1950s Food: Top Dishes, Restaurants And Eating Trends
Rationing ends in 1954, fridges arrive, and food gets interesting again.
Below: the dishes people actually ate in the 1950s, what was new at the time, what the kitchen had in it, and honest notes on cooking any of it now.
Useful for a themed party menu, a reminiscence session or working out what to cook for someone's milestone birthday.
Shop the cards that go with these
Shop prints and posters Look back to 1950 Look back to 1951 Look back to 1952
Cards and prints, drawn and printed by us
Funny cards, kitchen and milestone art prints and pin badges, printed in the UK. Order on a working day and it usually goes out the same day.
Happy Valentines Day, Bab (Valentines Day Card)
£3.87
"Woof Woof" Sausage Dog Valentines Day Card
£3.87
Happy Valentines Day Card From The Cats
£3.87
Happy Valentines Day, My Love (Valentines Day Card)
£3.87
You're Purr-fect To Me (Cat Valentines Day Card)
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Happy Birthday Papa (Happy Birthday Card) (Multiple designs)
£3.87
Years covered in the 1950s
- 1950 - Petrol came off the ration, the Festival of Britain was being built and there was no chart yet. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1950
- 1951 - The Festival of Britain, a Conservative return and still no singles chart. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1951
- 1952 - A new Queen, the Great Smog and the first ever singles chart in November. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1952
- 1953 - The coronation, Everest, the Matthews final and sweets off the ration. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1953
- 1954 - Rationing finally ended and Roger Bannister ran a mile in under four minutes. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1954
- 1955 - ITV launched, rock and roll arrived and Britain got its first television adverts. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1955
- 1956 - Suez, Elvis arriving in the chart and the start of skiffle. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1956
- 1957 - You've never had it so good, the Munich disaster still to come and skiffle everywhere. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1957
- 1958 - Munich, the first motorway and Cliff Richard's 'Move It'. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1958
- 1959 - The Mini, the M1 and the last year before the sixties. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1959
- That is every 1950s year we have written up so far: 1950 to 1959.
Classic 1950s dishes
- Roast beef and Yorkshire puddings back on the table properly.
- Fish and chips, still wrapped in newspaper.
- Ham salad with salad cream, beetroot and a hard-boiled egg.
- Coronation chicken, created for the 1953 Coronation lunch.
- Angel delight-era puddings, tinned fruit and evaporated milk.
- Knickerbocker glory and the first Wimpy burgers (Wimpy opens in Britain in 1954).
Food trends of the 1950s
- Elizabeth David's A Book of Mediterranean Food (1950) starts the long British love affair with olive oil.
- Espresso bars in Soho and the first coffee culture.
- Frozen food arrives - fish fingers launch in Britain in 1955.
- Fanny Cradock on television telling people how to entertain.
What the kitchen looked like (1950-1959)
- Fridges become common, freezers do not yet.
- Formica worktops, twin tubs and the fitted kitchen idea.
- Pyrex and Tupperware in every cupboard by the end of the decade.
- Supermarkets begin replacing the daily round of separate shops.
Eating out in the 1950s: restaurants, cafes and takeaways
- Wimpy opens in Britain in 1954, inside Lyons teashops at first.
- Espresso bars in Soho - the Moka in 1953 with its Gaggia machine.
- The first Chinese restaurants spread beyond Liverpool and London.
- Transport cafes on the A-roads, with mugs of tea and a full breakfast all day.
- Ice cream parlours, knickerbocker glories and the seaside cafe.
- Hotel carveries and set-price Sunday lunches for a family occasion.
Cooking these now: honest notes
- Coronation chicken is better with fresh mango chutney and toasted almonds than the bottled version.
- A proper Yorkshire needs a very hot tin and batter rested for half an hour.
- Salad cream is not a joke ingredient - it does something mayonnaise does not.
How to use this
- Themed party: pick three dishes, not ten - one thing to pick at, one main, one pudding everyone remembers.
- Put the 1950s playlist on while you cook and the theme does half the work.
- Reminiscence session: food smells prompt more conversation than photographs do.
- Milestone birthday: cook what they ate at eighteen, not what was around when they were born.
Found your words? Now find the card
Shop prints and posters Look back to 1950 Look back to 1951 Look back to 1952
How to write it so it lands
- Write the menu on a card and put it on the table - it makes a themed meal feel deliberate.
- Cook one dish nobody has had for thirty years; that is the one people talk about.
- Check for allergies before you build a menu around pastry, nuts or shellfish.
Where to shop next
- Look back to 1950
- Look back to 1951
- Look back to 1952
- Look back to 1953
- Look back to 1954
- Look back to 1955
- Look back to 1956
- Look back to 1957
- Look back to 1958
- Look back to 1959
- 1950s calendar: year by year
- 1950s trivia: fun facts
- 1950s music: albums, artists and songs
- 1950s fashion: clothes, hair and accessories
- 1950s books, films and TV
- 1950s party playlist
- The 1950s: the whole decade
- Retro gift guide: the 1950s
- Wartime and 1950s party games
- Playground games by region
- Clapping games and skipping rhymes
- Seaside and beach games
- Sweets that disappeared
- Decade history: key events, politics and culture by era
- Decade books: best novels, authors and reading trends
- Decade recipes: dishes and food trends by era
- Music by decade: albums, artists and songs
- Decade fashion: clothes, hair and accessories by era
- Decade guides: books, films and TV by era
- Decade calendar: every year from 1920
- Decade trivia: fun facts by era
- Nostalgia gift shop
- Retro party supplies
- Guess the year quiz
- Milestone birthday cards
- Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
- How to make a balloon arch
- Photo booth prop ideas
- Pin badges
- All guides
Frequently asked questions
What food was popular in the 1950s?
Roast beef and Yorkshire puddings back on the table properly. The full list above covers the dishes that turned up week in, week out, not just the special-occasion ones.
What were the big food trends of the 1950s?
Elizabeth David's A Book of Mediterranean Food (1950) starts the long British love affair with olive oil. The rest are listed above, including what was arriving in the shops for the first time.
Where did people eat out in the 1950s?
Wimpy opens in Britain in 1954, inside Lyons teashops at first. The eating out section above lists the restaurants, cafes and takeaways of the decade.
Can I cook 1950s recipes today?
Yes, with small adjustments. Old recipes assume more time and different kit, so the honest notes section above tells you what to change - mostly seasoning, cooking times and which ingredients are hard to buy now.
Do you sell food or recipe books?
No. We make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK. This page is free to read, print and copy for a party or a care-home session.