comfort food

Noun

comfort food (countable and uncountable, plural comfort foods)

1. Simple, comforting home-cooked-style food associated with one's formative years, often a staple of diners and other informal restaurants.
   • People like soup. It's what a psychologist would call a comfort food. Easy to eat, easy to digest, hearty soups are quick energy builders.1962 March 15, “Comfort foods for breakfast”, in Eugene Patterson, editor, The Atlanta Constitution, volume XCIV, number 229, Atlanta, Ga.: Ralph McGill, →OCLC, page 3-F, columns 1–2
   • Studies indicate that most adults, when under severe emotional stress, turn to what could be called "comfort food"—food associated with the security of childhood, like mother's poached egg or famous chicken soup.1966 November 7, Joyce Brothers, “Obesity might be related to psychological problems”, in John O. Ferris, editor, The Muncie Star, volume 90, number 190, Muncie, Ind.: Muncie Newspapers, →OCLC, page...
2. Food, often high in carbohydrates or sugar, consumed to feel comfort or alleviate stress rather than to receive nutrition.
   • After the relationship ended, she overindulged on comfort food every night.
   • In his recently published "The Thin Book by a Formerly Fat Psychiatrist," Dr. [Theodore Isaac] Rubin applauds "comfort foods" for dieters. He states that it is important for dieters to have a comforting food on hand that can be quickly prepared – "fat people are most receptive to comfort." At the...1966 March 25, Betty Boxold, “Betty’s Column”, in A. A. Smyser, editor, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, home edition, volume 55, number 145, Honolulu, Hi.: Porter Dickinson, →ISSN, →OCLC, page C-2, column 1