How to Eat Foods You Don't Like

Want to start eating and liking a food you’ve always hated? Or do you need to impress a date, your family, or important business partners at a dinner, but the food is something you despise? Learn how to make the item of food easier to get down without offending anyone, and even start learning to love it!

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Disguising the Taste of Food

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Cut the food you don’t like into the smallest pieces you can so that you don’t have to chew as much and you can mix it in easier with other foods. You might even be able to swallow pieces whole, but be careful not to swallow too-large or hard pieces that might get stuck in your throat.
Surround the food you don’t like with other food you do like on your plate. If you don’t like asparagus, for example, you could push it into a ball of mashed potatoes before putting it in your mouth. Also try simply putting a bite of something you like in your mouth and holding it there as a sort of barrier for your taste buds before you put in a bite of the bad food.
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Sip from a glass of water, soda, juice, or alcohol right before you take a bite, and then take another sip directly after to replace the taste quickly and help wash the food down.
Add salt and pepper, butter, some lemon juice, ketchup or mustard, or anything else available on the table. Be careful not to noticeably overdo it with your seasonings, or ask for something that’s not already available or would clearly not go with the dish, to avoid offending the cook or your fellow diners.
Breathe in through your nose before taking a bite of the offending food, then try not to breathe in or out while you’re chewing and swallowing to dampen the flavor.
Don’t feel like you need to eat the entire quantity of the food you don’t like at a dinner party or other social situation. Eat enough that it appears that you’ve enjoyed most of it and are just too full to have the rest. Leave small amounts of other foods on your plate too, so that it doesn’t look like you neglected one thing.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Learning to Like the Food

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1
Add it to other things. Look up recipes online that use the type of food you don’t like. There may be a dish that sounds delicious to you that you would never expect would contain that food. Try a dessert recipe that sneaks in a vegetable, or add an offending food to a casserole or soup so it’s mixed in with other things.
- If it’s a vegetable you don’t like, try any number of desserts that use vegetables in their recipe, like a carrot cake, zucchini bread, or avocado milkshake.^{[1]XResearch source}
- This may not help you get used to the taste of the food you don’t like if it’s highly disguised by other ingredients, but it will get you accustomed to the idea that it can be used to make something tasty.
Try preparing or eating the food with new seasonings or sauces, without overdoing it to the point of disguising the food. Get ideas for good seasonings to pair with the food from cookbooks or online. Try several different types of ethnic restaurants for a good way to try different preparations and flavors of the same food.
Talk to friends, family, or the host of the dinner you’re at about the food you don’t like and how they like to prepare it. Try these new ways to find one that you like better.
Try taking the recipes you’ve found in cookbooks, online, or from friends and family to prepare dishes with the food you’re learning to like, or just experiment with it on your own! Test out what it tastes like when you prepare it in different ways, like sauteing, steaming, roasting, or even deep-frying. Experiment with whatever seasonings and sauces you have around the house, or try new ones that recipes suggest.
If there are multiple types of the food you don’t like, give them all a try to see which one you like best. Try both fresh and canned versions, and try getting produce from a farmer’s market instead of the grocery store if it is a fruit or veggie that you don’t like.
Learn everything you can about the food you don’t like from the internet or books. Understanding more about the nuances of the food and understanding its differences from other foods will help you to appreciate it more.^{[2]XResearch source}
However you choose to prepare or eat it, have the food you don’t like in happy situations when you’re surrounded by people you enjoy. This will help change your emotional response to the food to a positive one.^{[3]XResearch source}
Even if you haven’t found a way to enjoy the food you don’t like, continue to eat it as much as possible, even if you have to completely disguise it with other things. You can actually psychologically condition yourself to like a food in this way.^{[4]XResearch source}

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Identifying Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)

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1
Consult with a therapist if you suspect that you may have ARFID. This is a diagnosable eating disorder that adults and children alike can have. It is much more than just "being a picky eater," but sometimes one of the main symptoms is extreme selectivity in foods, which can look like:
- A sensory experience of disgust that can be very strong and may present with extreme selectivity
- Only having a few foods you can consume (3-4)
- Only eating the same foods/brands meal after meal
- Only eating preferred foods under specific conditions (preferred bowl, temperature, location, etc.)
- If you suspect you might be suffering from ARFID, seek out a therapist who specializes in eating disorders to see if you can get an official diagnosis.

Expert Q&A

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Question
Why is variety important in meal planning?
Kelly Gomez
Registered Dietitian Nutritionist
Kelly Gomez is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Director of Nutrition Services at DexaBody. She specializes in helping clients understand the relationship between their nutritional choices and overall health. She has clinical experience working with clients who need meal plans, nutrition counseling, and sports nutrition information. Kelly is a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and a member of the Collegiate and Professional Sports Dietitian Association (CPSDA). She has a Master of Science in nutrition science and a Bachelor's degree in kinesiology.
Kelly Gomez
Registered Dietitian Nutritionist
Expert Answer
Research shows that eating 20+ different types of plant foods in the stretch of a week can really impact a person's gut microbiome. If you're not a fan of changing up your diet or adding in healthier foods, try to be curious and explore new dishes that have certain new foods in them. Try experimenting with recipes that allow you to hide ingredients—for instance, there was a big TikTok hack about cooking zucchini and blending it into a pasta sauce to get the extra nutrients.
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Is there a way to actually learn to LIKE something I hate?
Community Answer
Actually, it is scientifically proven that if you have a serving of that food for 30 days straight, you will either start to like it or not be able to taste it anymore.
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I'm 16 and since I was only four years old I have had a diet of chicken nuggets, bread, bacon and cereal. Literally nothing else other than lollies or chips. How do I start to like other things?
Community Answer
Start eating the new foods with what you are used to, and slowly progress into just the new foods. It can take time to get used to a new food. Keep trying it and it should slowly start to taste better over time.
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Tips

Strong condiments, like hot sauce, and heavy beverages, like milk, will work well to disguise a food’s flavor.
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Try new things. Sometimes, something can smell or look unpleasant, but that doesn't mean it is.
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If you don't like vegetables, try eating them with ranch dressing.
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Tips from our Readers

The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of How.com.vn readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on How.com.vn, please submit it in the field below.

Research recipes that incorporate small amounts of the disliked ingredient into flavorful dishes. Finding tasty ways to eat problem foods helps condition your palate.
Politely refuse foods that trigger nausea or gagging instead of forcing yourself to eat them. Strong negative responses may indicate an underlying physical issue.
Describe sensory aspects of your food aversions when asking for accommodations, like temperature, texture, or very specific tastes. This helps others understand.
With longtime aversions, combine gradual exposure with positive associations for the best chance of overcoming them. Eat tiny amounts in enjoyable settings.
When eating out, call ahead to check if the restaurant can modify a dish by leaving out ingredients you strongly dislike. Most will be happy to accommodate.
See an allergist to test whether you have an undiagnosed food allergy or sensitivity causing your extreme reactions. These can develop later in life.

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Warnings

Take small bites at first, especially if you are unsure of seasonings or texture. You don't want to take a huge bite of something very hard to chew or very spicy.
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Control your reactions and avoid making unpleasant faces or spitting the food out. You don’t want to be rude to whoever prepared the food or those eating with you.
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