Undoubtedly, 2024 has been the year we all truly began to get our heads around the dangers of ultra processed foods (and of course, started dropping the acronym UPFs into conversation, while trying not to drop them in our shopping trolley).
In fact, according to The Waitrose Food & Drink Report 2024, a whopping 61% of us now prioritise cooking from scratch in an effort to slash the amount of UPFs we eat. So we may never look at a packet of crisps or a chocolate biscuit in the same way ever again.
But what about the trends that have bumped up our baskets and made dinner more interesting over the last year? Here’s what we’ve been scoffing and stocking up on…
Crookies
Yep, we’re well over cronuts (the flaky pastry offspring of croissants and doughnuts) and now it’s all about croissants filled with cookie dough. The trend actually kicked off in Parisian boulangerie Maison Louvard, but TikTok took these babies to heart and they’re easy to recreate at home. Not had one before? Simply cut a shop bought croissant in half, fill with a few tablespoons of cookie dough (buy or make your own), add a few more tablespoons of cookie dough on top, and bake until the cookie dough is your desired level of gooiness.
Hot honey
Hot honey pizza, hot honey drizzled on fried chicken, on halloumi, on Brussels sprouts (seriously), on cornbread, on burrata (actually, any cheese you fancy), on toast with peanut butter… Basically, if it’s edible, people have been putting hot (spice-wise, not temperature-wise, obv) honey on it. And it’s not going to stop. Waitrose senior brand development chef Zoë Simons says: “Expect to see more and more products marrying chilli with sweeter things. Hot honey is definitely the new salted caramel – it’s become the new normal.” We like Dr Sting’s Nice ‘n Spicy.
Flavoured butters
Thanks to #buttertok, there seems to be no limit to what we’ll churn out to spread on toast. Bone marrow butter, bloody Mary butter, coffee butter, coronation chicken skin butter, apple butter, beetroot butter, and now apparently chocolate butter too. If you’re not already a fan, #buttertok is worth getting into for the videos of people pleasingly scooping butter into perfect quenelles.
Fancy peanut butter
You’re not alone if you spend a lot of time checking peanut butter jar labels to uncover ones with ingredients lists that read: 100% peanut. No longer are we putting up with peanut butters that are barely peanutty, we want the good stuff. Understandably, Waitrose sells more than 3.5 million jars of the stuff each year – it is, after all, incredibly delicious and versatile. Dunk apple slices in it, make satay sauce, spoon it onto granola, eat it from the jar with a spoon… we’re all in, especially if it’s ManiLife’s Deep Roast Crunchy or Lidl’s giant tubs of Meridian Crunchy.
Instant noodles
Go to a 7-Eleven in Japan and the sheer number and range of instant noodle packets available is almost overwhelming – they even have instant ramen packets that have Michelin stars. The UK has long lagged behind such culinary variety. But now, Pot Noodles are being given a run for their money, and people are even zhuzhing up instant packets of noodles for a quick and cheaper alternative to ordering takeout. All you have to do to ‘make them fancy’ is add crispy chilli oil, a lacy edged fried egg and some spring onions for colour.
TimTams
Arguably not a trend, it’s just that this year we finally have easy access to them. Tracking these Australian chocolate biscuits down used to be pretty tricky in the UK, but finally someone (Waitrose) has started stocking them. So you don’t have to send anyone going on hols to Oz with an extra suitcase to bring them home for you. A bit like a Penguin bar but lighter and crispier, it’s easy to put away a whole packet in about three minutes.
Hash browns
If you’re a fan of a McDonald’s breakfast, you’ll know just how good their hash browns are, but this year the hash brown stepped out of the role of ‘perfect accompaniment’ and became the main event. They actually went and replaced bread. All you have to do is layer up your ideal fillings between two (or more) hash browns, and eat. Crispy, greasy and sturdy, it makes for a pretty decadent breakfast.
Cucumber salad
You probably have cucumbers in your fridge at all times anyway, but this summer,
aka The Cucumber Guy and the ‘most hydrated man’ on TikTok, sent cucumbers stratospheric with his nifty videos. His original cucumber salad recipe involves thinly slicing a whole cucumber and dressing it with sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds, fish sauce, MSG and spring onions. Now he has almost seven million followers, and some places experienced cucumber shortages…
Pickle juice
We all know pickled, fermented foods are good for us, but this year we really took it onboard. Waitrose saw pickled gherkin sales rise by 7% year on year, partly because it was revealed that the England men’s Euros squad were knocking pickle juice back to avoid cramp. And then singer Dua Lipa shared her recipe for Diet Coke with pickle juice. Tart, tangy and good for your gut health, it’s a winner.
Cottage cheese
This one’s not on the Waitrose list, but deserves a spot here due to its sheer popularity on social media this year. It used to be the cheese you’d always skip in the fridge aisle because it was so bland and lumpy, but cottage cheese got a makeover in 2024, with food and fitness influencers deciding that the 1970s favourite was actually a hidden gem. As a result, TikTok is now flooded with recipes for making cottage cheese ice cream, flatbreads, crackers, cheesecake, pancakes, mousse, pasta sauce, and even cookie dough.
