My MIL Kept Guilt-Tripping Me for Not Eating Her Cooking, So I Found a Pretty Revenge

One mother-in-law refused to take “I’m not hungry” for an answer, guilt-tripping this woman into eating her cooking—until she found a way to turn the tables. A little bit of pettiness, a dash of cultural irony, and one perfect strategy later... she finally stopped! Was it revenge or a lesson in empathy? You decide!

My Indian mother-in-law thinks that she is the best cook in the world and that everyone, including her son and daughter-in-law, should beg for her cooking. Well, culturally, I’m not used to a lot of Indian food because of the spices, but I will try to eat the ones I can enjoy. Many times, I’ll politely tell her I am not hungry or I’ll munch on some, but sometimes that’s not a good enough response, and she’ll start guilt-tripping me with “So you don’t like my cooking?” Or “Everyone loves my food, why don’t you?”

My significant other usually will jump in to stop her, but it always puts me in a weird spot since, on day one of meeting me, she told me point-blank that she doesn’t like Chinese food. I’m Chinese, and it kind of threw me off because there are so many varieties of Chinese food, and for her to just say she hates the entire category seems odd to me.

So I recently started bringing food I made whenever visiting her and saying how excited I was to cook for her and that I hope she likes my cooking. She usually brushes it off, saying she’s not hungry or that she’ll eat it later. I turned the tables on her, looking sad and asking her why she didn’t like my cooking. It’s very entertaining to watch her try to make excuses she knows are rubbish. She hasn’t asked me to eat her stuff since, so I guess this petty revenge is working.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Some commenters let humor flood in:

• Seeing as I love both cuisines, I will gladly volunteer to eat both sets of leftovers for you. To keep the peace. © fyr811 / Reddit

• Oh man, if you could only unite and come together, Hakka (Chinese-Indian) food is my fav!! © freedomfreida / Reddit

Others sided with the woman:

• You gave her the mirror treatment & she didn’t like her reflection. Hopefully, she takes it as a life lesson and knows how that BS feels and stops. © Poetic-Noise / Reddit

• This has to be the most gentle form of revenge ever! You’re cooking for her, trying to share your culture with her, while simultaneously making your point, all in a gentle way. And it’s working!!
  Good for you! You make revenge look good. © Xylorgos / Reddit

• What an excellent strategy! Since she has stopped, you can stop bringing her food. If she starts again, you start again. Clear, immediate consequences for both desired and undesired behavior. © CocoaAlmondsRock / Reddit

• Amazing. Revenge is a dish best served cold. © AppropriateRip9996 / Reddit

• I will never understand why adults try to force other adults to eat things they don’t like. My FIL didn’t believe that I don’t like cheese with the exception of mozzarella. He made a turkey meatloaf and put cheese in it. After a few bites, I didn’t eat anymore because I could taste the cheese. The next few times he made turkey, he also made ham for me. The last time we came to dinner, he saw me eating turkey. He said, “I thought you didn’t like turkey.” I told him, “No, I don’t like the cheese that you put in there.” Sheepishly said, “Oh, okay.” I’m a grown man, I’m pretty sure I can determine for myself what I like and don’t like. © Mrbiag / Reddit

• I think you’re helping her grow. It’s hard for folks set in their ways to change lifelong habits. You can’t have been the only person she’s done this to. Very cool. © No_Builder7010 / Reddit

However, there were people who believed that the best way out was communication:

• At no point did you say to her, “I’m sorry but I just don’t like Indian food.” Instead of acting passive-aggressively and lying to her. She no doubt felt hurt because you’re never hungry when she cooks. Which, after the 20th time, I’d start putting 2 and 2 together and get a little mad. It sounds like she did.
  Maybe you did straight up tell her and didn’t write that down in your post, but either way, she clearly told you she doesn’t like Chinese food; why can’t you tell her you simply don’t enjoy Indian food? “It’s not you; it’s me.” Goes a long way. © causeb****d***** / Reddit

• I guess you guys can act like adults and communicate with each other. Tell her it’s not her cooking; it’s the spices you aren’t used to. Maybe try being honest with each other. © Picklehippy_ / Reddit

• You say that you can’t understand why she hates the entire category of Chinese food when it sounds like you’ve basically said that you don’t like most Indian food. That sounds a little hypocritical to me. If you both opened up a bit, you’d be happier and would get to enjoy new things. © mrbeige3 / Reddit

• There are many varieties of Indian food, just as there are in Chinese. Perhaps each of you learning what sort of dishes are off-putting would help. It may be possible to create a dinner with both types of cuisine where the flavors blend well. © glenmarshall / Reddit

But family conflicts aren’t always so easily resolved. Sometimes, it’s not just about food—it’s about love, acceptance, and the painful realization that not everyone in a blended family is treated the same. One father, who embraced his wife’s children as his own, was hit with a heartbreaking truth: she didn’t see his daughter the same way. When a long-standing family tradition turned into a moment of rejection, he could no longer ignore the signs.