via Flickr: deadhorse

Last but by no means least, we have the pièce de résistance of these mind-bending recipe cards: the Crown Roast. Just look at the way it glistens in the light. Yum.

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (2024)

FAQs

What was a normal diet in the 70s? ›

1970s. The 1970s marked the start of a reduction in our intake of vegetables. The average person ate a pound of red meat each week, compared to just over half of that today. Fruit juice arrived in the shops but only one in ten people consumed it regularly.

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What was the food like in the 1970s? ›

The 1970s was the decade of cool cereals, slimming snacks and show-off dinner parties. When Generation X were children, the Egg McMuffin came out, cheese fondue was fashionable, Watergate salad became a family favourite and Blue Nun was the drink of choice.

View Details ›
What food was popular in 1977? ›

1977: Buffalo Wings

Fried chicken wings coated in cayenne pepper hot sauce and dipped in blue cheese: Who doesn't love that buffalo stuff?

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How big was the dinner plate in 1970? ›

In the 1970s, an average dinner plate measured 22cm (8½in) in diameter – now it's more like 28cm (11in).

Continue Reading ›
What did people eat for breakfast in 1970? ›

People ate eggs, toast, bacon, sausage, cereal, milk, and juice. Breakfast bars and breakfast burritos weren't a thing then.

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Was pizza popular in the 70s? ›

By the 1970s, neighborhood pizzerias, often run by Italian or (later) Greek immigrants, became a defining feature of life in cities and suburbs with significant ethnic-Italian populations, most notably around New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Chicago.

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What sweets were popular in 1970? ›

Q. What sweets were popular in the 70s? Some of the most popular 1970s sweets were flying saucers, candy sticks, anglo bubbly love hearts, and black jacks. Q.

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What was the most popular food in 1972? ›

The 1972 Dinners
  • Beef Stew.
  • Veal Chops With Mushroom Sauce.
  • Chicken With Pineapple.
  • Fish Steaks With Herbs.
  • Stuffed Crown Roast of Pork.
  • Deviled Rock Lobster Tails ♥
  • Calico Potato Salad.
  • Quiche Lorraine (Swiss Cheese Pie)

Explore More ›
What was 70s hippie food? ›

The cuisine that the counterculture took to in the late 1960s, and then helped introduce to the mainstream in the 1970s, embraced whole grains and legumes; organic, fresh vegetables; soy foods like tofu and tempeh; nutrition-boosters like wheat germ and sprouted grains; and flavors from Eastern European, Asian, and ...

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What food came out 1974? ›

Throwback Thursday: 5 Fun Food Ads From 1974
  • Kraft Singles. Is there anything more classically American than a grilled cheese sandwich? ...
  • Ragu Spaghetti Sauce. There are some timeless staples, and spaghetti sauce is no exception. ...
  • Kraft Squeez-A-Snak Cheese. ...
  • Kraft Real Mayonnaise. ...
  • Kraft Grated Parmesan Cheese.
Feb 20, 2014

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What food was popular in 1978? ›

The US couldn't get enough walnut and goat cheese salad in 1978. A variation of this salad style became a Chez Panisse classic — the founding restaurant of California cuisine and the farm-to-table movement, which opened its doors in 1971.

Read The Full Story ›
Why were people so thin in the 1970s? ›

Reasons: Smaller meals and no frankenfoods. Breakfast would be a bowl of cornflakes with a little bit of sugar, hot cocoa, and a glass or orange juice. Maybe it would be raisin bran or some other cereal, but never pre-sweetened cereal with fake colors. Just plain cereal with a bit of sugar and some milk.

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What was the average calorie intake in the 1970s? ›

The study finds U.S. women increased their daily calorie consumption 22 percent between 1971 and 2000, from 1542 calories per day to 1877 calories. During the same period the calorie intake for men increased 7 percent from 2450 calories per day to 2618 calories.

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Were there less fat people in the 70s? ›

Bomi Joseph, Director of Peak Health Center, Los Gatos, CA attributes it to the “Delay Problem." The average person in 2020 has 17% more body fat than they did in 1970. This body fat is mainly produced by the liver. The human liver is being triggered to produce more body fat, by the things we ingest, today.

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What was the weight loss program in the 1970s? ›

The Atkins diet is the most famous low-carb weight loss diet in the world. Created by cardiologist Robert Atkins in the early 1970s, the Atkins diet claims to produce rapid weight loss without hunger.

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