Weird Pregnancy Cravings

We polled our friends, neighbors, readers — even the tellers at our bank — and compiled this exhaustive list of weird pregnancy cravings. Names have been omitted to protect the innocent.

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Pickles and Peanut Butter

This is a thing; it’s true. While not all the items on this list combine the two, they clearly show a trend in pregnancy food cravings.

• Peanut butter sandwich with nacho cheese Doritos in the middle.
• Peanut butter and pickle sandwiches.
• A spoonful of peanut butter, topped with Irish butter.
• Pickles and peanut butter with a Coke.
• Ramen noodles with pickle juice.
• Pickles with crushed up Funyuns.
• Peanut butter and chocolate cookies.
• Milk and peanut butter. Couldn’t get enough.

Downright Odd

Some pregnancy cravings are simply un-categorizable. Whether a one-off oddity or a — ahem — UNIQUE flavor combo, pregnant women crave it all.

• Tuna fish with chocolate milk.
• Tuna, tuna, TUNA. Like, enough for her OB/GYN to recommend a calendar of mercury consumption.
• San Pellegrino and canned salmon.
• Black olives, sour cream, and pickled beets. Together.
• Straight up, whole lemons. Actually, anything sour in general.
• Lemon juice. I drank it straight during my first pregnancy. Drank so many bottles of it.
• Chalk.
• Corn flakes (dry, no milk) with a side of tomato juice with lime and salt. 
• Chinese food and Krispy Kreme donuts. Together.
• Cottage cheese, a hamburger patty, and pineapple. In the same bite.
• French fries dipped in a chocolate milkshake. (Maybe this one isn’t SO odd.)
• Chili dogs WITH ketchup.
• Gouda cheese and chocolate pudding. Not mixed together, but definitely back to back.

Oddly Specific

Yup. That about sums it up.

• Hellmann’s Mayonnaise.
• Olive Garden salad dressing. Like, to drink.
• Dill pickle chips with lemonade — and they had to be LAY’S dill pickle flavored potato chips.
• Homemade ranch dressing with Ruffles original potato chips.
• Lima beans with butter and garlic. Pounds per week.
• Only green Granny Smith apples with peanut butter.
• Red Powerade. NOT Gatorade; Powerade.
• The skin of a baked potato.
• A turkey sandwich with a Honeycrisp apple — and the apple had to be from Central Market.
• Snickers, chips and salsa, and pickles (at the same time, but eaten separately).
• Salt and vinegar chips and 7-11 slurpees.
• McDonald’s coke. I was obsessed and wanted it daily (even though I don’t drink soda regularly).
• Tuna fish sandwich from McAlister’s, which my co-workers were sweet enough to get me on Fridays since I could only eat it once a week. It became McAlister’s Day for everyone!

Love Me Some Fast Food

Ahhhhh yeah! You don’t have to be pregnant to crave the neon signs, drive-thrus, and takeout menus on this list. But it helps.

• McDonald’s breakfast bagels and iced coffee.
• Taco Bell bean burritos with green sauce.
• Sonic foot-long chili-cheese coneys.
• Pizza Hut buffet (never before or since pregnancy).
• Whataburger onion rings.
• Galligaskin’s cheese sticks.
• Jack in the Box — chili cheese fries or potato cheese wedges.
• Luby’s fried fish and collard greens (never before or since).
• Baja gorditas from Taco Bell, Arby’s sandwiches, and McDonald’s hamburgers. Alternate weekly.
• Anything from Braum’s!
• Chick-fil-a nuggets (from a devout vegetarian).
• Taco Bell chicken quesadillas.
• Chinese takeout. Egg rolls.
• ‪Hamburger pizza.
• In-n-out double double with chopped chilies and a milk shake to dip my fries.
• McDonald’s double cheeseburger was “second dinner” several times a week.
• Dorito’s loco tacos from Taco Bell.

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Not Too Crazy

Here’s the thing about some of these. They’re not totally off the wall. Either they just get inside your head and constantly nag . . . or mama might need to practice some moderation. We’re not judging.

• Ketchup. Like, as a legit component of the weekly meal plan.
• Pasta: spaghetti, ramen noodles, or macaroni and cheese.
• Deviled eggs.
• Pickles.
• Dairy. You name it. Cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, whole milk.
• Anything mayonnaise-based.
• Chicken wings.
• ‪Fried okra.
• Tacos.
• Waffles.
• Milkshakes from any place with a drive-thru window. 
• Pineapple juice. Gallons of it.
• Cheetos.
• Sea salt & vinegar potato chips.
• Goldfish crackers.
• Steak/burgers/red meat.
• Cereal. Like, one family-size box per day. (Froot Loops, Special K, and Honey Nut Cheerios were some of the top mentions.)
• BLTs.
• Steak and broccoli. For every meal except breakfast.
• Hot dogs (never before or since).
• Mexican elotes.
• Ethnic comfort foods like chicken curry and vaca frita and maduros (fried beef with plantains).

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Dat Spice Though

Heat definitely warrants its own category. What is it about spice that speaks to a pregnant woman’s cravings?

• Cajun food.
• Salsa. By the spoonful.
• Chicken fajitas for every single meal.
• Jalapeños (never before or since).
• Spicy Asian food (Pad Thai, curries, spicy Korean pork, Szechuan anything, etc.)
• Hot sauce. With a side of bean burrito.
• Frito pie, extra cheese.
• Hot tamale candies.
• Jalapeños. I would eat them straight out of the jar.

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ALL the Sweets

Isn’t this so relatable? Even gals with admittedly ZERO sense of a sweet tooth can crave the cloying while pregnant!

• Gobstoppers candy.
• Bluebell ice cream.
• Klondike bars.
• Sour Jelly Beans.
• Dr. Pepper.
• Lemon sherbet.
• Fig Newtons.
• Strawberry tarts from Swiss Pastry Shop. (Not a sponsor, but . . . shout out!)
• Strawberry ice cream or cherry pie.
• Taco Bell cinnamon twists.
• Dairy Queen ice cream sundaes with extra, EXTRA hot fudge.
• Sonic Reese’s blast.
• Black Forest sundae from Braum’s.
• Sno cones.
• Peach ring gummies.
• Fudge brownie sundaes from Sonic.
• CHOCOLATE! We had responses of chocolate milk, chocolate shakes, straight up chocolate, and even chocolate croissants. The struggle is real.

Good for You

We saved this category for last because, honestly, we’re a little bit ashamed of our own pregnancy indulgences and A LOT impressed by these healthier cravings. You go, mama!

• Cucumbers.
• Kale salad and grapefruit.
• Lebanese cabbage rolls.
• Fresh plums (the juicy, squishy kind).
• Frozen grapes.
• Lentil soup.
• Salad! Greek, chicken, etc.
• Anything avocado.
• Pineapples.
• Blackberries. Like, two cartons per day.
• Tomatoes with lemon juice and salt.
• Salads. All the lettuce.

What were some of your craziest pregnancy cravings — or aversions?