Heath has been a culinary editor at Food Network for over five years, where she writes instructional cooking articles and creates recipes that are low maintenance with big flavor. She’s a trained chef who’s been creating food content for national publications for over ten years.
Every year, it seems like more and more companies publish trend reports. But our team of 30+ culinary experts has been in the trends-prediction business for decades. Our team spends months studying digital analytics, exploring trade shows, embedding in social communities and more to determine which ingredients, appliances, drinks and culinary conversations will have major impacts in the coming year. We’re obsessed with learning about what people are buying and why. We’re curious about which ingredients, flavors and techniques will capture and keep the attention of busy cooks.
So, what will everyone be eating, drinking, cooking and talking about next year? Here are eight food trends to watch in 2025.
In years past, “freeze-dried food” probably conjured unappetizing backpacking meals. But thanks to advancements in freeze-drying technology that make it more energy efficient and affordable, we’re welcoming a new era of delightful, freeze-dried treats, ranging from freeze-dried gummy bears and peach rings from TikTok viral company Sweety Treaty Co to cheesecake bites from the company Freezecake. Freeze-drying removes all moisture from a food, imparting a Lucky Charms marshmallow-like crunch and enlarging the food and concentrating its flavor. People are craving new, affordable experiences; trying freeze-dried candy certainly delivers.
It’s hard to change the way people grocery shop, but AI is making waves. Online grocery giants such as Walmart, Amazon and Instacart have rolled out new AI search features that work a bit like search engines, only they’re trained on user searches and behavior and return smarter, more accurate results over time. In other words, you can now search for groceries using queries like, “what goes well with chicken breast?” and receive personally tailored results. In store, AI smart carts are rapidly coming into circulation, poised to save shoppers real money and gamify shopping. High quality technology makes them easy to use: simply add or remove items and the cart keeps track of what’s inside, without any extra action needed from the shopper.
Also known as calamondin or Philippine lime, calamansi is a staple of Filipino and Southeast Asian cooking. It tastes like a very tart combination of lemon, lime and orange. Recently, we’ve seen calamansi popping off as a popular flavor in supermarket goodies (such as Trader Joe’s Calamansi and Mango Sorbet) and high-end dining across the country. The pastry chefs in Food Network’s recent Harry Potter: Wizards of Baking incorporated calamansi into dishes, too: Chef Miko Kaw Hok Uy created an earl grey cake with earl grey ganache, calamansi custard and candied almonds. Expect to see calamansi incorporated into more big brand snack flavors and fast-casual dining.
The #1 rising trend in shopping, according to our shopping editors: cute appliances that perform single, joyful tasks. A good example? The TikTok-famous Ninja Creami (pictured), which quickly churns just a few ingredients into soft-serve. Ice cream makers have existed for years, but the Creami is smaller and has an interface with just a few buttons – characteristics that many of these uni-tasking appliances share. These days, in the wake of historic inflation, people are spending their money on small, joyful items, or”little treats,” and one-trick appliances – such as the Dash Mini Waffle Maker, which retails for less than $10 – are exhibit A. Plus, they’re easy for creators to sell on their Amazon storefronts.
A growing population of GLP-1 weight loss drug users want smaller-portioned snacks and meals that are highly nutrient dense. CPG companies are releasing new products for them and creators are developing recipes to meet these needs. For example, in late 2024 Nestle launched a frozen meals line for GLP-1 users called Vital Pursuit which includes protein, fiber and essential nutrient-packed meals in small portions. And Daily Harvest debuted a line of GLP-1 support meals. The new eating patterns of GLP-1 users may impact their families and social circles: if a person on obesity medication shops for their household, they’ll be less likely to buy fast food for their significant others and children. We expect to see a surge in whole foods meal prep that extends from dinner to breakfast and meals in between – including snacks.
According to the Good Food Institute, sales of meat alternatives dropped between 2021 and 2023. A big headwind is their price: plant-based meats are on average 77 percent more expensive than their animal equivalents. But plant-based deli meats – from lunch meat to charcuterie-board options – are taking off. Shoppers are not as bothered by their prices because they’re used to paying a premium for sliced deli meat already. Brands are launching with innovative, less-processed proteins, even landing behind the deli counter. For example, Prime Roots sells deli products that have no nitrates, preservatives, cholesterol, soy or wheat. Instead, they’re made from spices and koji: a type of Japanese fermented rice that’s beloved by Michelin star chefs like René Redzepi for its intense umami. There’s lots of talk about the “death” of the plant-based meat industry. But the category is here to expand and ultimately become more affordable.
From NYC to London to cities in between, cookbook clubs, or groups where each person cooks a recipe from a cookbook (Ina Garten’s cookbooks are popular) and then brings it to a potluck-like meeting, are taking off on TikTok and are ironically a panacea to the feelings of loneliness fostered by social media. “Scrolling online is not really tangible,” viral cookbook club founder Stephanie Lau says in an interview with Food Network. “People want to interact with other people. People want to taste lots of different foods – not just see it flashing past on their feeds.” Dinner party restaurants were a trend several years ago and brought people together over food. However, dining out is more expensive than ever; for a cookbook club, all you need is a space and people who love to cook. Cookbook clubs may evolve into new types of stranger gatherings over food.
Children’s food brands are positioning themselves as developmentally beneficial for kids. Brain food for kids is a reflection of “intensive parenting,” the prevalent parenting style in which parents spend ever more money and time enriching their children. In a recent advisory on parents’ mental health, the United States surgeon general said that parenting today is too intense and stressful for parents. Parents are willing to shell out on snacks from companies like Cerebelly or Braniac, which tout “brain-supporting nutrients,” and sell snacks that promote child development.
