20 Gourmet Upgrades That Make Your Childhood Favorite Foods Fit For Adults
Who Said Your Childhood Faves Weren't Fit For A Dinner Party?
There's something magical about the foods we loved as kids, from gooey mac and cheese to pancakes swimming in syrup. As adults, our palates are more complex, and while we can appreciate these foods from time to time, we generally need a little more pizazz and sophistication in our meals. That's where our gourmet upgrades come in: here are 20 ways to elevate your childhood favorites and give them a grown-up glow-up.
1. Mac & Cheese With Gruyère
Any time you add fancy cheese to mac and cheese, you're automatically bringing it to a whole new level. Gruyère gives it an additional depth of flavor that we love, but you can also use Parmigiano Reggiano, Asiago, blue, or a combination.
2. Blue Cheese Burgers
Children and adults alike love burgers, but what sets the child's version apart from the parents' is the toppings. Blue cheese makes a burger instantly sophisticated, adding a lot of interesting earthy and spicy notes that combine wonderfully with beef.
Chevanon Photography on Pexels
3. PB & J Smoothie
If you crave the flavor of the peanut butter and jam sandwiches you grew up on but are watching your refined carb intake, the PB & J smoothie is the perfect answer. Combine peanut butter with frozen strawberries, almond milk, and a ripe banana, and you basically have your childhood in a drinkable "adult" format.
Bakd&Raw by Karolin Baitinger on Unsplash
4. Chocolate Chip Cookies With Fleur De Sel
Anything fleur de sel touches instantly becomes elegant. That extends to chocolate chip cookies, particularly if they're made with some good quality dark chocolate.
Food Photographer | Jennifer Pallian on Unsplash
5. Pesto Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Nothing screams childhood memories quite like a grilled cheese sandwich. As adults, we no longer feel excited about a slice of American cheese between two pieces of Wonder bread, but with the addition of pesto, it suddenly makes sense. Bonus points if it's on a nice sourdough loaf with better cheese, to o though.
micheile henderson on Unsplash
6. Pancakes With Mascarpone & Berry Coulis
We can remember slamming through piles of pancakes on Sunday mornings, as content as can be. They were always topped with Aunt Jemima's or similar corn-based syrup, and while we no longer have a taste for that, we're not above ordering fancy pancakes at our favorite brunch spot, topped with some sort of fruit coulis and mascarpone.
7. Butternut Squash & Rosemary Pizza
We'll always have fond memories of school pizza days, but we would no longer get excited over pizza that's either just topped with cheese or pepperoni. Butternut squash pizza with rosemary, goat cheese, and maybe even some caramelized onion, however, we can get excited about.
8. Chocolate Pudding With Espresso
Remember those chocolate pudding cups you'd sometimes get served in the school cafeteria? Well, there's an easy recipe for an adult version that will not only satisfy your sweet tooth but your caffeine addiction, too. Adding espresso adds a lot of depth and a slight bitterness that mellows the cloying sweetness.
American Heritage Chocolate on Unsplash
9. Brown Butter Rice Krispies Treats With Sea Salt
As adults, Rice Krispies treats are far too sweet for most of our mature taste buds. However, browning the butter mellows the sweetness significantly, imparts a nutty flavor, and gives a lot of elegance to this simple treat. A sprinkle of sea salt adds some contrast and further sophistication.
10. Espresso Milkshake
As children, we'd always order to most ridiculously sweet and over-the-top milkshake whenever we were granted permission. The addition of espresso is the perfect way to mature this nostalgic treat.
12. Cheeseburger With Caramelized Onions
A simple way to class up this childhood favorite is by adding caramelized onions. Bonus points if you upgrade the cheese to Swiss as well.
amirali mirhashemian on Unsplash
13. Jalapeño-Cheddar Corn Dogs
We'll always have fond memories of corn dogs from our childhoods, whether from school cafeteria lunches or state fairs. However, instead of smothering them in ketchup, give them an unexpected twist by mixing cheddar cheese and finely chopped jalapeños into the batter.
14. Parmesan Fries With Truffle Oil
What kid doesn't love French fries? What adult, for that matter? The best way to upgrade this beloved classic to make it more gourmet is to add some grated Parmigiano Reggiano and a drizzle of truffle oil when they come out of the fryer.
15. Dark Chocolate Coffee Brownies
There are countless different styles of brownies, from fudgey and rich to cakey and moist. When you're a child, you likely prefer whatever is the sweetest, but as adults, we generally prefer the deeper and more complex flavors that are brought by dark chocolate and coffee.
16. Fire-Roasted Tomato Soup
As adults, we no longer have room in our cupboards for Campbell's tomato soup. Making it from scratch with fire-roasted tomatoes makes all the difference, adding an irresistible smoky flavor.
17. Almond Butter & Jam Toast
Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches will always have a place in our hearts. However, somehow by toasting the bread and using fancy almond butter instead of peanut butter, it feels a lot more adult.
Photo By: Kaboompics.com on Pexels
18. Pop Tart Parfait
Do you miss eating Pop-Tarts but won't allow yourself to buy them at the grocery store? Us too. You can capture the flavor of Pop-Tarts without feeling the guilt of eating such an unhealthy food by crushing one into a yogurt parfait along with some granola.
19. Prosciutto Pizza Bagels
Pizza bagels are amazing, but somehow our taste for that low-quality tomato sauce and pepperoni seems to have left us along with our desire to play "house." Luckily, pizza bagels are one of the easiest foods to upgrade. All you need is a mini bagel, a toaster, and some fancy toppings like prosciutto.
20. Popcorn with Rosemary Butter and Sea Salt
We can't remember a time when had teeth that we didn't love popcorn. An easy way to upgrade it is to make it on the stove and add some butter infused with rosemary or other herbs and sea salt.
KEEP ON READING
The Most Popular Signature Dishes Around the World
