4 Food Trends to Try This Year
New Year is the ideal time to try something new. And what better place to start than in the kitchen? If you’ve fallen into the trap of eating the same things over and over, and you want to expand your palette and get more adventurous with what you eat, here are some flavor trends to experiment with this year that not only leave your boring meals behind but can be easily adapted into your favorites, giving them a new edge that improves your everyday meals.
Sweet-Meets-Smokey
You don’t need to choose one or the other; now you can blend sweet and smoky for the ultimate in flavor explosion. Think maple, honey, molasses, brown sugar, and hickory tones all working together. It’s like a warm, comforting hug with a bit of nostalgia but a modern twist. It’s everything a good meal should be, and the best thing is that there is a range of foods you can apply to this too.
Most people, however, start with pulled pork; it’s the go-to when you think of smoky flavours. But what goes with pulled pork? That’s easy, once you nail your perfect pulled pork, you can roast vegetables, even grilled chicken, to build your meal.
Try a simple honey hickory style BBQ sauce to get started, brush it on, toss it through, or use it as a dip to get started with the flavor, then you can build up from here.
Global Spices
More and more people are exploring the world for flavor profiles and pieces that elevate meals and help them find new foods to try.
Think berbere, za’atar, harissa, gochujang pastes, and Japanese citrus-based seasonings.
These blends can add layers of flavor without you needing to mix and match your spice cupboard. You can sprinkle a little over roasted veg, add a spoon to a stew, or mix in a little yogurt for a marinade; it’s entirely up to you, but these are great places to start when you want to explore new flavours.
Heat with Personality
Heat has long been a go-to for giving food more flavor, but these days your heat needs to come with personality, not just being “hot”.
You want Chipotle for smokiness, Jalapeno honey for sweet warmth, chilli crisp for crunch and subtle spice, and smoked paprika for depth. The trick is to think flavor first, not heat, which comes next as a side quest, not the whole meal.
Upgraded Comfort Meals
This is about reimagining your favourite classic meals. Mac and cheese, for example, but with a harder grown-up cheese blend, adding caramelised onions to your grilled cheese, or swapping boiled veg for glazed roasted veg for a different flavour profile.
The aim is to let the sauces and glazes do the heavy lifting here. You’re not changing the entire meal, just adding something to the mix so it upgrades it slightly so you still enjoy the foods you love, but with more flavor, taste and increased enjoyment.
Make 2026 the year you experiment with your food, add to your diet, not subtract, and really get your taste buds going.
