Want to know what’s hot? There’s no better place to go than Google Trends, which tracks the most common Google searches. Every year, they release a Year in Search report that highlights the top searches by category.
Here are the top 10 food-related searches worldwide for 2021.
1. Birria tacos
Birria is a dish from the Mexican state of Jalisco. Traditionally made with goat, it’s packed with chili peppers, herbs, spices, and slowly stewed in a vinegar sauce until the meat is very tender. Today’s trending version is made with beef and used as a taco filling.
2. Nasi goreng
Nasi goreng is an Indonesian fried rice dish that gets its unique flavor from a combination of kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) and shrimp paste. It can contain a variety of meat, fish, and vegetables, and is often served with a fried egg on top.
3. Feta pasta (aka TikTok pasta)
This trend comes courtesy of TikTok, where it went viral. The simple dish involves roasting tomatoes, garlic, and a chunk of feta in the oven, stirring the mixture until it becomes a creamy sauce, and then tossing it with pasta.
4. Charcuterie board
2021 was the year of perfecting the charcuterie board – an arrangement of snacks that includes cured meats, cheese, and a variety of accompaniments (jams, nuts, oils, honeys, crackers, etc.). This trend was quickly picked up by some food manufacturers, who are now offering all of the elements packaged together, sometimes with the wooden serving board included.
5. Shogayaki
Shogayaki is a Japanese dish that features thin slices of pork browned and then braised in a sauce made of ginger, soy sauce, and mirin. It’s commonly served over rice.
6. Potato soup
Searches for potato soup recipes tend to rise and fall with the temperature outside. This year’s popular recipes were for the crock pot and the Instant Pot.
7. Teriyaki amberjack
Amberjack is a fish frequently found on sushi menus, often listed as hamachi or yellowtail. The teriyaki version involves briefly browning the fish in a frying pan and then adding teriyaki sauce.
8. Tonjiru
Another Japanese dish, tonjiru is a pork and vegetable miso soup. A comfort food for cold weather, tonjiru is often made with pork belly, root vegetables, mushrooms, and dashi (Japanese soup stock).
9. Baked oats
Baked oats also went viral on TikTok this year – a chocolate chip and banana version of the breakfast classic that involves blending the ingredients into a batter and then baking them into a meal that more resembles a cake than traditional oats.
10. Overnight oats
Finally, overnight oats is popular as a lower-sugar, lower-calorie take on muesli. The basic recipe includes oats, milk and/or yogurt, chia seeds, and fruit, mixed together and refrigerated overnight.
