10 Recipes That Defined the 1990s

Ariel Knutson
Ariel Knutson
Arie was the Features Director at Kitchn. She lives in Los Angeles.
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published Feb 27, 2014
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(Image credit: Lunchables)

This week we’re looking at the recipes that defined a decade from the 1960s all the way through the 00s. Today we’re talking all things 90s. Compared to other decades, it’s hard to look at food in the 90s without talking about processed snacks like Dunkaroos and Gushers. The decade was also filled with more non-fat dishes, and bougie plates of “tall food.” Of course, regardless of what you ate it was all washed down with a can of Surge or Clearly Canadian.

What are your favorite recipes from the 1990s? Here are the ten we think really defined the decade.

1. Salad with Cranberries, Pecans, Goat Cheese and Balsamic Vinaigrette

Baked Goat Cheese Salad with Creamy Walnut Vinaigrette (Image credit: Nealey Dozier)

Goat cheese was definitely the cool cheese of the 90s. It was on so many salads.

2. Hot Pockets

Grown-Up Prosciutto & Cheddar Hot Pockets (Image credit: Nealey Dozier)

Is it possible to think of Hot Pockets without hearing the commercial?

3. Lunchables

You could tell a lot about a person based on their favorite Lunchable. I was always a fan of the pizza one.


4. Chinese Chicken Salad with Mandarin Oranges

Lots of crunchy + sweet going on this fine thing.

5. Pizza Bagels

Pizza in the morning, pizza in the evening, pizza at supper time…..


6. Chicken Caesar Salad

Eggless Caesar Dressing (Image credit: Sara Kate Gillingham)

Sure, this salad is a classic, but it was super (super) hip in the 90s.


7. Gushers and Dunkaroos

If you had to rate your favorite snack food from the 90s both of these would be in your top five.

8. Slimfast

Frozen Banana (Image credit: Faith Durand)

As a kid of the 90s, I totally stole these from my mom’s stash. The recipe above isn’t Slimfast, it’s a milkshake, FYI. Kinda the same thing?


9. Boca Burgers

Best Ever Veggie Burgers (Image credit: Emma Christensen)

These veggies had a serious moment in the 90s. The veggie burger above isn’t Boca, but it’s my favorite.

10. Molten Chocolate Cake

Jean-Georges Vongerichten supposedly invented this insanely delicious dessert in 1987. It was hard to avoid these beauties in the 90s.

Did we leave anything off?

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