5 Foods Martha Stewart Says She Will Not Eat
Martha Stewart has cooked with Michelin-level chefs, raised her own ingredients, and hosted enough dinner parties to fill a small calendar. She’s tasted her way through decades of recipes and kitchen experiments, and she usually approaches food with the curiosity of someone who still enjoys learning. Even so, a few things never make the cut for her.
What’s interesting is how ordinary her reasons are. They show up in offhand comments during filming, in conversations with friends, or when a dish lands in front of her and she simply steps back. Once you listen closely, you can see a clear logic behind her choices. These are the five foods she consistently leaves off her plate.
Raccoon
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During a Late Night With Seth Meyers interview, Martha revealed that she once attended a raccoon-and-chicken supper. Everyone at the table loved the raccoon dish, but she declined it because she avoids foods that rarely appear on menus. The moment became a highlight of her conversation with Meyers, especially as she had just finished telling him about raccoons wandering around the set of her cooking show. Her choice had nothing to do with the setting and everything to do with her comfort level at the table.
Hearts and Brains
Martha has cooked a wide variety of meats, but she draws the line at certain cuts. In an interview with Elle, she said she avoids hearts, brains, and similar items that fall into the offal category. She has tasted some of them when a high-end restaurant served them as part of a larger menu, yet she doesn’t reach for those ingredients in her own kitchen. She focuses on dishes that bring people together, and these items rarely fit that mission.
Airplane Food
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Martha has strong opinions about eating at 30K feet. She once told The New York Times that she brings her own meals on long flights, including smoked salmon sandwiches, tabbouleh, homemade yogurt with applesauce, and hard-boiled eggs laid by her own chickens. She tries to avoid the in-flight meal because she finds it unappealing. That habit also fits her broader approach to food: simple, fresh, and prepared with care.
Pumpkin Spice
Martha is not a believer in pumpkin spice as an all-purpose seasonal flavor. In a Bravo interview, she dismissed the trend as basic, though she later clarified to USA Today that she’s fine with it in pumpkin pie. Even then, her own pie recipe skips the blend entirely. She uses Chinese five-spice instead, building flavor with a different mix of aromatics that gives her pie its signature balance. Her issue isn’t with cinnamon or nutmeg. It’s the idea that pumpkin spice shows up everywhere without a connection to actual pumpkins.
Truffle Oil
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Few items draw a stronger reaction from Martha than truffle oil. She criticized it in a Reddit AMA and expanded on that take to Today, calling it synthetic and unpleasant. That reaction is rooted in fact: most truffle oils don’t contain real truffles, only lab-created aroma compounds. The result is an ingredient that sounds luxurious but doesn’t behave like authentic truffles. For someone who values clean, intentional flavor, it doesn’t stand a chance.