10 Messy Foods You’ve Actually Been Eating All Wrong

Kelsey KlossUpdated: Mar. 14, 2023

Never be embarrassed by a stained shirt again.

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Catch Popsicle drips

Thread the bottom of an ice-pop stick through a cupcake liner. As it rests below the ice pop, the liner will catch any drips before they reach fingers (especially helpful for kids).

iStock/Pavlo_K

Rethink watermelon slices

A triangular piece of watermelon is a recipe for sticky cheeks. Instead, lay a slice flat with the point facing away from you, then cut off the bottom two corners of the rind. Hold the remaining piece of rind on the bottom as you eat your fruit mess-free.

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Moat PB&J sandwiches

To keep jelly from drizzling out, spread a layer of peanut butter on the bread first. Add an extra layer around the bread’s edges (to act as a square barrier), and place jelly neatly inside.

Yasu+Jukno for Reader's Digest

Make a cupcake sandwich

Victim of a frosting-covered nose? Twist off the bottom half of the cupcake. Place it on top of the frosting for a cupcake “sandwich” with the frosting snugly in the center.

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Flip burgers over

The top half of a bun is usually twice as thick as the bottom, so ingredients will rest on a sturdier base if you eat the burger upside down. Bonus: Now at the bottom, the lettuce will act as a barrier for dripping juices.

iStock/Robert Kirk

Fork and dunk Oreo cookies

Love to splash cookies in cold milk? Try this trick: Push the prongs of a fork into the cream filling of a sandwich cookie, such as an Oreo. Holding the fork, dip the cookie into a glass of milk. Eat the milky cookie from the fork without a mess.

iStock/Magone

De-bone Buffalo wings

Remove the cartilage on the wide end of the wing, twist the small bone, and pull it out with ease. Repeat with the large bone, then eat the wing in one bite.

iStock/fcafotodigital

Wrap the tacos with lettuce

Keep the fillings and shell together—and add a nutritional boost—by wrapping a large leaf of lettuce around the shell. It will hold together any bits and pieces that might otherwise end up on your shirt.

iStock/Marek Mnich

Eat corn left to right

Butter and eat only a few rows of corn on the cob at once, munching through it horizontally. If you eat the corn in rings, kernels and butter will end up on your cheek as you turn the cob.

iStock/Florin1605

Pick up powdery chips with chopsticks

To avoid leaving fingerprints on your books or keyboard, use chopsticks to dig in to cheesy chips or popcorn if you snack while you work. (It may seem bizarre, but there’s even a Facebook fan page called Eating Cheetos with Chopsticks.)

Originally Published: March 04, 2016

Originally Published in Reader's Digest