Research reveals the 10 most popular dishes of 2018, and the results are seriously surprising

2018 has been a big year for food. First, we had latte’s served in an avocado skin. Then, we decided it was time to flavour anything and everything with pickle. Whether you found these fads awesome or disgusting, it’s obvious that we’ve all spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about what we want to eat. Now, the time has come to see what everyone else has been getting up to.

Thanks to takeaway giants GrubHub, the official results for 2018s most popular dishes are now in. Using data collated over the previous 12 months, the site has put together some startling results around what we’ve been ordering, and which dishes have seen the biggest swells in popularity. It’s fair to say that the list is full of surprises.

Credit: Pixabay/KaiPilger

According to GrubHub’s data, the dishes that top the charts of most popular foods are as follows:

1. Bean Burrito – 276% more popular
2. Poke – 205% more popular
3. Chicken Slider –  189% more popular
4. Baby Back Pork Rib – 165% more popular
5. Chicken Burrito – 164% more popular
6. Chicken Sandwich – 160% more popular
7. Cauliflower Rice Bowl –  155% more popular
8. Chicken and Waffle Slider – 145% more popular
9. Parmesan Chicken – 139% more popular
10. Buffalo Cauliflower – 124% more popular

The data suggests that, not only have we been ordering more chicken than ever, but that vegetarian alternatives like bean burritos and buffalo cauliflower are experiencing a boon. The dramatic increase in sales of poke and cauliflower rice bowls also highlight that 2018 has been as much about clean eating as it has been about pickles.

The top 10 increasingly popular dishes are not the only headline grabbing food facts from GrubHub’s annual report. Other trends that they spotted were equally fascinating. For instance, the site also revealed our top five most popular breakfast trends, which were as follows:

1. Peanut butter acai bowl – 350% more popular
2. Detox juice – 193% more popular
3. Bacon, egg and cheese sandwich – 190% more popular
4. Breakfast burrito – 141% more popular
5. French toast – 106% more popular

Obviously, seeing bacon, egg and cheese alongside French Toast will surprise no one, but seeing a peanut butter acai berry bowl shoot up 350% is shocking to say the least.

Not content with knowing what people have been ordering, the powers that be at GrubHub were also determined to understand why they were ordering it. In addition to studying their food preferences, staff also asked customers for their top reasons for getting takeout. These included Didn’t feel like cooking (43%), satisfy a craving (30%), saving time from cooking/cleaning (28%), at home game night/movie night (25%) and family night dinner (24%).

GrubHub’s fascinating research also unearthed a few other hidden gems.  For instance, they found that around one in five respondents order for pickup or delivery after having a baby, whilst 71% said they’ve argued with their significant other about what to order. Whichever way you look at it, it’s obvious that the food industry has a better idea than ever about your food habits. It would be scary, if it wasn’t so delicious.