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The culinary landscape is often a battleground between fleeting fads and truly impressive innovations.
While viral TikTok sensations, such as videos of Polish strawberry pasta and unique dried yogurt, attract momentary attention, other emerging flavors and nutritional insights have the potential to truly reshape our mealtimes.
We explore the food trends that are set to change the way we eat in 2026.
healthy snack
It seems a packet of crisps and a chocolate bar doesn’t cut it anymore. Nor a simple apple, the one you eat while running for the bus. Instead, we now want more from our snack options (especially when they cost so much): even more. proteinMore fiber, more nutrients in general, and definitely less sugar and salt. However, just because someone says it’s healthy doesn’t mean it is, and snacks – even so-called good for you – can be extremely ultra-processed. So you’re choosingprotein-Packaged lentil cakes’ or ‘chocolate salted caramel vitamin bars’, always read labels and pay attention to anything that sounds more like a chemical than real Eat Constituent. If you’re like 57% of people surveyed, it’s paramount Waitrose Food and Drink Trends Report 2025-2026 Who said they would sometimes skip dinner and fill a plate with breakfast instead.
fiber vs protein
We should all be eating about 30 grams of fiber a day, but most of us only get 20 grams, which is worrying when fiber is vital in helping keep heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer at bay. NHS‘Fibermaxing’ on tiktokThis focus on achieving and even exceeding the 30 gram target has started a trend that will continue into the next year. Fiber is going to be a running companion when it comes to the core Eat However to focus group. As shown in our ongoing interest in high-protein snacks, many of us will be paying more attention to protein in general (which Wicks’s new cookbook, protein 15, has hit the trend with a bang). This doesn’t mean it will be steak for dinner every night, obviously pork (cheap, lean) is way up there in terms of popularity, just like tempeh. Made from compressed soybeans, tempeh goes well fried with a tangy dressing, or crisped up in the air fryer.
global taste
Everyone loves to be able to say, ‘Oh yes, I ate this in XXX foreign place three years ago,’ because that’s how forward they are. So ideally you would have visited Mexico, Korea, malaysia Or brazil in recent years, and can rave about all the culinary tips you learned while living there. We’re enjoying all the fruity/spicy (“Frissey”) flavors Mexican Dishes, especially from the spicy spice chamoy, as well as ssamjang KoreaWhich is more delicious and spicy than fruits. new to Malaysian cooking? Start with Rendang Curry and then dive into A Day in Penang: A Malaysian Cookbook by Aim Aris and Ahmed Salim (published in March). to taste brazilFind yourself a Brazilian barbecue or steakhouse joint like Prato’s and order the picanha cut and the traditional black bean stew, feijoada.
Freezer and stockboard will be king
Instead of running to Tesco Express on a Saturday morning, people are turning to their freezers for almost everything, from the usual ice cream to croissants and chopped garlic. In fact, we are generally becoming more prepared than ever to avoid splurging at the corner store, or in moments when we are convinced that there is nothing to eat in the house. Now, there’s almost always that, and if we’re not batch cooking and preparing meals in a state of calm, we’ll have beautifully packaged farm store items (yes, everyone will be obsessed with sardines in wallpaperable boxes), frozen pre-cut veggies and stockboard essentials on hand, plus the skills to create fridge meals in less than 30 minutes (thanks to Instagram). Pot noodle dinners aren’t what they used to be.
getting bitter
Italians have long valued bitter flavors, from tart leafy greens to olives and, of course, Negronis, and it appears we’ll finally catch up this year. Negronis are having a real moment, but if you want to take your bitter taste even further, check out the vegan aisle. Artichokes, radicchio, watercress and even hummus brussels Sprouts lean toward the bitter (not twisted) end of all things.
beans in everything
Pick up any cookbook at this time and you’ll see that beans – no Heinz version – and beans are in practically everything. In soups, stews, risotto, mashed in place of potatoes, added to salads, crisped in the oven for breakfast in place of crisps, from haricots verts to butter beans, chickpeas to black beans – beans are seriously trending. Partially, we can put it down to the Bold Bean Company selling thick, flavorful versions in jars, but at the same time, they’re extremely affordable, quick-cooking, and incredibly versatile. Oh, and they’re rich in protein, fiber and are fantastic for gut health – another food focus that’s going absolutely nowhere.