Is keto over? 10 food trends on their way out in 2025

Revealed: the recipes and ingredients falling out of favour as we head into the new year ahead.

2024 was a great year for new recipes. It gave us ‘marry me’ chicken, the comeback of colcannon, and easy desserts like this 2-ingredient twist on panna cotta (you can check out the trends of the year here).

But, as we welcome in 2025, certain food trends are showing signs of dropping out of favour. Some of them we’ll be happy to see the back of (nurturing your own sourdough starter and feeding it like a pet takes a level of commitment we don’t think we’ll have in 2025), but some we hope are just on a brief hiatus (we’ll always have a soft spot for Caramilk).

How did we work out which not-so-hot trends are declining in popularity? We combined taste search and social channel data to uncover the recipes, ingredients and diets that have hit their peak and are now on the wane.

So, let’s dive in…

1) DIY sourdough

Oh, those lockdown days indoors, when infinite time stretched before us. We Zoomed, we baked. We baked, we Zoomed. We fantasised about opening our own artisan sourdough bakery (the moment we could leave home for more than an hour). But fast forward a few years and the reality of making sourdough from scratch doesn’t quite live up to the romance, with searches for sourdough recipes down 39% YoY on taste.

The nation’s love for sourdough is still strong, but people love their free time more, relegating the act of making homemade sourdough firmly down the list of culinary hobbies to try when time allows (maybe in retirement then?). 

2) Keto and paleo

Remember when pretty much everyone you knew was going keto? When conversations revolved around whether you could butter two slices of bacon, add some cheese in between and call it a healthy sandwich? Luckily for watercooler moments everywhere, there are signs that interest in keto is dropping. All keto searches on taste were -9% throughout 2024, with paleo searches also down. 

Although keto does have weight-loss benefits and can help treat some conditions under medical supervision, the focus on low carb, high fat and moderate protein consumption can lead to low fibre intake and certain nutritional deficiencies.

Taste’s nutrition editor, Chrissy Freer, also says keto is difficult to maintain in the long-term due to the limited nature of the diet and the need to constantly track macronutrients.

So what diets are in right now? More moderate eating regimes are growing in popularity, with Mediterranean continuing to rise (searches on taste were up 20% in 2024). And, as wearable healthy trackers become ubiquitous on wrists and fingers and arms, Australians are also personalising their diets to meet specific needs, such as low GI, protein rich, and heart healthy.

3) Meatballs from scratch

The pressure on household budgets is fuelling high demand for mince among grocery buyers, but time pressures mean many cooks don’t have the time to make meatballs from scratch. Searches for meatballs were -14% on taste in 2024, suggesting rolling your own meatballs may now be a luxury reserved for long weekends. However, mince stir fries are definitely on the up, with two of the top three new dinners of the 2024 featuring mince. “Speedy mince stir fries that save precious time in the kitchen are where it’s at,” says taste Food Director Michelle Southan.

Michelle’s 20-minute Mongolian beef mince stir fry became the #1 new quick dinner on taste in 2024, with rave reviews across the board.

4) Make-your-own healthy desserts

We’ve seen demand drop for healthy dessert recipes, probably because those who want a dessert will have one… in moderation. Plus, the amount of pre-made healthy sweet snacks on the market means a healthy ‘dessert’ that aligns to your own personal macronutrient requirements can now be bought, not made.

Healthy-Snickers-Bar

5) Caramilk

It was the craze of 2022 and 2023 – the resurrected Cadbury caramelised white chocolate block was back and the nation couldn’t have been happier. But through 2024, we’ve seen the hype around this chocolate bar die down somewhat, and searches are now down 41% YoY. While Caramilk will still hold a place in our hearts, we’re seeing classic chocolate baking recipes making a comeback as we move into 2025, with searches for brownies and cookies both on the rise.

6) Generic vegetarian

“General searches for ‘vegetarian recipes’ are down 30% year-on-year on Pinterest, but that’s not because we’re not interested in vegetarian dishes!” says taste’s Deputy Content Director, Jade Dunn.

“It’s likely because people are becoming more specific about their searches for vegetarian recipes, as we’ve seen searches for ‘vegetarian dinner recipes’ and ‘vegetarian main meal’ rise on taste in November.”

In fact, vegetarian meal searches are now so nuanced, we’re seeing an emerging demand for high-protein vegetarian and low-carb vegetarian dishes. Recipes like dhal dinner bowls, chickpea curry and lentil and egg curry have all proved popular in 2024, and we expect this to continue well into 2025.

Sweet potato and lentil lasagne

7) Binning leftover food

As many home cooks will attest, those well-known cost of living pressures have seen us all become smarter about the way we plan meals – particularly in terms of the way we look at our ingredients as a whole. What’s out? Waste. Gone are the days of tossing crusts in the bin (hello, future breadcrumbs!), ushering in a new era of using up as much of our ingredients as we can (think using up leftover egg yolks from our Christmas pavlovas to make other great yolk-based recipes, like lemon curd).

Try carrot-top pesto, to use the whole vegie when cooking with carrots, and include the stem of your broccoli in your cooking, to stretch the veg even further. In 2024, our taste.com.au community loved our Savvy Dinner Plan, which saw ingredients used across multiple meals to keep costs and wastage down. Clever, kinder to the planet, and easier on the wallet. Win, win, win.

Credit: Brett Stevens

8) Hasselbacking

Everyone’s been cutting small lines through food for the past year or so (we’ve done it with potato, chicken, pumpkin and even glazed ham!) but food trends in recent months show that people are preferring lower-prep potatoes now. What’s next for the humble spud next year? This Christmas, we’ve seen smashed potatoes and roast potatoes become particularly popular, and we reckon next year people will really enjoy stuffing them.

Credit: Guy Bailey Publication

9) Smoothie bowls

Popularised by hipster cafes and wellness influencers, pureed breakfasts topped with sprinkles of fruit, nuts and seeds have quietly dropped out of favour (and out of our social feeds). Searches for smoothie bowls were down 27% YoY on taste in 2024 as people opt for breakfast bowls with more substance. By contrast, searches for overnight oats and chia pudding – both of which will fill you up more – have been steadily rising for the past couple of years.

Smoothie bowl

10) Big roast meat Sundays

We were delighted when we discovered that searches for ‘Sunday dinner’ were up more than 57% YoY on taste in 2024. Who doesn’t love a traditional household get-together? But the concept of Sunday dinner is changing: it’s no longer driven by the classic roast meat and two veg, but more a coming together to share food, with everyone pitching in. 

Searches for roast chicken dropped 29% YoY, while searches for roast pork and roast lamb also fell. Roasted vegies are still on trend though: we saw a rising interest in roasted cauliflower, pumpkin and carrot.

Taste Senior Food Editor Elisa Pietrantonio suggests households are opting for easier meals like Spaghetti Sundays to give cooks more time to focus on relaxing instead of cooking, because, she says: “Gathering around the table, sharing memories and stories is a great way to connect.”

Originally published as Is keto over? 10 food trends on their way out in 2025