Food Trends 2026: Here’s What Everyone Will Be Eating This Year

2025 was a hugely innovative year in the food and beverage world. I mean, it was the year that Cheez-It pizza made its debut! It was also the year of Reese’s Oreos, protein popcorn and the Wendy’s Frosty that was so good, I ate it three days in a row.

I think that there are some pretty exciting things around the corner in 2026, so I compiled intel from a variety of reports and brands on the trends to look out for in the new year. I’ve also spent a lot of time chatting with the Taste of Home team about the patterns we’ve seen. All signs point to a 2026 that will be just as innovative on the food and drink front. So without further ado, I present my official 2026 food trend report.

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The Gut Health Takeover

The last time I was at the grocery store, I spent some time staring at a shelf of juices, teas and waters that all had the word “prebiotic” printed somewhere on the label. It’s no secret that many beverages have followed the viral success of prebiotic sodas like Olipop and Poppi. Even Pepsi is releasing a prebiotic version of its flagship soda in early 2026. I would bet good money that Coca-Cola will be following suit.

This intense and seemingly sudden obsession with gut health stems from a few places. First, the wellness world is its own machine, which cycles through trends that are similar to and often overlapping with food trends. Second, early-onset colon cancer is on the rise. According to the Mayo Clinic, over the past 20 years, colon cancer diagnoses in people under 50 have risen from between 5% and 7% to 10%. It’s a small but significant jump, and while there are many factors that contribute to cancer, gut microbiome health has been linked to colon cancer specifically.

Gut health taking center stage is, I’d argue, ultimately a good thing. However, in 2026 I would be more wary of unfounded health claims. With the popularity of “prebiotic” and “probiotic” foods skyrocketing, these words have become marketing tools. Prebiotic sodas are not a magic bullet for gut health, but they are fun treats. I’m partial to Olipop root beer, and like to keep a few cans stashed in my fridge.

Eating a variety of fruits and vegetables and getting plenty of both soluble and insoluble fiber doesn’t fit as neatly onto a food label, but it is the best way to maintain gut health and microbiome diversity. As always, if you have questions about your health, you should talk to a medical professional.

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Nostalgia Is Forever

When I ate Burger King’s SpongeBob Menu, I felt like a kid again. Maybe it was because I went to Burger King with my mom, or maybe it was being surrounded by all that SpongeBob-themed food and drink. Either way, I knew that what I was feeling wasn’t an accident. It was a calculation made by a brand—and it worked.

The rise of social media and the rise of nostalgia are inextricably linked. Remember #ThrowbackThursday? It was not so much a suggestion, but a rule for posting on Instagram. Now that everyone can easily share photos of their food, it makes sense that the collabs that break through the noise are the ones that evoke nostalgia. Pillsbury released its Doughboy Cookie Jar from the vault, Lenox reissued the viral Spice Village, and Stranger Things is taking everyone back to the 80s with Surfer Boy Pizza and Chips Ahoy cookies in retro packaging. And of course, who could forget the iconic Taco Bell Decades Menu?

In 2026, I predict that there will be even more of these blasts from the past. The NBA is celebrating its 80th anniversary, gummy bear giant Haribo is turning 100, and it’s been 25 years since the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings film franchises hit theaters. Any time a brand or specific IP hits a milestone anniversary, you can almost guarantee that it’ll be made as special as possible. And lately that means exclusive merch, limited-edition food items and restaurant collaborations.

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Two Words: Cold Foam

When Starbucks introduced cold foam back in 2018, it was more of a menu novelty than a staple. But the rise in popularity of cold and iced drinks has put cold foam on the map like never before. Copycat and dupe recipes started springing up online, and now it’s even available for purchase at grocery stores nationwide.

This fall, International Delight dropped a pumpkin spice cold foam, which was one of the only things my parents and I truly loved from our massive pumpkin spice food ranking. Paris Hilton recently collaborated with International Delight to create a cotton candy cold foam, and I’m sure that we’ll continue to see more collabs like this in 2026.

What I think is so striking about cold foam is that it’s the first coffee add-on made exclusively for iced coffee. I mean, sure, no one is stopping you from adding it to the top of your lattes, but it’s not quite the point. More shops have shifted to offer cold, non-soda drinks—first bubble tea, now cold brew topped with cold foam. I’m excited to see cold foam expand to more cafe menus and grocery stores in 2026.

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The Alcohol Spectrum

There has been a huge shift in alcohol consumption over the past few years. Even outside of cultural moments of sobriety, like Dry January, studies show that younger generations are drinking less than previous ones. There’s also been a new vanguard of nonalcoholic beers, spirits and canned mocktails hitting shelves. Not only have legacy beer brands like Guinness and Stella Artois been adding zero-proof beers to their repertoire, but celebrities have been launching brands too.

Spider-Man himself, Tom Holland, has been vocal about his own journey to sobriety. “I don’t think I realized how big a problem I had when it comes to alcohol until I gave it up,” he said in an interview with Food & Wine. F1 driver Lewis Hamilton also entered the nonalcoholic market with his line of agave spirits, Almave. Whenever a celebrities throws their name (and money) behind something, that’s a clear sign that they believe it is a profitable endeavor.

So if abstaining from alcohol is at one end of the 2026 trend watch, then what’s at the other end? That would be obscure, vintage and creative cocktails. When a wedding I attended featured the Sazerac as its signature cocktail, I knew we were headed towards a funky revival. Anecdotally, I have seen an increase in cocktail bars popping up around me, all of which promise craft, small-batch preparation using quality ingredients.

The fact that McCormick named black currant its flavor of the year for 2026 also supports this theory. Crème de cassis is a black currant liqueur that gives Kir its signature ruby hue. Making pretty cocktails to share on social media (rather than downing a few beers) is going to continue to gain popularity next year.

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A Cookbook for Every Celebrity

I’m calling it now: More celebrities are going to enter the cooking space in 2026. Why? Well, food is a relatively stable space to work in, since everyone has to eat every single day. Anything that supports the act of cooking and eating—this website included!—can be a continued source of inspiration for home cooks.

Celebrities need exposure to remain relevant. The window of time to promote a TV show, film, album or concert is relatively small, but cooking is evergreen. Food projects can put the spotlight on celebrities by way of interviews and access between other projects. Selena Gomez, Reese Witherspoon, Florence Pugh, Jennifer Garner, Meghan Markle, Matthew McConaughey, Stanley Tucci and more have all embraced their culinary roots over the last few years. Saoirse Ronan took a cooking class, Ashley Tisdale partnered with Bush’s (the baked beans company) and Antoni Porowski is leading celebs through their culinary family histories on No Taste Like Home.

Personally? I’d love to see a cookbook from Venus and Serena Williams’s mom. She is famously rumored to be a fantastic cook!

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Would you drink 3D printed milk?

I know, this sounds like something out of a science fiction novel. But printed milk is actually already here. Milkadamia debuted their “Oat Milk Slices” this year. The concept is simple: Blend one sheet of oat milk with 8 ounces of water and voila! You have 8 ounces of oat milk. The slices are shelf stable, and you can make as many or as few as you need for whatever recipe you’re making.

At first glance, this sounded bizarre. But I was able to try a sample, and it completely blew my mind. My issue with opening any kind of milk is using it up before it spoils, which can be difficult since I live alone. So I made one slice’s worth of oat milk for a latte, and used the rest for my oatmeal. There was nothing leftover, nothing to spoil and nothing to throw away. And I still have 19 slices left to use whenever I need them; they’re sitting in a Ziploc bag in my pantry.

Milkadamia is planning to sell almond and soy slices in 2026 as well. So I guess it begs the question: Would you drink 3D-printed milk? I never thought I would, but now I’m a convert. Now I’d like to see what other foods can be converted into shelf-stable pantry staples.

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The Vegetable of the Year

Step aside, cauliflower; there’s a new cruciferous king in town. It’s cabbage! Yes, the battle for supremacy was hard won, but it seems inevitable that cauliflower would eventually yield to a newcomer. From Pinterest: “The motto for 2026? Live, laugh, leaf. In the year ahead, Boomers and Gen X will say goodbye to their cauliflower obsession and crown cabbage the new kitchen MVP. Think blistered-edge ‘steaks,’ kimchi cocktails and even crispier taco wraps. It’s crunch time, baby.”

Pinterest users were searching for cabbage recipes with a lot more zeal this year. This is how much they jumped in search volume from 2024 to 2025: sauteed bok choy (+35%); cabbage dumplings (+110%); golombki soup (+95%); cabbage Alfredo (+45%); and fermented cabbage (+35%). My Polish ancestors would be very proud to see just how popular golombkis have become!

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The Flavor of the Year

Both dark sweet cherry and black currant have been named flavors of the year. So we’re about to have a very berry 2026 indeed!

These red berries are sweet but maintain a good tang, so they’re very versatile ingredients. They can be paired with sweet or savory meals, and they add a nice hit of acidity. If you’re looking to make a “Meal of the Year” for 2026, then might I suggest some braised cabbage with a black currant sauce?

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A Note on Dubai Chocolate

If anything took over 2025, then it was Dubai chocolate. The treat first went viral on TikTok in December 2023, and has since dominated pantries and social media feeds. In 2024 and 2025, we started to see legacy brands embrace the flavor combination. At Taste of Home, we created our Dubai chocolate cake and Dubai chocolate cheesecake bars recipes, which have been hugely popular with readers.

Now, every brand from Trader Joe’s to Ghirardelli is selling a Dubai chocolate bar. It’s been fascinating to watch a food trend go viral online and influence the flavors of legacy brands. I think that we are going to see more of this bottom-up trend setting in the future. And this is where I make my biggest 2026 food trend prediction yet: I believe we will get Dubai chocolate Oreos in 2026.