The Internet Took Sides In This Fight Over Chicken-Fried Steak

If you grew up in the American South or have ever eaten at a Southern-inspired restaurant, you're probably familiar with chicken-fried steak, a dish that The Food Network handily describes as "a breaded, pan-fried steak served with gravy." Occasionally, you might see the dish referred to as a country-fried steak, but the concept is essentially the same. You bread a flattened piece of beef, fry it up, and smother it in gravy for a delicious comfort food that's frankly amazing served alongside down-home sides like mashed potatoes and green beans. But, unfortunately, the "chicken" part of chicken-fried steak can be confusing — or, at least, that was the case in a Reddit AITA (Am I The A**hole?) post that sent the internet into a tizzy.

In December 2021, a Reddit user presented the community with a quandary. The user told a story about their friend Sarah, who loves cows and refuses to eat beef, but who one day claimed that she loved chicken-fried steak. The original poster reports that they told Sarah that chicken-fried steak is made from beef, at which point Sarah said her mother had always told her it was made from chicken. Turns out, Sarah's mom had been lying to her, and Sarah went on to blame the original poster for ruining her favorite dish by revealing the truth.

As with all AITA Reddit posts, this one asked community members to weigh in. Was the original poster a jerk for telling Sarah that she was eating her beloved cows every time she chowed down on chicken-fried steak? Or were they merely an innocent bystander?

As you might expect, most Redditors took the original poster's side. After all, that person didn't know that Sarah had been lied to her entire life and it's not exactly OP's fault that Sarah had been misinformed by her mother. Quite a few community members, in fact, turned the blame on Sarah's mom, pointing out that she shouldn't have lied to her daughter for so many years. Others, meanwhile, mentioned that they knew many parents who behaved similarly just to get their child to eat whatever was on the dinner table. One user even shared a similar story, detailing how their boyfriend reacted poorly when told his mother's beloved recipes included his most-hated food, onions, only pureed so that he couldn't see them.

The verdict? The internet decided that OP was not the a**hole in this instance, and the blame could solely be placed on Sarah's mom. The moral of the story is, apparently, to be honest with your children regarding the ingredients in their favorite meals. Otherwise, you might just find yourself at the center of a viral AITA post on Reddit.