'Tis the season to look back on 2024 while getting ready to embrace another fresh start on January 1.
More specifically, the food and drinks trends that shaped dinnertime this year—and those that will go viral in 2025.
In the run-up to Christmas and New Year, supermarkets and grocery etailers like Ocado typically release their versions of these lists and, unsurprisingly, TikTok played a major role in influencing the way we ate and drank this year.
Research commissioned by Ocado noted a surge in the demand for instant noodles that, in 2024, went from being an often overlooked, uni student staple to a posh ingredient that inspired gourmet chefs and home cooks alike.
Under the hashtag #ramenhacks, TikTok users began experimenting with the humble instant noodle to realise how this versatile dish can be turned into a flavourful—and healthy—meal with a few easy tweaks.
Search for 'noodles' was up 762.5 per cent year-on-year on Ocado.com, with shoppers making a beeline for Nongshim's Shin Cup and Kimchi Cup Instant Noodles.
Pistachios also had their moment in the sun this year, with foodies using the versatile green nut to elevate everything from their pesto pasta sauces to gelato—thanks, in no small part, to the viral Dubai chocolate bars.
CBD-infused drinks, saky spritz bevvies from Shima, and lion's mane powder from Dirtea all made it to Ocado's list of top 12 food trends of 2024.
The supermarket also unveiled the three ingredients you will likely be seeing everywhere—from Explore pages on Instagram to the aisles in your local grocery store—in 2025:
- Spritzy red wine for long summer days
- Chill Bill, which retails for £9.50, tastes of red fruit with a floral undertone that feels fresh and light, perfect for summer sipping on a sunny day
- Rose wine is on its way out in 2025, with Ocado.com noting a whopping 1,233 per cent increase in searches for Chill Bill, a refreshing, sparkling red wine.
- Typically stashed away for the colder months, red wine is forecast to see a surge in popularity next summer—thanks to this lighter, chilled alternative.
- Chill Bill, which retails for £9.50, tastes of red fruit with a floral undertone that feels fresh and light, perfect for summer sipping on a sunny day.
- All about olive oil
- Ocado.com's research found that our love for oilve oil is only expected to grow in 2025, with brands like Good Phats leading the charge on this front
- Dua Lipa elevated olive oil to a luscious ice cream topping in 2024, spawning hundreds of thousands of recreation videos online.
- And Ocado.com's research found that our love for oilve oil is only expected to grow in 2025, as consumers continue to educate themselves about what makes a good quality oil, and how we can get the best from our oils.
- Brands like Good Phats, from 200ml (From £6.00, Ocado.com) are leading the charge on this front, with searches for the brand up 24 per cent this year when compared to 2023.
- 'MSG, obviously'
- Ocado.com found searches for 'MSG' increased by a whopping 136 per cent on the website, with shoppers loading up on products like Honest Umami Chilli MSG to give their food that umami kick
- Within the space of a single year, monosodium glutamate - or MSG - was able to shake off its bad reputation and find its way back into pantry cupboards around the world.
- The revival of the ingredient, typically used in Chinese cooking, was partly fuelled by content creator LoganM who helped to make MSG mainstream and accessible with his viral cucumber trend on TikTok.
- Ocado.com found searches for 'MSG' increased by a whopping 136 per cent on the website, with shoppers loading up on products like Honest Umami Chilli MSG to give their food that umami kick.
In the spirit of the season, You Magazine's food editor Eleanor Maidment has also released her definitive guide to the ingredients that will take over your TikTok feeds next year.
Her top prediction for 2025's most in-demand pantry staple is Hot Honey of honey infused with chili for a 'swicy' (sweet and spicy) kick. She recommends drizzling it over your pizzas, breakfast pancakes served with crispy bacon, or even a bowl of ice cream.
This year, our feeds were littered with aesthetically-filmed videos of creators grating the frozen flesh of fruits such as peaches and strawberries over ice cream or yoghurt. Expect to see Reels of frozen tomatoes being grated on to cheeses such as burrata and mozarella, in a savoury twist on 2024's frozen peaches trend.
Other ingredients you will be adding to your cart in 2025 include lion's mane mushrooms—a superfood that can allegedly stave off dementia as well as mild symptoms of anxiety and depression—and blonde chocolate.