The flavor trends for 2027 gaining real ground on US menus are complex heat (chili crisp, salsa macha and hot honey), smoked chiles led by hatch, North African spice arriving through brunch, white peach in drinks, cardamom chai carried by Yemeni cafés, and fig paired with savory dishes. We know because we tracked the same 30,760 US restaurant menus a year apart, and each of these grew faster than fries.
Most flavor trend lists count menus that got longer. We count flavors that beat the bar. Below are the trending flavors that cleared the bar, including the emerging flavors still on under 2% of chain brands. We also name the ones that stalled.
How we measured: the same 30,760 menus, a year apart
We followed the same 30,760 US operators, 7,313 chains and 23,447 independents, with menus in both Q2 2025 and Q2 2026. Newly added menus can't fake growth that way.
Then we set a bar. On those same menus, 12 everyday items such as Caesar salad, fries, cheeseburgers and wings grew a median of 11%, mostly because menus list more items over time. A flavor only counts as a trend if it grows faster than +11%.
We paired the menu data with Dataplor US store records for café openings and MenuData Pulse, a survey of 903 US adults fielded October 29 to 30, 2026.
The fastest-growing flavors for 2027
These are the flavors that beat the +11% bar, ranked by growth in the number of operators carrying them.
Flavor or ingredient | Growth, Q2 2025 to Q2 2026 | Where it stands now |
White peach | +106% | 2.0% of operators |
Named chai (outside Indian menus) | +68% | 365 operators |
Shakshuka | +64% | 1.3% of operators |
Hot honey | +47% | 8.7% of chain brands |
Moroccan mint tea | +35% | 85 operators (small base) |
Chili crisp | +31% | 1.9% of chain brands |
Salsa macha | +27% | 1.2% of operators |
Hatch chile | +22% | 0.8% of operators |
Fig | +20% | 5.7% of operators |
Dukkah | +15% | 185 operators |
Everyday items (the bar) | +11% | 12-item median |
Source: MenuData operator panel, same 30,760 US operators, Q2 2025 to Q2 2026.
Complex heat: diners now judge heat by its character
Complex heat is the biggest flavor trend because diners now judge heat by its character, not its strength. The chile gets named on the menu and paired with something else: crunch in chili crisp, nuts and seeds in salsa macha, sweetness in hot honey.
Hot honey shows the path. It grew 47% on the same menus and now sits on 8.7% of chain brands, up from 418 to 636. Chili crisp (+31%) and salsa macha (+27%) are on the same track and still on under 2% of chain brands. That gap is white space for a sauce supplier or a chain that wants to get there first.
Salsa macha is also moving past tacos. Operators serving it on vegetables nearly doubled, and breakfast uses more than doubled. Chefs are using named global condiments as a fast signal of something new: gochujang on wings (+22%) and Calabrian chile in pasta (+22%).
The surprise is where diners are ahead of menus. Half of diners would order chili oil (50%) and chile-lime (51%), yet chili oil grew only 2% on menus and chile-lime 5%. Salsa macha is the reverse: 42% would order it, but only 30% have heard of it. Chefs are ahead of diners on salsa macha and behind them on chili oil.
Hatch chile has the most room to grow
Hatch chile is the flavor with the most room to grow. Operators carrying it rose 22%, double the bar, and chain brands with hatch rose 24%, from 55 to 68. Half of diners (50%) would order it, but only 52% have heard of it. Hatch was the only flavor we tested with appeal above average and awareness below it. Gen Z leads at 61%.
The wider smoke story is slower. Morita, the smoked jalapeño, is flat at +3%, though it is moving from tacos into mains and sandwiches. Muhammara, the roasted pepper and walnut dip, grew 11%, right at the bar. We rate smoke as a watch item, with hatch as the proven entry point for a seasonal LTO.
North African spice arrives through brunch
North African flavor is arriving through brunch, not new restaurants. Shakshuka grew 64%, from 246 to 403 operators, at brunch spots, Mediterranean cafés and cocktail bars. Moroccan mint tea grew 35% from a small base.
The spice blends travel as finishes on familiar dishes. Dukkah grew 15%, and 71% of the operators using it aren't Middle Eastern or Mediterranean restaurants. It lands on roasted carrots, salads and even granola. Harissa is already on 905 menus, but at +7% it grew slower than everyday items, even as harissa pasta tripled.
Boomers lead on dukkah, with 44% saying they would order it, while Millennials trail at 26%. A spice-blend launch aimed only at Gen Z would miss its best audience.
White peach doubled, carried by drinks
White peach is a softer, more floral peach that reads as premium, and it is the fastest-growing flavor in our report at +106%. Drinks carry it. Cocktails with white peach rose from 48 to 116 operators, and tea and coffee uses grew 37%.
Drinkers met the flavor through brands first. Chili's, LongHorn, BJ's and Kura now build it into their drinks, and sushi bars are up 155%. Independent bars and tea shops are adding it faster than chains. Like most drink flavors it may peak fast, which makes it a better fit for LTOs than core menus.
Chai moves beyond Indian menus
Chai is spreading beyond Indian restaurants. Named chai outside Indian menus grew 68% on the same menus, from 300 to 365 operators. Much of that rides on the Yemeni coffee house, the fastest-growing café format in the US, which we cover in restaurant industry trends 2027.
The flavors to watch are cardamom, saffron and milky, spiced adeni tea. Karak and adeni chai are early signals, each still on fewer than 30 operators.
Fig is now a pairing story
Fig alone isn't news. It's already on 6.2% of chain brands and grew 20%. The story is where it's going: fig in meat and fish mains grew 87%, and fig in cocktails grew 97%. Chefs pair it with prosciutto, burrata and blue cheese. For 2027, the opening is fig with chile heat, fig on handhelds and fig leaf in drinks, strongest in the fall.
The flavors that stalled
Not every flavor that gets press is growing. On the same menus, these grew slower than everyday items or declined.
Flavor or ingredient | Change, Q2 2025 to Q2 2026 |
Sichuan peppercorn | -9% |
Couscous | -4% |
Piment d'Espelette | -2% |
Chili oil | +2%, though 50% of diners would order it |
Morita chile | +3% |
Yuzu kosho | +4% |
Chile-lime | +5%, though 51% of diners would order it |
Harissa | +7% |
Numbing and citrus heats have stalled. So have North Africa's dinner classics, couscous and tagine. If a 2027 pipeline leans on Sichuan peppercorn or yuzu kosho, check the menu data before the tasting.
Where manufacturers and chains can move first
The flavors below 2% of chain brands are where a supplier or chain can still move first. For manufacturers, that means chili crisp, salsa macha and hatch in sauces, aiolis and seasonal kits. For beverage clients, it means white peach and cardamom chai as LTO flavors. Brunch-led chains have the easiest test of all: shakshuka, or a dukkah finish on a dish guests already order.
Two lanes are open in heat. Introduce salsa macha and Calabrian on familiar dishes, and serve the chili oil and chile-lime diners already want, which few menus are adding.
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Frequently asked questions
What are the top flavor trends for 2027? The top flavor trends for 2027 are white peach (+106%), named chai outside Indian menus (+68%), shakshuka (+64%), hot honey (+47%), chili crisp (+31%), salsa macha (+27%) and hatch chile (+22%). Each grew faster than everyday menu items on the same 30,760 US menus from Q2 2025 to Q2 2026.
How do you tell a flavor trend from a fad? We compare a flavor's growth with everyday items on the same restaurant menus. Everyday items such as fries and wings grew 11% in a year because menus list more items. A flavor that grows faster than +11% on the same menus is gaining real ground. One that doesn't is riding menu growth.
Is hot honey still growing in 2027? Yes. Hot honey grew 47% on the same 30,760 US menus from Q2 2025 to Q2 2026. Chain brands carrying it rose from 418 to 636, or 8.7% of chain brands. Chili crisp and salsa macha are following the same path and are on under 2% of chain brands.
What is salsa macha? Salsa macha is a Mexican chile oil made with nuts and seeds. Operators serving it grew 27% in a year, and it is moving past tacos into vegetables and breakfast. Diners are open to it: 42% would order it, though only 30% have heard of it.
Where does MenuData's flavor trend data come from? Menu growth comes from the MenuData operator panel: the same 30,760 US operators in Q2 2025 and Q2 2026, matched by item name and description. Café openings come from Dataplor US store records. Diner data comes from MenuData Pulse, a survey of 903 US adults fielded October 29 to 30, 2026.
Get the full 2027 Trends report
The MenuData 2027 Trends report covers nine trends with the dishes and chefs behind each, plus the full consumer detail. That includes 20 concepts ranked by appeal and awareness, who wants each flavor by generation, and where diners would buy it.
MenuData.ai is a foodservice intelligence platform that thinks with you. Book a demo and ask Saffron which of these flavors fits your portfolio. It investigates menus, ingredients, operators and markets, then explains what it found and why it matters.
Related reading: food and beverage trends 2027 and restaurant industry trends 2027.