The 50 Foods You Have To Try In 2023

Between all the "caviar bumps" of 2022 and emergent seafood cocktails of 2023, it will likely be hard for you to avoid caviar being, well, everywhere this year. And why would you? Especially when you can get the eponymous Saltie Girl cocktail (topped with a skewer of Castelvetrano olives, pickled onion, and little gems of caviar) at Saltie Girl, in Boston, LA, and London, even happy hours are about to get a whole lot fancier.

Also know as "Hen of the Woods," maitake mushrooms are the fan-favorite fungi of the year according to the 2023 Trend Report conducted by af+co and Carbonate. Uniquely rich with feathery ripples that make them ideal for roasting or frying, maitake mushrooms add a perfect punch of savory umami to anything from risotto to a fried chicken-style sandwich. And that's absolutely the case for the Hen of the Woods toast (pictured) made at Burlington, Vermont's aptly-named Hen of the Woods restaurant.

Fun fact: Maitake in Japanese means "dancing mushroom," because apparently those who stumbled upon it in the woods would dance upon spotting it. We can definitely see why!

According to the 2023 Hospitality Trends report, ube is about to be even more popular. And for good reason. The ingredient can most be found in a wide variety of Filipino desserts that are as delicious as they are almost-too-pretty-to-eat. Ube is now gaining even more crossover potential, making its way into horchata, churros, and even tortillas (!) at the Bay Area's Senor Sisig.

Alert: A new fusion cuisine is here. Meet Itameshi, which is where Italian meets Japanese cuisine, and we think you'll absolutely want to go to there. Take for instance Kimika NYC's take on Itameshi (pictured): Cavatelli pasta with a pork ragu, studded with edamame and a dollop of burrata. Or maybe some Japanese curry arancini are more your speed? This year, you can find us trying out new Itameshi spots faster than you can say "mochi bomboloncini."

The valiant reign of mezcal continues on, and we're so glad to see it, especially now that there are a host of bars all across the country (a.k.a. mezcalerias) that are dedicated to showing off all the best ways to serve the classic and complex agave spirit.

Ghost Donkey (pictured) is a NYC standby, with drinks like the Ay Papi and the Mole Negroni being our tried-and-true favorites. If you're not in the neighborhood, don't fret; here is a handy list of the U.S.'s best mezcalerias so you can try them all.

Strap yourself in, because 2023 is going to be the year of salted egg yolk flavor. Stay with us here. A flavor popular in many Asian countries, custardy, salty egg yolks are making their way stateside, flavoring anything from iced coffees (like the pictured one from Da Vien in Westminster, CA) to stir-fries. Torani (makers of popular coffee syrups) even called it their flavor of 2022. Salted egg yolks toe the line between sweet and savory, so don't be surprised if you see the buttery flavor on toast, chips, and milkshakes very soon.

Team Delish is fully on the Amaro train, and it looks like the rest of the country is, too. Amaro is an umbrella term for a host of bitter liqueurs, one of which is Campari, the popular component of the, well, stunning cocktail: The Negroni. Don't be surprised if you find a lot of Amaro cocktails in 2023 (and even Amaro-dedicated bars like Amor Y Margo). If you want to try the trend at home, our two favorite Amaro-based cocktails are also some of the easiest: The Americano and the Aperol Spritz.

Kuih (pronounced koo-uh) are bite-sized Malaysian cakes that come in a wide array of fun shapes (like these red, tortoise-shaped angku kuih from NYC's Lady Wong). Made with smooth coconut milk, rice flour, and mung bean paste, these jelly-esque, bouncy treats are steamed into fun shapes and flavored with anything from coconut and pandan to palm sugar. Some of them are almost too beautiful to eat, but don't let that stop you.

A new year pretty much always means a new alternative milk hits the shelves (and the coffee shops). This year, it's solidly the age of Pistachio Milk and Potato Milk (yes, potato milk!). And even some of the most obstinate whole-milk-drinkers of Team Delish (ahem, me) have to admit to being a pretty big fan of Táche's rich, creamy pistachio milk. Their vanilla blend solidly passes the iced latte test, milk frothing test, and just the overall cereal test with flying colors. And while DUG's potato milk is still only available in Europe at the moment, it's probably not too long until you can order a potato milk latte at your local Starbucks.

We should all be striving to eat more plants, and we think the trend of flower-adorned cakes absolutely counts. Also called "boucakes," this cake decorating trend of note involves lots of edible flowers, herbs and stems, and a relaxed, bohemian take on special occasion cakes that shows we're clearly kicking marzipan and buttercream flowers of yore to the curb.

Did you know that Laksa was crowned the dish of the year by these trend forecasters? The spicy and aromatic coconut curry noodle soup that hails from Malaysia is up a whopping 180 percent on menus across the country, and even Team Delish has experienced Laksa-mania.

If you want to catch it too, we highly recommend checking out Damansara, a San Francisco-based outpost that serves the savory soup with a host of other classic Malaysian drinking foods and small plates.

Is it just us or has food gotten a whole lot...cloudier? Whether you're into whipped fetas, oozy burratas, or fluffy meringues, drippy, cloudy foods will be all over restaurants, dinner parties, and coffee shops in 2023. And we can see why; These surreal cloudy creations are visually stunning and eminently Instagrammable, and not to mention, pretty fun to eat. Case in point: Maru Coffee's cream top coffee that's all over TikTok that we'd gladly float on.

Across the board, trend forecasters overwhelmingly predict a whole lot more food-based tourism in 2023. The most delicious type of all? All the new taco trails popping up all over the U.S. One of the most well-known is located in Concord, California (with 30+ taquerias along the way), but there are plenty around the country including Springdale, Arkansas and Kansas City, Missouri (which Forbes even crowned as the nation's taco capital).

In this next installment of "Stay with us here..." we present you with pickle cocktails. 2023 is apparently all about briny things, and that absolutely includes pickles. And honestly, we're severely into it. Especially the fact that Manhattan's Zou Zou's has created a pickle spritz (pictured). Those pickle-backs of your youth will be a faraway memory now that you can sip on pickle martinis and pickle margs all throughout the year.

According to Vogue, we are now living in the golden age of pandan. A fragrant green leaf native to Southeast Asia, Pandan is a popular flavoring and coloring agent for a wide variety of treats (we're especially fond of it in ice pops, tres leches ice cream and chiffon cakes).

Author Samuel Anderson likens its rise in part to pandan's ability to "impart smooth, nutty, slightly herbal notes to everything from Malaysia’s national dish nasi lemak (a colorful breakfast centered on pandan-infused rice) to Singapore’s McFlurries." Okay, looks like we need to book a trip to Singapore now.

Butter boards (and cream cheese boards, and dulce de leche boards...) have done more than shake up our bread and butter routine. 2023 might see us going completely plateless for most meals. Yes, boards and even tablecloths are the new plates, and honestly? The less dishes, the better. We're in!

It's not just tech billionaires going to space. Drinks are getting ready for blast off, too. And we mean that pretty literally with MUMM's Cordon Rouge Stellar, which was created so it could be tasted in space and has a foam that coats the mouth.

Trendwatcher Mintel reports that "as Earth endures more chaos, space will become a source of optimism, innovation and connection" in the food and drink space. Coke has even jumped on the trend as well, with their Starlight-inspired flavored products that came out in 2022.

There's no denying the effect of global warming on various industries, and the food industry is no stranger either. Over the last few years this has brought a whole other lifestyle to the forefront that should see big growth in 2023: Climatarianism.

What are Climatarians? Well, instead of counting calories, they count carbon emissions and avoid products and foods that bear unnecessary carbon outputs or even excessive packaging. According to a report conducted by Datassential, the trend has even lead to some restaurants making Climatarian menus available, like Just Salad (who have measures and labels the carbon footprint of every menu item) to Burger King (which has even tested a Reduced Methane Emissions Whopper at select U.S. locations).

Nostalgia really never goes out of style. But one thing we didn't anticipate feeling nostalgia for? The reinvention of super kitschy (and often strange) vintage recipes. (Believe it or not, the #vintagerecipes hashtag already has 31.3 million views on TikTok.)

While we've yet to see a restaurant recreated this Weight Watchers Crown Roast of Frankfurters, you'll likely spot a whole lot of shrimp cocktails, chicken Diane, and Ambrosia salads while dining out this year.

It's just not enough to eat seafood; we'll be drinking it, too. Well, sort of (at least you can with Saltie Girl Boston's oyster-topped Bloody Mary). 2023 will likely make you feel like every time you turn a corner and there's likely an oyster being shucked, and it's not just you. The Cut even called out the prevalence of oysters and martinis on Instagram, calling it the ultimate "Hot Girl Meal" of the summer. Actor Dan Levy was once a Clamato influencer, and we now blame him single-handedly for this delicious trend (thank you, Dan!).