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.

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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

See Also
Homemade Candied Pecans {RECIPE VIDEO} - Self Proclaimed FoodieVicks Shower Bomb RecipeHoney Roasted Pumpkin Seeds | Roasted Pumpkin Seeds RecipeMexican Hot Chocolate {Slow Cooker} Recipe | Little Spice Jar

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.

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (14)

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!

See Also
The Easiest Gluten Free Gravy Recipe (Dairy Free).

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.

This Is What Diet Recipes Were Like In The 1970s (27)

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 the diet like in the 1970s? ›

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.

Read The Full Story ›
What is the best diet for people in their 70s? ›

Older adults' unique nutrition needs

Choose foods with little to no added sugar, saturated fats, and sodium. To get enough protein throughout the day and maintain muscle, try adding seafood, dairy, or fortified soy products along with beans, peas, and lentils to your meals.

Discover More ›
What were the fad diets in the 1970s? ›

The period of low-fat everything had a strong focus on consuming single foods, with exotic-sounding names like the sexy pineapple diet, the grapefruit diet, the wine and eggs diet (yes, it really was a thing!), and even the cabbage soup diet, AKA the Dolly Parton diet.

Read The Full Story ›
What was the American diet like in the 60s? ›

Fruit, meat, and pastry consumption was high in the United States; cereal and alcoholic drink consumption was high in Italy; and bread consumption high in Yugoslavians except for those in Belgrade.

Show Me More ›
What was the 70s hippie diet? ›

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 ...

Read More ›
Can elderly survive on a liquid diet? ›

Liquid diets for seniors, or meal replacement shakes, are ways to get the nutrition they need without solid foods. Seniors who have trouble chewing, swallowing, lack appetite, or have health problems that require meals that are easy to digest, are often told to follow these diets.

Read On ›
What do 75 year olds eat? ›

Wholegrain cereals, wholemeal bread, fruit, dried fruit, dried peas, beans and lentils are all excellent sources. Make sure you drink enough water to prevent constipation. Remember, most older people need 6–8 cups of fluid each day.

Read The Full Story ›
What was the weight loss program in the 1970s? ›

The Scarsdale diet was popular in the late 1970s. Based on a top-selling book by Dr. Herman Tarnower — a cardiologist located in Scarsdale, NY — the diet promised up to 20 pounds (9 kg) of weight loss in under 2 weeks.

Read On ›
What was the grapefruit diet in the 1970s? ›

It involves eating an entire grapefruit with each meal. It's essentially a low-carb diet, so along with the grapefruit, you eat eggs, meat, and other high-protein, high-fat foods. In Hollywood, this eating plan took off. It became known as the grapefruit diet or Hollywood diet.

Tell Me More ›
What was the diet in the 80s? ›

The 80s were characterized by low-calorie diets that put users essentially into a state of starvation. And the liquid protein diet is exactly that: a low-calorie diet where you only drink liquids.

Get More Info Here ›

What was the 60's diet drink? ›

Metrecal was a brand of low-calorie, powdered diet foods (to be mixed with water as a beverage) "containing the essential nutrients of protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamins and minerals" introduced in the early 1960s by the Mead Johnson company, with the first variety going on the market on October 6, 1959, the same day ...

Read The Full Story ›
What was the typical daily menu in the 1950s? ›

There was no such thing as the keto diet in the 1950s—meat and potatoes reigned supreme. You'd find hearty main dishes like Salisbury steak, beef stroganoff and meat loaf on a '50s dinner menu, plus scrumptious sides. Casseroles were also popular, particularly those featuring seafood or ham.

Read The Full Story ›
What is the best diet for someone in their 60s? ›

Healthy eating habits
  • vegetables and fruit, including: dark green vegetables such as kale and bok choy each day. orange vegetables such as carrots and sweet potato most days.
  • whole grain foods, such as: oats. wild rice. whole wheat pasta.
  • protein foods such as: eggs. nuts and seeds. fish and shellfish. beans, peas, and lentils.
May 3, 2022

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

What we can see is that the total amounts of calories per capita increased from 2,077 in 1970 to 2,590 in 2010, in other words about 500 calories more per day.

Read More ›
Did people eat out in the 70s? ›

My family was lower middle class and we ate out maybe once a week. If there is one constant about the foods I ate, many items were made from a recipe from the back of the box, or used convenience items like Shake and Bake.

Get More Info ›
How the typical American diet today differs from that of 1970? ›

Americans also express these types of changes in their diet chart. Consumption is less now compared to 1970: Red meat, Milk, and, Eggs. Consumption is more now compared to 1970: Refined grains, poultry, cereals, added sugar and fat, total calories, cheese, fish, etc.

Tell Me More ›

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