The 10 Biggest Food Trends of 2019

Food trends are a little like avocados: almost ripe, almost ripe, almost ripe, almost ripe, VERY RIPE, and then … over/dead/done with. Most food trends percolate for years before they finally earn their buzz and subsequently vanish into oblivion (kind of like people who peak in high school)!

And so, in the spirit of the end of another year, the Kitchn editors formed a quasi yearbook committee to make some proverbial food trend guacamole. Here are the 2019 food trends that were the talk of the town.

“Milk” made from oats has been around since the ’90s when the first brand, Oat-ly, was invented by a Swedish scientist — but it took decades for it to hit it big in the U.S. In fact, its “big break” was SO big that supply couldn’t keep up with demand, leading to The Great Oat Milk Shortage of 2018.

This year, though, oat milk came back with a vengeance. Competition in the oat milk market has never been hotter with brands like Califia Farms, Planet Oat, Elmhurst, Pacific Foods, Quaker, Silk, and most recently Chobani sowing their oats, ensuring that customers can find this stuff in just about any grocery store. Beyond just drinkable oat milk, though, this year we’ve seen it in “yogurt,” shelf-stable lattes, ice cream pints, and more — and we can’t wait to see what comes oat next.

2019 was the year that air frying solidified itself as more than just a passing fad — so much so that other appliance brands started tacking the technology on to their own devices too. Instant Pot released its very own 7-in-1 air fryer this summer, the Vortex Plus, and Cuisinart added an air fry button to its newest toaster oven which debuted at the International Home and Housewares Show. This just further proves that home cooks are craving one device that does it all.

If you missed all the Aperol Spritz buzz this spring, we’ll give you the SparkNotes version: The New York Times ran a hot take by writer Rebekah Peppler called “The Aperol Spritz Is Not A Good Drink” and the internet exploded with LOTS of hot takes of their own. The article had the opposite of its intended effect — in an act of defiance, the bright and bitter Aperol Spritz became even more popular, dominating Instagram feeds and inspiring happy hour specials for weeks.

Plant-based “meat” companies like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat aren’t exactly rookies anymore. In the past year, these big brands have transcended the vegan section of the refrigerated aisle. They’ve become so widely available that now consumers can find Impossible and Beyond options in fast-food form at places like Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, Del Taco, White Castle, Bareburger, and more. Fake meat for everyone!

This summer, you might have asked yourself Why did I just wait in a 25-person line for a Popeyes chicken sandwich? And so did we. The answer: After Popeyes launched their no-brainer of a menu-offering, a Twitter war erupted between the fast food industry’s major chicken sandwich peddlers (including Wendy’s, Chik-fil-A, Shake Shack, and more), igniting a national debate over whose version reigns supreme. So many people were talking about chicken sandwiches, causing shortages (and outrage) nationwide. It even prompted McDonald’s to make some key upgrades to their chicken sandwich stalwart — launching in mid-2020.

At the start of 2019, U.S. News and World Report placed the Mediterranean diet ahead of 40 others, naming it the diet of the the year. It ranked the highest as “the best diet for healthy eating, the best plant-based diet, the best diet for diabetes, and the easiest diet to follow.” What we love most about this “diet” is that it isn’t really a diet at all; instead it’s a prescription to incorporate lots of fruits, veggies, fish, and olive oil into your lifestyle. If you want to give it a go in 2020, we know a pretty good place to start.

Read more: Our 10 Most Popular Mediterranean Recipes of 2019

Hard seltzers have been bubbling up for years, but 2019 was the year that it exploded. According to Nielsen data, sales of hard seltzer rose 210 percent from the summer of 2018. The biggest brand by far? White Claw, whose sales jumped 310 percent, surpassing every kind of craft beer on the market. Somehow, liking hard seltzer has become a personality trait (favorable or not, you decide). You can tell a lot about a person based on which White Claw flavor they like best.

At the tail end of 2018 into the beginning of 2019, it seemed like everyone on the planet was juicing stalks of celery and drinking it straight. And there’s data to back that up to prove that celery sales and prices spiked “to historic heights.” The reason behind the juicing craze? Instagram personality “the Medical Medium” who’s claimed since 2015 that celery juice can reverse inflammation, improve gut health, and heal people who suffer from chronic illnesses. His influence first reached the GOOP audience, and then spread to the masses. Many were (rightfully) skeptical, though. As with most fads, this one is dying out. Just a few months ago, the New York Times featured it in their “Scam or Not?” column. We’ll let you decide for yourselves.

We declared the plastic straw dead in 2018, but this year we saw it resurrected in many (reusable) forms. These days you can find silicone straws, stainless steel straws, titanium straws, glass straws, bamboo straws, straw straws, hay straws, pasta straws, edible straws — YOU NAME IT, THERE’S A STRAW MADE OUT OF IT. People want to stop using straws, but tossing the habit is a lot harder than tossing a straw into the ocean. #SaveTheTurtles.

If you were CBD-curious this year, you were not alone. According to a recent study by scientists from the University of California, San Diego; Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore; and the University of York, Americans googled CBD more than most alternative health trends and products this year. In April, the number of Google searches topped 6.4 million. There are lots of ways to get your CBD fix. This year we spotted the non-psychoactive cannabis compound (which is often praised for its sleep and relaxation benefits) gracing edible items like honey, seltzer, almond butter, gummies, chocolate, and more.

What did we miss? What other food trends were big in 2019?