10 Summer Food Trends to Watch This Season

Here at EatingWell, we spend a lot of time following food trends—for one thing, we've gotta know what the people want in terms of recipes, so we can give it to them! And, honestly, with all the chaos in the world, following food trends is a delightful distraction. Here are foods and drinks to put on your radar this summer.

Whipped Coffee—and Whipped Everything Else

If you haven't climbed on board the social media sensation dalgona trend, we're ready to give you a hand with our primer on How to Make Whipped Coffee, plus recipes for a Whipped Coffee Mochaccino and Vegan Whipped Coffee. Of course, we weren't satisfied with just whipping coffee, so we created a Whipped White Russian, a Whipped Matcha Fruit Smoothie and a Whipped Frozen Lemonade (pictured above) just for you. You're welcome.

Lots of Lemon

Speaking of that lemonade, bright, sunny lemons are having a moment right now, with lemon popping up in both savory and sweet preparations—and even in candles! Get your shot of lemon with our new recipes for Skillet Lemon Chicken with Spinach, Iced Lemon Cookie Energy Balls and Lemon Brownies.

Garden to Table

We've seen a huge spike in interest in food gardening lately, as people try both to limit trips to the grocery store and to find relaxing entertainment at home. Our article How to Grow Fruits and Vegetables from Food Scraps has been super-popular lately. See our Plant Your Plate section for lots more food gardening projects.

Cocktails Galore

We've seen a tremendous spike in interest in cocktails, with drinks like margaritas consistently on our list of top traffic. To quench your thirst, we developed our #DrinkingWell cocktail series, with easy from-the-pantry cocktail recipes like the Bee's Knees for all your virtual happy hours. (Look for a new drink on EatingWell's Instragram every Friday, with recipes from our staff as well as mixologists such as Moody Mixologist Amy Traynor and Kate E. Richards of Drinking with Chickens.)

Elsewhere in drinks news, spiked seltzers and other canned cocktails and drinks will continue to rise in popularity as brands like White Claw and Truly release new flavors for summer and people will be looking for single-serve drinks they can enjoy outdoors—because while it might not be a summer of big-batch drinks, it's still summer!

Potatoes

People's fear of carbs is ratcheting down and they're craving comfort food, so spuds are hot right now. Get your tater on with these crispy, creamy Melting Potatoes, one of our most popular recipes right now.

Harissa

If you are looking for a new way to add heat and depth of flavor to meats, veggies and beans, get yourself a jar or tube of the North African spice paste, harissa. Here are 5 Easy Ways to Spice Up Your Meals with Harissa, plus 14 recipes with harissa to get you started.

Buy harissa online: New York Shuk ($14.50 from the Spice House) and Mina ($5.50 from Thrive with membership).

Calabrian Chiles

Calabrian chiles are another great condiment for adding a bit of spice to your meals. "I've been seeing Calabrian chiles popping up on more not-necessarily-Italian restaurant menus for a while now and recently started seeing more in-store products, including Trader Joe's Italian Bomba Hot Pepper Sauce" says EatingWell magazine senior food editor Devon O'Brien. If you nab a jar of the chiles, here are some of O'Brien's favorite ways to use them:

• Stir into marinara sauce for a quick arrabbiata
• Cook into a pan sauce to drizzle over pan-fried fish or chicken
• Mix with a little oil to make a dip for crusty bread

Buy Calabrian chiles online: Williams Sonoma ($13)

Plant-Based Burgers

Plant-based proteins feed our desires to eat more healthfully and to protect the environment. Plant-based meats, like Impossible and Beyond products, are just going to keep getting bigger, predicts EatingWell test kitchen manager Breana Killeen. This summer, look for more and more people to be tossing all manner of veggie burgers—both homemade and store-bought—on the grill and in the skillet.

Wellness Shots & Tonics

While wellness shots have been hot for some time, you know it's getting big when Trader Joe's gets on board. TJ's released ginger and turmeric shots earlier this year. Reed's, best known for its ginger beer, has also released ginger wellness shots. If you'd rather DIY-it, try our Lemon-Ginger-Cayenne Apple Shots or Ginger-Turmeric-Carrot Shots.

Cooking from the Pantry & Freezer

With more of us hunkered down at home, we've all been looking to our pantries and freezers for many meals. And even when we have access to fresh foods, taking fewer trips to the grocery store means it's nice to have long-lasting ingredients on hand. Good thing that dinners made from canned beans, pasta and frozen veggies can be delicious—as these 3-ingredient pantry dinners prove.

Got cooking questions? Email them to us at testkitchen@eatingwell.com.