Can you believe it’s 2025? I’m feeling older, questionably wiser, and still pretending I measure all of my ingredients. (Spoiler alert: I don’t. If I can’t go off my chefy instincts, I’m out.) But let’s talk about what really matters: what’s going on with food trends this coming year? Are we still throwing everything into a pickle jar? Is butter still the MVP of fats? And will I finally discover how to flambé something without setting off the smoke alarm? 

Today, we’re taking a stab at predicting the new year’s hot culinary forecast (with a healthy dose of snark, because not every trend deserves your time or pantry space).

But first, let’s recap…

2024’s Greatest Hits: The Viral Cooking Trends We Couldn’t Escape

Ah, 2024. The year when the social media algorithms decided that even our taste buds needed constant stimulation. Here are some cooking trends that blew up our feeds, our kitchens, and maybe even our patience in the past year:

🧀 Cottage Cheese Everything

This was the year cottage cheese became the culinary chameleon of the internet. Cottage cheese ice cream, cottage cheese toast, cottage cheese pasta sauce? We legitimately blended, whipped, and transformed this humble curd until it was in everything. Bonus: it came with a side of women’s health and weight management claims. Did it taste amazing? Sometimes. Did it make us feel weirdly productive? Absolutely.

🍯 Hot Honey on Everything

Hot honey was the spicy-sweet MVP of 2024. Drizzled on pizza, fried chicken, ice cream, and even cocktails, this sticky trend hit that perfect flavor combination of heat and sweet. It was like the world of food collectively realized we could literally just pour honey and chili flakes on things and call it a day. Genius? Maybe. Addictive? For sure.

🍞 Homemade Bread 2.0

We thought the 2020 sourdough craze was over, but 2024 brought us back to baking… this time with a twist. Laminated doughs with wild colors. TikTok-famous 2-ingredient bread. Loaves shaped like actual art installations. Because apparently, baking bread isn’t enough; we have to make it Instagram-worthy.

🌮 Smash Tacos

Move over, smash burgers! 2024 was the year of the smash taco. We slapped meat onto tortillas, smashed it flat on a hot griddle, and topped it with everything but the kitchen sink. It was crispy, juicy, and a little chaotic, like all the best trends.

🍫 Little Treat Culture

We fully embraced the concept of the “little treat”: a bite-sized pleasure to break up the drudgery of the day. A tiny pastry here, a perfect square of dark chocolate there. Today’s consumers decided that we deserve regular doses of joy, and honestly, they weren’t wrong. (In fact, I can proudly say I pioneered this trend in my personal life way before Tiktok was a thing. Where’s my royalty check?!)

From functional foods to sticky-sweet drizzles, 2024 gave us a lot to snack on. So what can we expect from 2025? Here’s what I think…

My Predictions for the New Year’s Cooking Trends

🥬 We’ll Ferment Everything (Yes, Even Things That Shouldn’t Be Fermented)

Fermentation is still all the rage. Kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir. It’s like the world has collectively agreed that our guts need to be happier and gassier. Functional mushrooms are getting in on the action too, bubbling their way into beverage products that promise better gut health and energy levels. Apparently, everything needs probiotics now, including your beverages and maybe even your snacks.

Will I Be Trying It? Oh, absolutely. I love a good science experiment in my fridge. But when someone suggests fermenting cottage cheese, that’s where I draw the line. That’s not a trend; that’s a threat.

🧈 Butter’s Gonna Continue Having its Moment (And I’m Still Here For It)

Remember when butter was public enemy number one? Well, those days are over. Butter is back, baby, and it’s strutting down the runway of high-end restaurants and home kitchens with all sorts of unexpected flavors. I’m talking hot honey butter, miso butter, and even plant-based butter for the dairy-free crowd. There’s even a version with olive oil for when you want to pretend you’re being virtuous.

Will I Be Trying It? Butter me up and call me a biscuit! This trend is basically my love language. If it involves slathering something on warm homemade bread, I’m in.

🍄 Functional Mushrooms: Coffee’s New BFF

Apparently, plain old caffeine just isn’t cutting it anymore. Now, we need our lattes to come with a side of functional mushrooms. These earthy fungi help with mental health needs, focus, and energy levels. If your coffee isn’t doubling as a wellness elixir, what are you even doing?

Will I Be Trying It? No, BUT! If you know me, you know I’m all about adaptogenics and functional fungi. I will consume functional mushrooms any other way, just don’t expect me to put it in my coffee. Some trends are fun to flirt with, but coffee is sacred.

🥛 Plant-Based Milks: How Many More Things Can We Milk?

We’ve milked nuts, oats, and even peas. Now, 2025 is eyeing available aquatic plants like water lentils. Because, apparently, if it exists, we can and will turn it into plant-based milk. This trend will be mostly fueled by consumer demands for sustainability and climate change-friendly options.

Will I Be Trying It? Sure, why not? If it tastes decent in my cereal and doesn’t smell like a swamp, I’m game. I just can’t help but wonder when we start milking rocks somehow.

🍦 Ice Cream’s Going to Go Even More Rogue

Buckle up, because ice cream flavors are getting weird. We’re talking global cuisine vibes like miso caramel, ube cheesecake, and salty snacks mixed into creamy goodness. Some ice cream makers are even sneaking in savory elements. It’s like dessert’s gone off the deep end, and I’m 100% here for it!

Will I Be Trying It? Absolutely! Ice cream that makes me question my life choices? Sign me up. In fact, I did try the olive oil ice cream fad, and was pleasantly surprised! Besides, if I’m going to have a sweet tooth, I might as well keep it on its toes.

🥗 Snacks Will Do Things

2025 is the year of functional foods. Snacks aren’t just snacks anymore. They’re mini wellness gurus. Think cottage cheese that promises to help with weight management or salty snacks infused with probiotics. The idea is that every bite should come with a health benefit, and why not? 

Will I Be Trying It? Yes, but only if it tastes good. If I’m stress-eating chips, I don’t need them to lecture me on my gut health. Just let me have my moment.

🥤 Non-Alcoholic Beverages Will Live On

Non-alcoholic everything is having a glow-up. Beverage trends are leaning hard into booze-free beers, mocktails, and fancy sodas. And for good reason. The rising demand for fun drinks without the hangover is reshaping restaurant menus and coffee shops alike.

Will I Be Trying It? Eh. Personally, as a former alcoholic, I don’t find the need to get on the mocktail train. I can simply do without. But I LOVE that it’s having its moment. A drink that lets you feel fancy and functional? Amazing! Bonus points if it comes with a cute garnish.

Trends I’m Glad to See Go (And No, I’m Not Sorry)

Not all food trends deserve a comeback tour. Some are like bad exes: they seemed exciting at first, but by the end, you realized you deserved better. Here are a few food fads I’m more than happy to leave behind in the dusty archives of recent years.

🥄 Butter Boards: The Messy, Greasy Charcuterie Wannabe

Look, I love butter — love it. But spreading half a pound of it onto a board, swirling it around with some herbs, and calling it dinner? That’s just a mess waiting to happen. Sure, it got a million likes on social media, but when your guests start scraping butter off a wooden plank with half-broken crackers, you’ve officially lost the plot. Let’s keep butter where it belongs: on warm, homemade bread or drizzled over popcorn.

🌑 Charcoal-Infused Everything: No One Asked for Gritty Teeth

Activated charcoal is great if you’re, say, filtering water or pretending you’re a wellness guru. But in food? Pass. Remember those pitch-black lattes, ice creams, and even buns that promised health benefits like detoxing your body? Spoiler: Your liver was doing that already. Plus, no one wants to explain to their dentist why their teeth look like they’ve been munching on BBQ briquettes. Charcoal, it’s time to bow out.

☕ Mucking Up Coffee with “Healthy” Additives

Coffee: the one pure, simple joy that fuels our mornings, our meetings, and our sanity. So why are we trying to ruin it with things that taste like a forest floor mixed with regret? First, it was collagen powder (because nothing says “delicious” like the faint aftertaste of boiled bones). Then, we were hit with a wave of functional mushrooms promising focus and energy, but mostly delivering the flavor profile of damp mulch. Let’s not even get started on MCT oil, which leaves your coffee looking like an oil slick and your stomach questioning all your life choices.

Look, I’m all for health benefits and functional foods, but not if it means my coffee tastes like dirt, oil, or sadness. Can we get an additive that actually lets coffee taste like coffee? Until then, I’ll be over here, happily sipping my black coffee, unadulterated and judgment-free.

🍵 Matcha Everything (It’s Not a Personality, Guys)

We get it. Matcha is green, it’s healthy-ish, and it makes your latte feel like it’s doing something for your energy levels. But did we really need matcha brownies, matcha pancakes, matcha ice cream, and even matcha cocktails? Somewhere along the way, we turned a perfectly good functional food into a trend monster. It’s time to let matcha return to its natural habitat — a comforting cup of tea — and stop forcing it into places it doesn’t belong.

🌮 Deconstructed Dishes: Just Make the Taco Already

High-end restaurants tried to convince us that a plate of scattered ingredients was somehow edgy and artistic. News flash: when I order a taco, I don’t want to have to assemble it myself. I’m paying you to do that. The same goes for deconstructed desserts. Just give me the cheesecake in one glorious, creamy piece instead of a sad pile of crumbs and a dollop of filling. Let’s reconstruct this trend… right into the trash.

🔮 Tell Me Your Food Trend Predictions

What do you think is on the horizon for the new year? I would love to hear about it! 

Also, I’d love to know what food trends became a staple of your kitchen routine this year, and which ones you wish would just die out already. Leave a comment below!

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