The year is rapidly coming to a close, and who better to tell us what trended in the culinary world more than Google? The tech giant has just released its annual Year in Search data, analyzing “the trillions of searches that defined the past year” to determine the biggest trends in the United States in 2022.
Note: These aren’t “top searches,” since Google instead looks at the terms that had the most significant sustained spike compared to last year, rather than ones that are perennial favorites (which is why things like “pumpkin spice latte” are less likely to be reflected here).
Another caveat: not all searches are foodie related, so the top overall searches will include things like “Wordle,” “Election results,” and “Betty White” (who was somehow one spot higher than “Queen Elizabeth”).
However, Google also broke things down into categories, so plenty of the findings fit into our Food & Drink category, including (drum roll, please) the Top 10 Recipe Searches of the Year.
Coming in at number one was “sugo,” the classic, or “authentic” tomato-based pasta sauce typically made with tomatoes, basil, olive oil, onions, and garlic.
Along with the sauce, Google users searched for “Cincinnati chili,” “marry me chicken,” “quick pancake,” “mango pie,” “green goddess salad,” “Jennifer Aniston salad,” “Grinder sandwich,” “Bella Hadid sandwich,” and “The Bear spaghetti.”
Google also broke out the data for TikTok-inspired recipe searches, and though some overlap did exist, the lists were slightly different. Searches for “cinnamon roll” topped the TikTok-specific list, followed by “pink sauce,” “grinder sandwich,” “green goddess salad,” “cowboy caviar,” “marry me chicken,” “salmon rice bowl,” “pot roast,” “Mexican rice,” and “crab rangoon.”
In the beverage department, “Aperol spritz” surged to the top of alcoholic drinks searches, managing to hold off number two, “espresso martini.” Rounding out the top ten were “dirty Shirley,” “cosmopolitan,” “negroni,” “dirty martini,” “hot toddy,” “lemon drop martini,” “mai tai,” and “pina colada.”
Non-alcoholic drinks also continued to rise in popularity throughout 2022. Google saw users seeking out booze-free versions of several classics, including “non-alcoholic rum,” which topped the list, followed by non-alcoholic “mint julep,” “red wine,” “tequila,” “vodka, “beers,” “margarita,” “mulled wine,” “whiskey,” and “pina colada.”
The ongoing economic upheaval also meant that several related searches landed on lists that weren’t specifically about food and beverages. For example, under searches for shortages, “baby formula,” “sriracha,” “food,” “cream cheese,” “avocado,” and “lettuce” all made the top ten.
And though “gas” topped the list of people searching why things are so expensive, grocery items like “eggs,” “saffron,” and “lettuce” all also made the top ten.
Want to see what the rest of the world was searching for all year long? See all the top terms on Google’s hub for the Year in Search 2022 here.
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