12 Popular Food Trends From 2025 That No One Will Remember In 2026

As quickly as food trends come and go these days, it's a wonder any of them last more than a few weeks. The trends that have held fast for most of 2025 are already showing signs of waning, making room for the next big things to take over TikTok and send eager eaters off on a wild food chase. Online peer pressure around culinary trends may be wildly powerful, but overexposure inevitably leads to boredom and a yearning for whatever new and exciting movements await.

With just a few months left before the calendar flips over into 2026, the time is ideal for rooting out the food trends of 2025 that are likely to fizzle faster than a New Year's Eve fireworks display. Maybe it was a thrill to sink your teeth into Dubai chocolate or slather your favorite foods in spicy-sweet hot honey, but the clock is ticking on the novelty of these and other weird and wonderful food trends that caught hold this year. If you're a fad follower, you might want to get in on these quick-fading movements before a whole new set of trends makes 2025's food crazes seem dated and faded.

Boy, Dubai chocolate sure blew up on TikTok when it showed up on American shores, didn't it? It made for a groovy ASMR experience, watching influencers break into the tempered shell to reveal alien-green pistachio goo that turned out to be far crunchier than expected thanks to shreds of baked phyllo dough. After a while, it seemed like you couldn't pop open a social media app without seeing a dozen reshares of yet another candy fan cracking into a bar they'd ordered from overseas.

When U.S. candy crafters caught onto the movement, there was suddenly a version of Dubai chocolate in every shop on the block, from Costco to Walmart. Naturally, the flavor made its way into other foods like coffee and ice cream, because nothing worth its weight in gold can stay in its original form. But with the availability came a sense of blah about the whole deal. By the time home cooks started toasting their own crave-worthy kataifi and mixing it into jarred pistachio cream, the trend was already starting to lose its sweetness.

You may still see Dubai chocolate cluttering your feed and your favorite shops as December slides into January, but don't expect the trendy thrill of this played-out confection to spark the same joy in 2026 as it did in 2025. That's the downside of viral surprises: once we know what's coming, we're already looking for the next buzzworthy bite.

Remember how exciting it was to discover freeze-dried versions of your favorite candies when you strolled and trolled the aisles of the farmer's market, back when it was an artisan item? Then it started making appearances in regular candy stores, and before long, corporate producers like Mars caught on that this was the next big movement in the world of sugary sweets. Suddenly, there were TikTok users freeze-drying Skittles to make them crackle like popcorn instead of being their charming, chewy selves. Then the dam burst, Skittles Pop'd became a store-bought sensation in late 2024, and grocery and big-box outlets suddenly had bags of freeze-dried gummies and chewies galore lining shelves. Their inflated shapes and lighter-than-air crunchy textures were an outrageous alteration of the originals. What a kick.

Sadly, packs of freeze-dried candy are already showing up in clearance sections by the bushel. Even as M&Ms readies its own take on the trend, these crunchy bites are fading into the background. It's only a matter of time before it becomes the liquid candy of the 21st century — remember how big that stuff was in the '90s? And now, it's just another option when you're looking for a hit of sweetness, with all its novelty worn off long ago. Expect freeze-dried candies to continue on the same downward path in 2026, doomed to become a bygone fad that shows up in 20 years as part of the nostalgia movement. 

It was only a matter of time before the hot honey food trend fizzled out. Though it's been on the scene for a few years, it really perked up in 2025, showing up in popcorn and cheese products. Market analysis shows a peak happening in February, with a dip arriving by August as consumers possibly sought out more summer-friendly flavors. Whatever the reason, the sheen couldn't last forever; once you know what hot honey is and how to use it, you've pretty much had the whole experience.

Rather than being the hot new thing, hot honey may be bucking its own trend to become a standard condiment in the "swicy" sector, driving a sales increase even as the buzzy novelty wears off. Think of it as joining ketchup, mayo, and mustard as just another option to make your waffles tastier or your chicken spicier. Instead of headlining menus, 2026 will likely see hot honey as just part of the sandwich formula, listed along with pickles and lettuce.

This assimilation means the next big thing in savory-sweet flavors is bound to show up sometime in 2026. Will it be dill pickle maple syrup, black pepper caramel sauce, or turmeric hot fudge? Let's hope it's something more appetizing than any of those.

Just when you've gotten used to shelling out a small fortune for a combo meal at the most overpriced fast food chains in America, the pendulum starts swinging back in the direction of value-priced selections. Chains are finally learning that charging $10 for a burger that was half the price just a few years ago drives customers away more than it maximizes profits. Volume is key in this game, and by bringing back the good ol' value menu, fast food proprietors stand to regain their footing in the dining world.

Beefing up fast food value menus has been in motion for a while, though many outlets seemed reluctant to roll back their price points. Once McDonald's made its value menu a permanent thing, others joined in. Wendy's brought out its Biggie Bags and Moe's added a $10 value meal in fall 2025, proving the shift toward more affordable fast food is on a hot streak. As of October, fast casual standards IHOP and Denny's were tinkering with late-year bargains of their own.

Of course, you'll still find high-end orders stacked on the menus of most fast food outlets. But with the big names in the drive-thru sector setting the tone, look for more chains luring customers in with lower prices throughout 2026.

Just as almonds, cashews, and pecans did in previous years, pistachios really had a moment in 2025. It may have carried over from 2024, but it's saturated the market now, and potential price spikes and alternate-year bearing cycles will likely cool it down in 2026. This year saw pistachio flavoring everything from coffee to nut butter, its earthy green hue becoming a thrilling sight in the otherwise neutral space of the nut-based food world.

That kind of bubble is bound to burst, and soon. Part of the issue is the price of pistachios. It's long been one of the more expensive members of the nut world. The Dubai chocolate brouhaha helped elevate its status to "pricey but worth it" thanks to the increased demand; growers have been working to keep up with the newfound interest. In the modern inflationary scene, that sort of uptick means pistachio anything is a luxury that only devoted foodies are willing to shell out their hard-earned cash for.

Is there a more affordable nut-like nugget that might supplant the pistachio trend without causing financial hardship? Sunflower seeds could be waiting in the wings as the next big thing. Keep an eye on this sneaky seed in 2026 to see if it gets its big break.

We get it: Cottage cheese is a highly versatile ingredient. You can use it in place of other dairy items when baking easy flat breads; turn it into a handy ricotta substitute for luxe Italian dishes; and even whip it around in a food processor and freeze it into homemade ice cream. It's a real wonder food, a low-fat, high-protein power player that finally got its due in 2025.

But enough appears to be enough at this point. The surge in popularity brought about by TikTok users has caused a cottage cheese shortage, driving customers toward options that might be cheaper and are definitely more available in the dairy case. Add that to the fluctuating dairy prices caused by ongoing tariffs, and you have the perfect switch-over point that's sure to lead food lovers and trend followers to find a new magical ingredient, leaving cottage cheese out in the cold.

What might be up next for the TikTok trendsetters in search of a high-protein dairy darling to incorporate into their home cooking practices? With Greek yogurt in the rearview mirror and butter coffee having come and gone, it could be sour cream's turn to shine.

Keto-eaters and muscle heads came to depend on beef as a prime protein source once again, with 2025 seeing red meat push chicken to the back of the farm. It felt like an indulgence justified by the shift from austerity to pleasure-based eating, even for the health-minded consumer. After years of turning to poultry as a lean source of protein, beef was back in vogue, flaunted as a valuable source of nutrients that brought big flavor back into the spotlight.

That was before tariffs and drought-based shortages turned the beef market on its horns, and sent grocery store and restaurant prices through the roof. Shoppers have taken to sharing the soaring costs of even basic beef on social media, bemoaning the ridiculous prices of packaged cuts at every chain grocer on the scene while warning off other customers who might not have noticed the uptick yet. 

With additional tariffs, skyrocketing insurance costs, and climate-based expenses keeping cattle prices at record highs into 2026 and likely 2027, expect to see budgeting concerns win out over diners' renewed passion for beef as a protein source. We may even witness a surge of plant-based meats becoming a preferred substitute, with cultivated, lab-created meats possibly finding a place in the market in the new year.

Protein as a cornerstone macro kept its clutch on the dining public all through 2025. But 2026 looks like it could finally be the year that balance is achieved between protein and fiber, with a considerable shift toward higher fiber foods seizing the attention of the health conscious.

Unfortunately, this evolution could come about thanks to the surge in colorectal cancers diagnosed in people under the age of 40. In the past, testing for this highly detectable condition began at age 50, but an uptick in occurrences caused the medical community to lower that age to 45 in 2023. With people in their 20s and 30s experiencing surprise colon cancer diagnoses for reasons not yet determined, preventative dietary changes have become a buzzworthy topic.

Aside from early testing, the most favorable method for lowering your chances of developing cancerous polyps in your colon is incorporating more fiber into your diet. Expect to see a turn toward high whole-grain recipes and creative twists on carb-centered dishes that deliver healthful doses of fiber along with satisfying layers of flavor. Don't be surprised if legumes and beans come to the forefront in inventive ways to deliver fiber and protein in the same tasty creations. That's a power play no omnivore can deny.

Man, don't onion ring chips, those spirally fried discs of onions and cheese, look mouthwatering when they show up on your digital device? They probably smell better than they look and undoubtedly taste better than both of those. It doesn't look too difficult to create them, either; slice onions, sprinkle on cheese, and toss them in a 400-degree Fahrenheit oven for a 10 to 15 minute heat bath, and you have a keto-friendly alternative to traditional onion rings and a great sleepover food you can make by the pan.

It reality, it looks like one of those novelty movements that takes ahold of the internet's interest for a minute or two. Think of how excited everyone got over the super-enlarged microwaved Peeps a few years back. Since the only prep work was buying Easter candy and putting it on a plate, the simplicity was part of the appeal. But have you had the urge to nuke a marshmallow rabbit in the past 12 months, no matter how easy a prospect it is? Not likely. Onion ring chips are on the same path.

Influencers are always seeking out a new groovy goody to indulge in. Maybe it's chocolate-dipped turnips or peanut butter and pickle sandwiches. Whatever the next one turns out to be, onion ring chips will surely be circling the drain in 2026 after its brief fling with fame. Such is the life of a viral food trend.

It takes a real dedicated chocolate eater to find anything to enjoy about 100% cacao chocolate. If you've never had it, it's the equivalent of eating a brown crayon, but somehow even more disappointing. It's crunchy, waxy, and bitter in a way that only Disney villains can be. Somehow, it snuck past 72% and 85% cacao to become a daring darling of the specialty chocolate sphere.

In fairness, 100% cacao, which is essentially unsweetened chocolate, comes in two different forms: one for baking and one for snacking. Brands like Lindt claim to offer a more palatable candy bar version of chocolate without milk or sugar added, comprised only of cacao and cocoa butter. Adjectives like "robust" and "attractive" abound. Sounds tasty, doesn't it? Yeah ... not so much. Unless you're one of those daring hipsters who latches onto even the most unfortunate sounding food trends, 100% cacao chocolate isn't likely to become one of your go-to treats. That it even made headway in 2025 is something of a miracle.

Being such a specialty purchase targeted at such uniquely equipped palates — ones that don't mind showing their taste buds a really sad time — 100% cacao chocolate is bound to be just a vague memory, one that feels like a nightmare nobody should have been subjected to. Let's hope the chocolate of 2026 has a more reasonable nature and at least a little sugar to make things dreamy again.

Maybe you're still recovering from the sugar shock you experienced when you rolled the dice on a dirty Dr Pepper, one of the bubbliest food trends of 2025, where a splash of cream spruces up the 23-flavor soda concoction. Maybe you went all in and used the dedicated coffee creamers introduced by Coffee Mate to give not just additional creamy sweetness to an already corn syrup-based beverage, but additional elements like lime or berry flavors. If there's anything late stage capitalism loves, it's marketing two different sugary items in a single synergistic campaign.

Much like fluffy Coke from 2024 (the one with marshmallow fluff spun into a glass of cola), dirty Dr Pepper was a wholesome spin on carbonated cocktails. It isn't the worst way to upgrade soda you've become overly familiar with, but there are probably only so many times you can repeat this magic trick before you can see beyond the smoke and mirrors. In other words, dirty Dr Pepper becomes a trip to Dullsville pretty quickly.

With the uptick in mindful sodas that incorporate probiotics and botanicals into their recipes, maybe the next trend in cola-based mixology will be something that enhances your well-being rather than taking it for a joyride to the edge of sugar saturation. Whatever it turns out to be, you're not likely to be revisited by the ghost of dirty Dr Pepper past in 2026 once the new trend gets a foothold.

Uh, high-low food pairing, where expensive components mix with lowbrow elements as a cheeky dinner party trick? In this economy? Maybe for the 1% of the population who like to comment on how quaint the word "groceries" is. For the rest of us, shopping for affordable staples has become a treasure hunt. The last thing the modern eater needs is a reason to spend extra money on frivolous bougie components to play culinary mix-and-match with their Great Value hot dog buns.

The concept of high-low eating might be a fun viral trend to experiment with in another era. It's hard to imagine what era that might be, other than maybe the roaring '20s just before the stock market collapsed. Yet somehow, in 2025 — the year of the peekaboo tariff and staggering inflation on pretty much everything in the grocery store — some folks still found enough change in their couch cushions to afford ridiculous luxuries like caviar for topping their store label crackers. The crackers are expensive enough on their own ... no need to drain your funds with fish eggs.

It'll be surprising if this trend hasn't passed by the time January 1, 2026 rolls around. Who knows how much we'll be paying for the basics by then? The only sensible trend to supplant this financial tomfoolery is buckling down and making your grocery money go as far as possible. In uncertain times like these, that sounds like the most delicious prospect of all.