The Top Trending Food Recipes of 2021

Have you tried the Baked Feta Pasta for dinner? Did you suddenly only see images of whipped coffee on your social feed? Tik Tok, a popular social platform, has given consumers new access to the culinary world. The trending recipe of the week/month seemingly fills the internet with reviews of at-home consumers testing out the creations.

While many of these recipe concepts might not make it onto a menu, we can’t help but recognize what they are telling us about the craveable flavors consumers want.

Let’s take a look at some of these top trending food recipes to see what might become a must-have menu item and what is likely just a fad.

Baked Oats
Sweet meals at breakfast time. Count us in! While most people love a traditional stack of pancakes in the morning, it’s not always the most nutritious option. But what if there was a way to have cake for breakfast and not feel guilty?

*Enter Baked Oats.

Blending oats to a fine powder and adding in other ingredients like an egg and banana before heating up to the perfect dome shape makes for both a delicious and guilt-free breakfast. While this likely won’t replace the pancakes on the menu, it may be convincing enough to consider what other nutritious items can be altered to create an item that passes for both breakfast and dessert.

Could our Sweet Potato Quinoa Breakfast Bowl satisfy this need? We think so!

Breakfast Boards
Even though the concept of arranging shareable food items is not new, perhaps bringing it to different dayparts is. The breakfast board also referred to as a brunch board, is the latest craze for charcuterie board lovers everywhere. If this tells us anything about consumers, it’s that it never hurts to find creative ways to plate a meal. It also helps that a board often fits effortlessly into an Instagram story. A win-win for the consumer who has something for their followers to envy and for the operator who just got a free promotion. Remember the #phoneeatsfirst these days.

This Gruyere, Ancient Grain, and Kale Egg Bites board is easy to share and snap.

Vegan Chicken
Vegan and Chicken are two words that seemingly do not belong together. But this all changed earlier this year when a trend surrounded seitan, a high protein food cooked from wheat gluten, that is a popular substitute for chicken. While many rushed to try the meat substitute, there were some mixed reviews in the bunch. However, the lifestyle diet is only continuing to grow, and finding new recipes to bring these customers in will prove to be important.

We especially think seitan has market appeal when you dress it up and make it a dupe for fried chicken, like our Vegan Fried Chicken with Hot Agave recipe.

Dalgona “Whipped” Coffee
Who doesn’t like coffee, milk or dairy alternative, and sugar whipped together? Well, maybe some coffee aficionados who wouldn’t typically opt for instant coffee. But regardless, this trend took the internet by storm in early 2020. While an article in Forbes has already determined it may not be the best form of coffee to transition from home kitchen to operator, the trend may still have some operator-friendly appeal.

For starters, people like coffee in just about any capacity: cold, hot, whipped, ice cream; the list goes on and on. And two, people will try most things that are aesthetically pleasing. Both our
Cold Mango Coffee (pictured above) and Avocado and Coconut Cold Foam Coffee are great ways to appeal to the eye and also the stomach!

For more inspiration, check out our Top 10 Recipe List to find out what else is trending.