Food By Decade: Top Dishes, Restaurants And Eating Trends

A guide to what Britain actually ate, decade by decade, at home and out.

Pick an era below for its top dishes, where people ate out, the trends of the time and what to change if you cook it now.

Each guide links to that decade's calendar, music, fashion and year pages.

Pick a decade

• 1920s - Plain cooking, careful shopping and a range that stayed lit all day. Guide: /blogs/news/1920s-recipes
• 1930s - Cheap cuts, tinned goods and the first electric cookers in ordinary houses. Guide: /blogs/news/1930s-recipes
• 1940s - Rationing from January 1940, and cooking built around whatever the points allowed. Guide: /blogs/news/1940s-recipes
• 1950s - Rationing ends in 1954, fridges arrive, and food gets interesting again. Guide: /blogs/news/1950s-recipes
• 1960s - Dinner parties, Vesta curries and the first taste of food from abroad. Guide: /blogs/news/1960s-recipes
• 1970s - Brown food, the Hostess trolley and the golden age of the dinner party. Guide: /blogs/news/1970s-recipes
• 1980s - Microwaves, ready meals and nouvelle cuisine on the telly. Guide: /blogs/news/1980s-recipes
• 1990s - Sun-dried tomatoes, Delia and the start of cooking as entertainment. Guide: /blogs/news/1990s-recipes
• 2000s - Gastropubs, Nigella and Jamie - cooking becomes a hobby rather than a chore. Guide: /blogs/news/2000s-recipes
• 2010s - Bake Off, brunch, and the decade everybody photographed their dinner. Guide: /blogs/news/2010s-recipes
• 2020s - Lockdown banana bread, air fryers and cooking to a budget again. Guide: /blogs/news/2020s-recipes

How to build a decade menu

• Three dishes is plenty: something to pick at, one main, one pudding.
• Pick the pudding first - it is the thing people remember and photograph.
• Cook one dish in advance so you are not stuck in the kitchen all night.
• Put the matching decade playlist on and you have a theme without any decorating.

Shop prints and posters

How to write it so it lands

• Pair a decade's food guide with its playlist for a party that needs almost no other planning.
• Ask older relatives what they ate on a Tuesday, not what they ate at Christmas - the everyday answers are better.
• Keep portions sensible; a lot of these dishes were built to fill people up after physical work.

Where to shop next

• 1920s food and recipes
• 1930s food and recipes
• 1940s food and recipes
• 1950s food and recipes
• 1960s food and recipes
• 1970s food and recipes
• 1980s food and recipes
• 1990s food and recipes
• 2000s food and recipes
• 2010s food and recipes
• 2020s food and recipes
• The 2020s so far
• The 2010s: the whole decade
• The 2000s: the whole decade
• The 1990s: the whole decade
• The 1980s: the whole decade
• The 1970s: the whole decade
• The 1960s: the whole decade
• The 1950s: the whole decade
• The 1940s: the whole decade
• The 1930s: the whole decade
• The 1920s: the whole decade
• 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
• Good luck cards
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

What decades are covered?

Every decade from the 1920s to the present, each with its own dishes, trends, kitchen kit and cooking notes.

Are these British recipes?

Yes, UK focused - what was eaten in ordinary British homes, including rationing years and the food that arrived from abroad.

Can I use these for a care home or school session?

Yes, freely. Print them, read them out, copy them - no permission needed.

What is a good example of decade food guides: dishes, restaurants and eating trends?

"Three dishes is plenty: something to pick at, one main, one pudding." is one of 15 examples on this page. Pick the one closest to the tone you want, then add a specific detail of your own - a shared memory, a date, a name - so it reads as yours rather than copied.