It’s always exciting to see new food trends emerge.
As lifestyles get healthier, our tastes change and expand.
Restaurants refresh menus with a focus on nutrition and freshly sourced ingredients. Home chefs explore unique ingredients on grocery shelves.
We'll always have our old favorite recipes, but leaning into the trends and trying out new recipes and techniques can help you remember why you love cooking.
What Are the Top Food Trends in 2024?
In 2024, chefs and consumers alike value functional, efficient, and sustainable meals.
However, there's always room for unique and unusual recipes.
These 14 delicious 2024 food trends are sure to find their way into your kitchen this year.
1. New Take On Plant-Based Foods
Veggie burgers paved the way several years ago.
The options for plant-based dishes continue to grow, and that’s good news for health-conscious chefs.
Try some fresh ideas like veggie spaghetti or “no-tuna” salad.
With just a few ingredient changes, you can transform almost any meat-based recipe into a healthier dish for 2024.
2. Easy And Efficient Meals
Cooking at home has been more popular than ever in the past few years.
Because home cooks are spending so much time in the kitchen, we're seeing a big preference for ease and efficiency.
One pot meals, slow cooker recipes, and meals with five ingredients or less are exactly what people are looking for in 2024.
While elaborate recipes can be great for holidays or date nights, on the average evening, home chefs are looking for delicious meals that get them out of the kitchen in less than an hour.
3. Budget-Friendly Cooking
It's no secret that money is tight for the average family in 2024.
Food is one of the biggest household expenses, so home chefs are turning to budget-friendly recipes to save on costs.
Fortunately, you can still make delicious meals on a tight budget.
Plant-based staples such as rice, beans, and grains have an important place in the 2024 kitchen.
Home cooks are also getting creative with their recipes as they try to use up everything in the pantry without creating waste.
4. Meal Planning With Better Balance
Extreme diet fads will always come and go, but in 2024, more and more people are getting tired of the all-or-nothing mentality.
Instead of cutting out entire food groups or failing and restarting the same diet over and over again, it's time to embrace balance.
There are practically endless options for delicious, indulgent meals that include a mix of proteins, vegetables, and healthy fats.
Diet is one of the most important factors in protecting your body and mind long-term, so finding balanced, sustainable meals that you actually enjoy eating is key.
5. Enjoying The Unconventional
Creativity is at the heart of food culture in 2024.
Now's the time to try out new, unconventional, and unusual ingredients.
Make a bright pink smoothie with dragon fruit, or throw some seaweed in your salad to switch up the flavor and texture.
Experiment with your old favorite recipes by incorporating new ingredients.
Not every unconventional recipe you try will be a success, but let yourself have fun in the kitchen.
6. The Impact Of Social Media
Social media impacts almost every aspect of our lives in 2024, and food culture is no exception.
From influencers sharing their eclectic "girl dinners" to bloggers posting mouthwatering pictures of their charcuterie boards, social media is the perfect place to find inspiration and entertainment with food.
Looking up recipes and cooking techniques is easier than ever, and social media is helping home chefs find community through their love of cooking.
7. International Flavors
The entire world is at your fingertips in the grocery store nowadays.
You can learn to make cuisines from across the globe with just one trip to the supermarket.
Because international flavors and ingredients are so easy to find, fusion cooking is a huge trend in 2024.
Combining recipes from multiple countries or regions lets you embrace a complex, layered landscape that should be at the heart of American food culture.
8. Strong Support For Sustainability
This is perhaps one of the most positive and far-reaching food trends of 2024.
A commitment to sustainability is a solid investment in the future, and it promises to become more widespread in the coming years.
Consumers and foodservice professionals will favor farming operations that follow best sustainability practices. At Hitchcock Farms, sustainability is our core value and something we strive for in all our operations.
That preference will be reflected in products on grocery shelves, selections in produce aisles and items on restaurant menus.
It’s a trend that’s sure to become permanent.
9. Showing Love To Local Providers
The year 2024 is all about community and sustainability.
Farmers markets are thriving, and more restaurants are joining in the farm-to-table movement.
Consumers feel better when they know their food comes from ethical sources and that they're supporting their local community with their purchases.
Local foods are much fresher, too, letting chefs make higher-quality, better-tasting meals.
10. Functional Foods And Drinks
As consumers become more conscious of their health, we're seeing a trend toward functional foods and beverages.
Sports and energy drinks with electrolytes, vitamins, and other nutritional benefits are all the rage.
Foods with supplemented protein, like high-protein pasta, are dominating the market, too.
11. Food For Mental Health
Your mental health and your physical health aren't separate from one another.
Everything you consume can have an impact on your mental state, and being in good mental health helps you take better care of your body.
As people become more open and aware of the importance of mental health, foods that can boost your mood and protect your brain are rising in popularity.
Natural ingredients with mental health benefits, such as ashwagandha, turmeric, and ginger, will play an important role in 2024 cooking.
12. Your Heirloom Recipes
Recipes passed down from one generation to the next become culinary treasures and often re-emerge as new trends.
Call them heirloom or vintage, but let’s free those family specialties from the back of your recipe files.
Celebrate 2024 with your grandmother’s chicken and dumplings. Sweeten dessert plates with a favorite aunt’s strawberry shortcake.
From buttermilk biscuits and green tomato pie to baked elephant ears, revive your family’s legacy recipes as new classics for 2024.
13. Mashups
Mashup meals are the perfect combination of familiar and creative.
It's hard to go wrong when putting together two of your favorite foods.
Mac and cheese pizza, cheeseburger pasta, taco burgers, and cinnamon roll whoopie pies are just a few examples of mashups that home chefs are experimenting with in 2024.
14. Mushrooms
You've probably been seeing mushrooms everywhere in the last year or two.
They're popping up on t-shirts, stickers, tote bags, and home decor items in a seemingly inescapable fad.
Mushrooms are more than just an aesthetic trend, though.
Cooking with mushrooms has been incredibly popular, mainly because their texture makes them a perfect meat substitute.
Mushrooms are packed with protein and other nutrients, and they pair well with tons of other ingredients.
Have Fun With Food In 2024
We always enjoy predicting new and emerging food trends, rounding up the best and sharing them with you.
These trends can help inspire you to try new recipes or expand your cooking repertoire.
As always, remember to have fun in the kitchen, whether you're making a long-time favorite or trying out a viral fad.
