14 Foods And Drinks Marilyn Monroe Loved - Tasting Table (2024)

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ByElettra Pauletto/Updated: April 22, 2024 9:42 am EST

Marilyn Monroe was a Hollywood icon and a talented actress who took an affinity to delicious food when she wasn't busy being in the limelight. Her appreciation for a good quality meal was no secret; the starlet's love affair with food is widely published, and fans lap up the intimate knowledge of what her favorites were. In addition to what she cooked for herself in the comforts of her own home, she also partook in fine meals with friends or afforded herself solo treats, according to her fancy.

So let us take a look at some of these meals, which we've gathered based on accounts of what she ate while dining out, as well as her own revelations about what she enjoyed chowing down. You may even be treated to a rare Monroe recipe — and you're not likely to be bored by her personal menu. Monroe's culinary preferences were as eclectic as her on-screen roles: She savored traditional American dishes like sundaes and chili yet also took delight in the sophistication of French cuisine. The star's passion for food provides a glimpse into the soul of a woman who, despite her fame, remained remarkably relatable.

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Although few people can say they dislike ice cream sundaes, Marilyn Monroe was especially keen on them and would regularly stop at an ice cream parlor in Beverly Hills after her acting classes. As she told Pageant magazine (via Women's Health Australia), "It's a good thing, I suppose, that I eat simply during the day, for in recent months I have developed the habit of stopping off at Wil Wright's ice cream parlor for a hot fudge sundae on my way home from my evening drama classes."

Other than that, she said her diet was mostly made up of high-protein foods, so she was fine allowing herself this "indulgence." But, for anyone who would like to do the same today, know that Wil Wright's is long gone, replaced by a perfectly respectable pastry shop called Pascal on Beverly. You can still get a treat there, but for the true Monroe experience, you might have to find a new ice cream parlor or make your sundaes at home.

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How we start the day is important, which is why some people consider breakfast the most important meal of the day. Consume too little, and you'll be left hangry until lunchtime. Consume too much, and you might fall prey to lethargy, leading to an unproductive afternoon. In short, it's important to get this meal right according to your own personal needs. Maybe you just need a bowl of cereal with almond milk. Or a hearty omelet. Or maybe you need something outlandish to get the job done.

This was the case with Marilyn Monroe, who ate an unusual concoction of raw eggs and milkevery morning.Indeed, as she told Pageant magazine,"I've been told that my eating habits are absolutely bizarre,"(via Into the Gloss).In her morning routine, she would heat up a cup of milk, "break two raw eggs into the milk, whip them up with a fork, and drink them" as she dressed. She complemented her breakfast with a multivitamin supplement.

Nowhere did she say that she loved this breakfast or even enjoyed it, but we do know that she considered it healthful and followed this recipe every day, so we can only hope that she didn't hate it!

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There are multiple accounts of Marilyn Monroe's preference for following a paleo diet, at least when cooking at home. Many of her dinners comprised nothing more than a slab of meat and some raw vegetables without any grains, sugar, or other paleo diet no-nos. One of those slabs of meat was steak. As she told Pageant and as reported by Harper's Bazaar, "Every night I stop at the market near my hotel and pick up a steak ... I usually eat four or five carrots with my meat, and that is all." She would then simply broil the steak in the electric oven in her hotel room.

One might even say that she loved carrots more than steak. In the same interview, she joked, "I must be part rabbit; I never get bored with raw carrots." Whatever the case, you can follow in her footsteps by adopting any broiled steak recipe, but we recommended this marinated London broil. While there are a few ingredients in this one that may interfere with a paleo diet, the flavor more than makes up for that shortcoming.

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Big Hollywood stars don't seem like the type to have the time or inclination to cook up a storm, especially if it involves a complicated recipe. Yet, not only did Marilyn Monroe cook her own stuffing, but she also used a pretty hands-on recipe involving 18 ingredients, four laborious steps, and at least two hours to prepare.

The recipewas found scrawled on an old notepad among her things and was heavy on protein, as it calls for beef, eggs, and chicken or turkey liver or hearts — not your typical stuffing elements. But perhaps what makes this recipe stand out the most is the use of sourdough bread, which must be soaked in water for 15 minutes before being shredded. Alternatively, you can soak it in broth or stock for a stronger flavor, but remember that if you plan on using this recipe as actual stuffing, any renderings from the bird you stick it into will permeate the ingredients. In other words, if you're going to try this recipe, it's probably complicated enough as it is, and there's no reason to fix what ain't broke.

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Marilyn Monroe may have followed a paleo diet at times, but that doesn't mean she ate the same thing every night. Indeed, while steaks were frequently on the menu at home, she seemed to be equally fond of lamb chops, which, as she told Pageant magazine, she would pick up from the market near her hotel, where she stopped every night on her way home.

While lamb chops aren't exactly rare, they're not as ubiquitous as chicken or beef, so you'd be forgiven if you told us you had no idea how to cook them. Luckily, we have no shortage of delicious lamb chop recipes for you. For instance, this garlicky pan-seared lamb chops recipe requires no special equipment, only takes about 10 minutes to prepare, and is packed with flavor. Another great option for the uninitiated lamb appreciator is this chipotle lamb chops recipe, which gives the meat a balanced kick with a chipotle chili powder rub.

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A little-known fact is that many Italians eat warm cereal for breakfast at home when no one is looking. Sure, they like to talk up the espresso and croissant or biscuit breakfast, but they're not going to pass on heating up some milk and pouring it over their cornflakes, making them nice and soggy. Perhaps this is where Marilyn Monroe got her idea for one of her favorite breakfasts — perhaps not. Either way, we know from a pair of cookbooks that once belonged to her, containing handwritten notes, recipes, and other clues to what she ate, that warm cereal was something she would sometimes have for breakfast.

Without getting our hands on the volumes, it's hard to know which specific cereals she consumed that way. While warm oatmeal wouldn't so much as raise an eyebrow from most people, it is likely that the meal in question was something less conventional.

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Everyone has a favorite dessert or a few guilty pleasures they like to indulge in after lunch or dinner. For Marilyn Monroe, that was ice cream sundaes andrice pudding. It's not clear how exactly she liked it cooked or which precise ingredients it contained, but this dish is hardly mysterious, so we can make a few educated guesses.

For instance, this classic baked rice pudding recipe can serve as an illustration of what the actress might have actually eaten back in the day. This one is made with white rice, whole milk, sugar, evaporated milk, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt — all of which are fairly expected ingredients. But there are more ways than one to enjoy this dish. An inventive variation, which also happens to be vegan, is this coconut chai rice pudding, which calls for jasmine rice, water, unsweetened coconut milk, coconut sugar, and half your spice rack.

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While raw eggs and milk might not be the first thing one thinks of in connection to the glitz and glamour that was Marilyn Monroe, Champagne is another story. She favored Dom Pérignon or Piper-Heidsiek, which she claimed she would drink as soon as she woke up in the morning. Not only that, but she famously took a bath, at least once, in the contents of 350 bottles of Champagne instead of using water. Her love for this drink was so renowned, even in her day, that it inspired her namesake co*cktail, which uses Champagne as a base.

The Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York can lay claim to this delicious invention, which also combined apple brandy and grenadine — its red color, of course, meant to evoke the bright red lipstick the actress often wore. To make it yourself, just combine the ingredients in a co*cktail shaker along with ice, shake thoroughly, and pour into a Champagne flute.

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Marilyn Monroe seemed to love the combination of eggs and dairy. In addition to her morning routine, she also ended her day with an eggnog nightcap. If you're looking to emulate the star, this drink may be easier and more palatable to adopt than her preferred breakfast combination.

To that end, here are a few recipes we think you'll like: This easy homemade eggnog recipe uses eggs, milk, heavy cream, rum, nutmeg, and sugar and takes about 25 minutes to prepare in total. Enjoy it on its own or with spiced cookies. But if you think all that sounds way too heavy to consume right before bedtime, we wouldn't blame you. Rather, here's a vegan version of eggnog that is slightly lighter due to the nut-based milk. But with all the spices and the inclusion of dates, the flavor is no less enticing. And remember that although this drink calls for bourbon, you can easily make it alcohol-free just by skipping the hard stuff.

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As beef bourguignon was one of the recipes found in Marilyn Monroe's old cookbooks, it's not too much of a stretch to say that she probably liked this dish, which is not simple to prepare.

Beef bourguignon, or boeuf bourguignon as it's more commonly known, requires nearly 20 ingredients and almost three hours of cooking, during which time you will have to be hard at work. Only after a series of browning and braising steps have been completed, and the main ingredients have been carefully cooked under very specific conditions, can you rest a little, while the meat softens and the sauce thickens. In other words, it seems like Monroe was no slouch when it came to cooking, and we can only hope that she enjoyed some of that red wine that goes in the dish as a reward for her hard work. A dinner party at her house would have been a memorable affair.

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Barney's Beanery in Los Angeles, which is still open today, is known for its chili and drew in quite the crowd, as it was a hot spot for Hollywood celebrities, including Quentin Tarantino and Marilyn Monroe. The latteroften stopped there to order some chili while filming "Some Like it Hot," which is very fitting. The establishment serves up several different varieties, and Monroe's favorite bowl of chili is still on the menu today.

For a classic Marilyn experience, head on over to Barneys Beanery and order yourself a comforting serving of chili. Don't be afraid to branch out and try the different chili options on top of the classic. The restaurant also serves a three-bean chili (made with red beans, black beans, and pinto beans), a fireman's chili with braised beef, black beans, and chips, and a lighter turkey chili with pinto beans, corn, and roasted pasilla chili.

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It's no secret that Marilyn Monroe loved Champagne, but perhaps she knew that when one has too much of a good thing, of that same good, one will soon be bereft — to paraphrase William Shakespeare. Enter rum and co*ke, which she reportedly drank only while alone, and notably at the Polo Lounge at The Beverly Hills Hotel, where she sometimes stayed while filming.

While there is no shortage of rum and co*kes in bars across the country, most of these are just comprised of cheap rum poured into a glass of co*ke or Pepsi from the soda fountain. A more elevated version can be prepared by following our rum and cola recipe, which calls for a good rum, namely Bacardi Facundo Neo, cola syrup, fernet, Orinoco bitters, Champagne, and a lemon twist. Given the inclusion of Champagne, Monroe might just have made this her new favorite drink.

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As we know from various interviews she gave, Marilyn Monroe valued a nutritious diet. For instance, this can be surmised by her consumption of one multivitamin pill with her breakfast each morning. Another clue can be found in her handwritten recipe for marrow bone soup, or bone broth, a meal that is known for its slew of benefits, including its anti-inflammatory properties and delivery of minerals like zinc and iron.

But while Monroe's recipe may have been packed with flavor, for all we know, most bone broths can be elevated to taste even better. This is why we recommend trying this beef, barley, and bone soup instead, which has the added benefit of being filling, thanks to the barley. Make sure you don't skip the part where you roast the bones. This will best draw out the marrow's flavor. In true Monroe fashion, this recipe is laborious and uses a lot of ingredients, but the flavor makes it worth the effort.

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Romanoff's restaurant in Beverly Hills, which opened in 1939, was the place for Hollywood celebrities for many years. One of those stars was Marilyn Monroe, who was partial to the restaurant's chocolate soufflé. We may never know whether she liked chocolate soufflés in general or just the one from Romanoff's, which has now sadly closed, taking its chocolate soufflé recipe with it.

But in the spirit of emulating her food preferences, we have a great chocolate soufflé recipe with orange sauce that is not to be missed. This recipe by legendary chef Jacques Pépin is simple — as far as soufflés go — and delivers its best results when made with good quality bittersweet chocolate, which pairs beautifully with an orange topping made with orange juice, zest, and sugar. Incidentally, it also pairs beautifully with Champagne, so maybe Marilyn really would have liked this recipe.