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

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.