Last week, I was rudely awakened to the fact that apparently not everyone spent their childhood eating dry Nesquik powder straight from the tub with a spoon. Fine, I get it. My surreptitious trips to the pantry were not as universal as I thought. I’ve made peace with that. Luckily, though, even Takeout readers who didn’t partake in this crunchy illicit snack grew up enjoying Nesquik powder, and many didn’t just put it to its intended use as a drink mix. What follows is a list of the many unique alternative uses for Nesquik suggested by our resourceful readers. Our future snacking sessions thank you.
Use Nesquik as an ice cream topping
Adding Nesquik to ice cream was far and away the suggestion we received from the most readers. One reader went so far as to call it “the nectar of the gods.” Vanilla ice cream seems to be the consensus flavor, though the format of the ice cream varied from one reader to another. Particularly intriguing was the recommendation to add Nesquik to a soft serve cone. Aside from the fact that it sounds delicious, I like to picture a kid running home with a rapidly melting cone from the Tastee Freez in order to sprinkle Nesquik on it—or, better yet, the little genius who brings a pocketful of Quik powder along with them to the Tastee Freez.
Make Nesquik sandwiches
It should be said that not all readers balked at my erstwhile dry-Nesquik-munching habits. Some people bravely admitted they had done the same.
“Did I write this article?” wrote one commenter. “It was my secret shame. I also ate Marshmallow Fluff and Nestle Quik powder sandwiches.”
I have only ever used Marshmallow Fluff for two purposes: Fluffernutter sandwiches and the homemade fudge recipe on the jar’s label. So thinking about Fluff’s application on further sandwiches was a revelation to me. I’m definitely going to try this as soon as I can sneak a jar of Fluff onto my next grocery list. This has inspired an additional brainstorm: Quik powder on a Fluffernutter. Speaking of which...
Eat Nesquik + peanut butter
“I would take a spoonful of peanut butter and then sprinkle a bunch of Nestle powder over it,” wrote one commenter, a true visionary. “I had to be very careful, as my mother was a psychic when it came to knowing when I had been hitting the sauce.”
A more relatable sentence has never been written. Shout out to all the kids out there who learned extreme stealth tactics in order to swipe sweets, replacing the lid on a glass jar of pilfered M&M’s like they were Indiana Jones stealing the Golden Idol in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Nesquik on toast
“I did not [eat dry Quik powder] because it was gritty and unpleasant,” one reader responded bluntly to my query. “I did have a stepfather who liked to sprinkle strawberry quik on buttered toast and eat that, but that is also disgusting.”
Strawberry Quik is a topic we haven’t yet waded into, because I avoided the product as a child and I avoid it now. I’ve never had a sip of strawberry milk; somehow the leap from chocolate to fruit—the color shift from earthy brown to Pepto-Bismol pink—felt too artificial, even back then. But if anyone would like to make an argument for Strawberry Nesquik, I’m all ears.
In any case, chocolate Nesquik on toast sounds pretty awesome, like a slightly muted version of cinnamon-sugar toast. All the better, I imagine, if you use it to top homemade white bread.
Stir Nesquik into yogurt
“Nesquik in plain yogurt is good,” one reader suggested, “although it’s defeated by a packet of hot cocoa mix in plain yogurt.”
Chocolate isn’t something I think to pair with yogurt too often, though I did always enjoy that Boston Cream Pie flavor from Yoplait. I see what this reader is saying: Nesquik might make for a more sweet and cloying combination than hot cocoa mix, but that’s exactly why the former might pair best with my preferred 2% Fage Greek yogurt, which is intensely sour-cream-like and could use a boost of added sweetness. I am always eager to put the magic of Fage to even more uses. Thank you, reader!
Nesquik as... dragon breath?
“We used to pretend we were a dragon and just puff that stuff out of our mouth in big clouds of chocolate dust,” wrote one user. The mind of a bored child is capable of some incredible feats.