The 2-Ingredient Meals Reddit Users Say Are Embarrassingly Good

A recent thread on Reddit has gone viral, with users spilling their secret, ol' reliable dishes that immediately take them back to childhood, bringing feelings of warmth and comfort. Many of these meal ideas are quick and easy, and made with minimal ingredients (two, or so). This often means they don’t require much prep or a hefty price tag. Naturally, you’d want to share these secret, awesome recipes you can’t help but enjoy with the rest of the world, so they can experience the deliciousness, too.

The only problem? Most of these dynamic duos or strange food combinations for instant meals are sometimes kind of embarrassing—so, you might decide to just keep it to yourself and indulge when you’re home alone or no one’s around.

The conversation started when Reddit user dgdon asked the community, “What cheap, quick easy meal are you embarrassed to admit to enjoying?” and ended up receiving a ton of intrigue and interest, with hundreds of users offering their own unique combos.

Why? Because they’re unquestionably a bit weird, definitely surprising, or maybe a little off-putting. Most of these simple, quick recipes and two-ingredient dinners use childhood classics—our favorite canned goods, frozen meals, boxed foods, meats, sauces, and condiments—which were probably kitchen staples growing up.

On the thread, Redditors offered tons of unconventional (although, maybe winning?) concoctions. Here are some top finds you might want to try, but you can also browse through the rest of the comments and see what else is there. You could scroll for hours, really.

What Reddit Users Eat in Secret

Kraft Cheese

Kraft’s products take us right back to youth, with staples like mac and cheese or cheese powder. Reddit user talktojvc said, “I like buttered spaghetti with the powder Kraft Parmesan and fresh black pepper,” which excited lamante, who called the genius invention a “College-grade cacio e pepe.”

Boxed mac and cheese got a lot of love of course, with users adding cut-up hot dogs and canned chili in with it for extra pizazz.

And speaking of cut-up hot dogs, franks and beans gets an honorable mention here as it was listed several times as users' go-to.

Simple Sandwiches

Sandwiches were certainly a hot topic. User Tiny_Goats suggested “spam and egg sandwiches, with shoyu in the eggs,” and called them “so trashy good.” Plus, the recipe is sentimental and brings back childhood memories of when the user’s aunties would make it as a two-ingredient dinner or lunch in Hawaii.

Sandwiches also evoke nostalgia (PB&J, grilled cheese, BLT, turkey and cheese pinwheels, etc...). Formal_Coyotte_5004 joined the thread and added another, saying, “Bologna, American cheese, mayo, and yellow mustard on white bread. So nostalgic.”

User sideeyedi threw in: "Pimento cheese and sweet pickles on toasted bread."

Canned Soup

Canned soup seemed to be a favorite among many. Reddit user Haluszki expressed a love for canned classics, including Campbell’s and Chef Boyardee (specifically Chef Boyardee Meat Ravioli), and commented, “Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup rice and chicken bake. I’m making it right now. I haven’t had it since I was a kid in the 80s and suddenly just got a craving and felt nostalgic about it.” There were tons of replies, where Reddit user janesfilms said, “We just made the Campbell’s soup and rice dish last week. We mix in cream cheese and top it with stuffing. Great comfort food.”

Beyond Campbell's soups, user bookworm1421 wrote "Chili dogs. Throw some hot dogs in the microwave, warm up some canned chili. Put the dogs and the chili on a bun and throw on some cheese. YUM!"

Similar to canned soup, Lipton soup and instant ramen got many shout-outs as well.

Hamburger Helper

The original poster's pick? "A cheap box of Hamburger Helper Stroganoff." 20tacotuesdays agrees, “Hamburger Helper is the best,” with an added tip, “If I'm feeling fancy I'll add some onion and mushroom to it.” And, continued saying, “I'll also eat a box of Pastaroni as a meal by myself rather than serving it as a side.”

Sweets

Not all are savory, though. For anyone with a sweet tooth, Reddit user deplorable_word confessed to combining “peanut butter and brown sugar on toast,” while AshaleyFay suggested making a “Grilled PB&J,” explaining that “it's cooked like a grilled cheese sandwich (which [she] also love[s] with or without ham), but instead of cheese and meat, it's crunchy peanut butter and peach preserves.”

For another sweet and salty combo, lattelady37 suggests "Pecan pie with regular Lays smashed on top" to which the OP replied, "Just added that to my recipes to try list."