The Top Trending American Dishes of 2027

Real industry data on where American eating is headed in 2027 — and six dishes from across the Americas already living in exactly that future.

Every year the food industry’s biggest trackers — Technomic, Circana, the USDA — publish real demand data on where eating is headed, built from menu counts, retail sales and social signals rather than guesswork. The 2027 numbers tell a clear story: premium proteins are surging (wings up 16.7% year over year, steak up 16.3%, beef now holding the largest menu share of any protein), the “swicy” sweet-heat wave that defined 2026 is starting to plateau and shift toward fruitier flavors, occasion-driven eating — cooking for a gathering, not just a meal — is up a striking 48.7% year over year, and affordable, versatile ingredients like cabbage are having a real moment as households navigate continued food-price pressure. Here are six dishes already built for exactly that 2027.

The Six Dishes Riding These Trends

1. Buffalo Wings

No protein grew faster in the 2027 forecast than wings, up nearly 17% year over year — and the original Anchor Bar formula (cayenne butter sauce, blue cheese, celery, nothing fried in a heavy batter) is still the standard everyone else is chasing. Get the buffalo wings recipe →

2. The Argentine Asado

Beef holds the largest menu share of any protein tracked, and steak specifically is up over 16%. The asado is the ultimate expression of premium beef done right — several cuts, low coals, hours of patience — and it doubles as the occasion-driven eating trend in physical form: nobody hosts an asado for one. Get the asado guide →

3. Curtido

Cabbage is one of 2027’s clearest ingredient trends — cheap, keeps well, and works raw, fermented, or cooked. Salvadoran curtido has been doing the fermented-cabbage thing for generations: shredded cabbage, carrot, onion and oregano, soured with vinegar until it’s sharp enough to cut through anything rich beside it. Get the curtido recipe →

4. Tacos al Pastor

As sweet-heat plateaus, forecasters expect the sweet side of the equation to shift toward fruitier, less aggressive pairings — and al pastor has been running exactly that combination for decades: chile-marinated pork charred on a spit with fresh pineapple, sweet and smoky rather than a wall of heat. Get the al pastor recipe →

5. Beef Empanadas

Occasion-driven eating jumped 48.7% year over year — people cooking specifically for a gathering. Few dishes fit a party better than empanadas: made ahead, frozen raw, baked in batches, eaten standing up with a drink in hand. Premium beef filling ties directly into the protein trend too. Get the empanadas recipe →

6. Gumbo

With food-at-home prices forecast to keep climbing, value cooking is back in focus — and gumbo is the model for it: one pot, a modest amount of meat stretched by rice and pantry staples, feeding a crowd for a fraction of the cost of six individual proteins. Comfort food with real economics behind it. Get the gumbo recipe →

Premium protein when you can, value cooking when you must, and cabbage doing more work than any ingredient deserves.

The Trend Each One Rides

Cook the Data, Not the Hype

Trend reports are useful precisely because they’re boring and numeric — they measure what people are actually ordering and cooking, not what a headline wants to be true. Read this way, 2027 isn’t asking for anything exotic: more wings, more well-cooked beef, smarter cabbage, a little less raw chile burn, more cooking for company, and more one-pot value when the budget says so. All six of these dishes were already doing that before anyone called it a trend.