Roughly a decade ago, whimsy ruled everything we ate. Don’t believe me? We served everything in mason jars until it practically became a Portlandia sketch—and loved anything pickled to the point that it actually was a Portlandia sketch. We roséd all day and relished in serving anything in a rainbow ombré (to the point that we mythologized it to “unicorn” status). We fully embraced the racier-than-it-sounded naked cake.

Now, in 2025, all of our Pinterest board fever dreams are creeping back into our lives. Every week, a new pickle-themed snack emerges, from dill-flavored Goldfish and pistachios to an entire menu at Popeyes. Fancy Sprinkles has built an empire off of edible glitter, and Sonic Drive-In launched the Unicorn Dreams Slush, complete with swirly-horn straws. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, has essentially relaunched The Tig 2.0, now a 360-degree lifestyle brand with a hit Netflix show, With Love, Meghan, where she serves up 2010s staples, such as mason jar margaritas, naked cakes and rainbow fruicuterie boards.

Sure, trends come and go, but what’s compelling such a cluster of mid-2010s hits to return?

After covering food trends for 15+ years, I have a theory: We’re seeking a comfort food time machine.

Research has shown that Gen Z is the most nostalgic generation, followed closely by millennials—with 15 percent preferring to think about the past than the present—and for those born between 1997 and 2012, their earliest food memories are, well, a decade-ish ago. “For Gen Z, these aren’t throwbacks—they’re fresh and new, experienced through today’s lens of social interaction and customization,” says Staci Johnson, Director of Brand Experience at Sonic. “We’re seeing a real craving for nostalgia and whimsy, especially from parents of tweens and teens who want to share joyful moments with their families.”

The mid-2010s was peak performative food, so it makes sense that trends from that time have taken off more than those of the ‘90s or Y2K era, which have had huge moments in fashion and beauty. During that time, Instagram instructed us all that “the phone eats first,” as people commonly joked, whipping out their iPhones to snap pics of whatever they were eating to share with the world. And, as is the case with viral content, the more surprising, eye-catching or emotionally engaging the dish, the better it performed. Hence, the rise of twee mason jar meals and eye-catching unicorn foods, alongside flavors that had their own devoted fandoms (ranch, bacon, sriracha and pickle, to name a few).