Here Are the Food Trends We Expect to Be Big in 2020

Trend-spotting should be an Olympic sport. You need the precision of a javelin thrower, the endurance of a heptathlete, the patience of a curler, the foresight of an ice hockey goalie — it’s truly an athletic feat. For some, the podium might seem elusive, but we’re up for the challenge here at Kitchn! After more than a year of training, we gazed into our crystal ball to determine what food trends are here to stay and which are going to be even bigger in 2020.

Beans might not be the most photogenic dish in all the land, but earlier this year we noticed that a peculiar number of people were simmering large batches of beans and aromatics in stovetop Dutch ovens — and documenting it on the ‘gram. All of a sudden, it seemed as though beans were, dare we say, cool? When we interviewed Bon Appetit’s Food Director, Carla Lalli Music, for a Week of Dinners, we straight-up asked her why she thinks beans are in vogue right now: “I think it’s tied to the fact that humble foods are having this resurgence. We’re moving towards more plant-based cooking and beans are a way to show how nuanced and delicious that things without meat can be.” So there’s that … and the fact that beans are a super-economical protein source … and the fact that heirloom bean subscriptions are a thing now. (Hello, Rancho Gordo!).

This year we were active spectators of one of Kitchn’s all-time favorite sporting events: Trader Joe’s dunking on gnocchi in its traditional form. In 2018 they blessed us with cauliflower gnocchi. Not long thereafter in 2019, TJ’s brought us “outside-in stuffed gnocchi” (with sauce and cheese INSIDE) and “chocolate lava dessert gnocchi” (yes, you read that right), while fans made “Cinnabunocchi.” Now we’re anxiously awaiting what gnocchi transformations are to come in 2020.

In the past, if you were the kind of grocery shopper that cared about the environment (which should be all of us!), you’d have to do most of the heavy lifting yourself, like bringing your own shopping bags, avoiding excessive plastic packaging, and investing in sustainable food storage solutions like Bees Wrap or dishwasher-safe, reusable Stasher bags. Moving forward into the next decade, the onus is on big food companies to make sure that the food we consume (and the way that it’s packaged) is more sustainable than ever.

Years ago, only a few grocery delivery services existed and were meant for people who either lived in big cities or those who had money to spare. Nowadays, there are more delivery services than ever (we’re looking at you, Shipt, Aldi, Walmart, Target, Lidl, Boxed, Instacart, FreshDirect, Amazon Fresh, Peapod, and more). Now that so many of these services exist, shoppers are more trusting of online grocery shopping than ever. As more options enter the market, price accessibility increases as well, which means more convenience for more shoppers.

The keto trend isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. The high-fat, no-starch regimen has been dominating blogosphere recipes for years now, but this was the first year we actually saw keto-centric products hit grocery store shelves (including Aldi’s keto bread, Whisps Cheese Snacks, Koia Keto Beverages, Love Good Fats Nutrition Bars, and Dang Bars, to name a few). Brace yourselves for even more keto-specific snacks cropping up in grocery stores in 2020.

If you thought 2019 was just one infinite grazing table in which several types of cheese seamlessly transitioned into a salami river scattered with Marcona almonds, breadsticks, dried apricots, and Castelvetrano olives, you’re not wrong. The bountiful entertaining trend officially reached the masses this year — and we think it’s only going to get bigger in 2020. (We’re not complaining.) Bring on the giant cheese boards!

Whether you’re trading in cocktails for mocktails or planning to make lots of stiff drinks in 2020 (gee, I wonder why?), we know just the ingredient to have on hand: shrubs. These drinking vinegars flavored with fruit and sweetened with sugar are the perfect addition to sparkling water or mixers for cocktails. Our food team called it the most refreshing drink of the summer, and we predict that this trend is only going to get bigger next year.

People are starting to care about the kinds of products that they put in their pantries. We have more say in what we stock our pantries with than ever before (think: organic buckwheat flour, designer olive oil, adaptogenic nut butters, single-origin spices, and honey with health benefits).

Beyond meat (get it?), every single food group you can think of is getting a plant-based makeover. It’s not a trend (like Meatless Monday) anymore — it’s here to stay. Keep an eye out for innovations like plant-based eggs, shellfish, yogurt, jerky, and more hitting mainstream grocery stores in the year to come.

We’re always told to “eat our veggies,” and the advice seems to never get old. Over the past few years, though, food companies have been getting really creative with it. As soon as we got our hands on a box of butternut squash crackers and cauliflower tortilla chips this year, we knew that all bets were off. Stay tuned for even more creative vegetable transformations in 2020.