1980s Food: Top Dishes, Restaurants And Eating Trends

Microwaves, ready meals and nouvelle cuisine on the telly.

Below: the dishes people actually ate in the 1980s, 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.

Years covered in the 1980s

• 1980 - The decade opened with the SAS on live television and John Lennon's death in December. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1980
• 1981 - A royal wedding, riots in several cities and the first London Marathon. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1981
• 1982 - The Falklands, the launch of Channel 4 and the arrival of the Spectrum. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1982
• 1983 - Breakfast television, the pound coin and a general election landslide. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1983
• 1984 - The miners' strike, the Brighton bombing and Band Aid at Christmas. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1984
• 1985 - Live Aid, the first EastEnders and a very bad year in football. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1985
• 1986 - The Hand of God, Chernobyl and Neighbours arriving on daytime television. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1986
• 1987 - The great storm, Black Monday and a third election win. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1987
• 1988 - Acid house, Kylie's first number one and a grim run of disasters. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1988
• 1989 - Hillsborough, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the decade. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1989
• That is every 1980s year we have written up so far: 1980 to 1989.

Classic 1980s dishes

• Lasagne and garlic bread as the standard Friday night.
• Chicken tikka masala, by now Britain's default curry.
• Beef stroganoff, chilli con carne and jacket potatoes with tuna mayo.
• Cheesecake, Black Forest gateau and Vienetta for pudding.
• Fajitas and nachos arriving at the end of the decade.
• Findus Crispy Pancakes, Pot Noodle and Birds Eye Steakhouse grills.

Food trends of the 1980s

• Microwave ownership goes from rare to normal across the decade.
• Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury's push proper ready meals.
• Nouvelle cuisine - small portions, big plates, endless jokes about it.
• Food Processors, Delia's Cookery Course and the first celebrity chefs.

What the kitchen looked like (1980-1989)

• Microwaves, breadmakers and the first food processors in ordinary kitchens.
• Freezer centres - Bejam, then Iceland.
• Sun-dried tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and olive oil in supermarkets.
• Dinner parties give way to 'come round for a curry'.

Eating out in the 1980s: restaurants, cafes and takeaways

• Nouvelle cuisine: small portions, big plates and a lot of jokes about it.
• Pizza Hut and Burger King arrive properly on the British high street.
• The balti houses of Birmingham's Ladypool Road become a destination.
• Wine bars for the after-work crowd, with quiche and a glass of house white.
• Marco Pierre White opens Harveys in 1987 and changes the kitchen's image.
• Happy Eater and Little Chef as the family road-trip stop.

Cooking these now: honest notes

• Make lasagne the day before; it slices instead of sliding.
• A proper chilli needs an hour minimum - twenty minutes tastes like mince in ketchup.
• Tikka masala is a British dish, so make it the British way: cream, tomato, garam masala.

How to use this

• Themed party: pick three dishes, not ten - one thing to pick at, one main, one pudding everyone remembers.
• Put the 1980s 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.

Shop prints and posters

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 1980
• Look back to 1981
• Look back to 1982
• Look back to 1983
• Look back to 1984
• Look back to 1985
• Look back to 1986
• Look back to 1987
• Look back to 1988
• Look back to 1989
• 1980s calendar: year by year
• 1980s trivia: fun facts
• 1980s music: albums, artists and songs
• 1980s fashion: clothes, hair and accessories
• 1980s books, films and TV
• 1980s party playlist
• The 1980s: the whole decade
• Retro gift guide: the 1980s
• 80s kids' TV shows
• 80s quiz questions
• Toys of the 80s and 90s
• Computers and consoles we grew up with
• Saturday morning TV
• Cassette tapes and taping the charts
• 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
• Wedding cards
• Wedding cards guide
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

What food was popular in the 1980s?

Lasagne and garlic bread as the standard Friday night. 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 1980s?

Microwave ownership goes from rare to normal across the decade. The rest are listed above, including what was arriving in the shops for the first time.

Where did people eat out in the 1980s?

Nouvelle cuisine: small portions, big plates and a lot of jokes about it. The eating out section above lists the restaurants, cafes and takeaways of the decade.

Can I cook 1980s 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.