In Britain, the 1990s might be remembered for Britpop, boy bands and girl power, but the decade's most popular culinary delights caused quite a stir, too. From Cheestrings and turkey dinosaurs to posh pesto and the Pret sandwich, it was a time of foodie highs (and a few memorable lows). Join us on a nostalgia-fuelled journey back in time as we reveal the foods that powered 1990s Britain, including many creations we still adore today.
Click or scroll through our gallery to discover the foods that were all the rage in Britain in the 1990s – counting down to the most iconic of them all.
We've based our ranking on the enduring popularity of each food, and on the opinions of our well-travelled (and well-fed) team. This list is unavoidably subjective.
Salt & Vinegar Quavers brought a sharp twist to Walkers’ curly classic when they hit shelves in 1993. The original cheese flavour had long been a favourite, but this tangy variation offered something bolder, coating those melt-in-the-mouth spirals with a zesty punch. While the flavour gained a loyal following, it was eventually phased out, returning only in limited runs. Nostalgic fans still recall its zing as a defining crisp of the 1990s.
Frijj arrived in the UK in 1993, bringing thick, indulgent American-inspired milkshakes to supermarket shelves. Strawberry, Banana and Choc Mint were among the original flavours, with modern variants like Cookie Dough and Salted Caramel later joining the range. Its rich, creamy texture and brightly coloured packaging made it a lunchtime favourite. However, the recipe has evolved over the years to reduce sugar and improve shelf life – with many fans claiming it no longer tastes as good.
Rowntree’s Secret arrived in the early 1990s, dressed in a striking purple and gold wrapper that hinted at luxury. Inside was a delicate chocolate shell hiding a smooth truffle centre, making it feel more indulgent than the average bar. The adverts leaned into the name, playing up mystery and sophistication with whispered slogans and a sense of exclusivity. Though it was discontinued before the decade was out, nostalgia has kept it alive – fans still share memories online, with petitions regularly calling for its return.
This colourful condiment was introduced as part of Heinz’s effort to make mealtimes more exciting for children. Following the earlier green version, the vividly coloured ketchup came in a soft, squeezable bottle designed for easy plate decoration. Despite tasting identical to regular ketchup, its bold purple shade divided opinion: for some it was playful fun, while others found it off-putting. Sales were initially strong, but interest soon waned, and the range was discontinued by 2006, leaving behind a short-lived (but very colourful) legacy.
We were spoilt for choice when it came to sugary breakfast cereals in the 1990s, when free toys and plastic trinkets were a popular marketing tool used to secure our loyalty. But some varieties didn’t last the distance. Kellogg’s Banana Bubbles, Ricicles and Choco Ricicles were among them. The former, launched in the late 1990s, were basically banana-flavoured Coco Pops that turned the milk a banana milkshake flavour.
Kellogg’s brought its popular US Pop-Tarts brand of toastable frosted pastries to the UK in 1990. British kids initially clamoured to try the saccharine handheld treats, known for their rectangular shape and lava-hot jam filling. However, they didn't prove quite as much of a hit in the UK as they were back in the USA. That said, they're still sold in British supermarkets today.
Launched in the mid 1990s, these sugar-coated candies with a fruity, tangy flavour bear more than a passing resemblance to Nerds. After all, both sweets were originally made by The Willy Wonka Candy Company. The main difference is that Dweebs are slightly bigger and softer than Nerds, and come in boxes with three compartments, rather than two. They were discontinued after only a few years on the market, but made a recent comeback in the UK, thanks to the growing demand for nostalgic and American-style sweets.
This iconic UFO-shaped treat was a bit like the yogurt version of a Kinder Surprise – and the toy in the middle was equally underwhelming. Frufoo consisted of a fruity yogurt (flavours included strawberry, banana and peach) with a hidden toy inside the lid, making it a lunchtime favourite. Originally produced by German brand Onken in the 1990s, Frufoo gained cult status in the UK before disappearing from shelves in the early 2000s. Fans still reminisce fondly about it, with occasional online petitions calling for its long-awaited return.
A 1990s power lunch staple, the Caesar salad was what the UK businessperson ordered in a bid to look virtuous. Little did we realise that this seemingly healthy (and undeniably delicious) salad was hugely calorific – in fact, it often had a fat content equivalent to that of a Big Mac. Invented in the 1920s in Mexico, and made popular in the US (specifically California), the salad is an irresistible combination of crunchy romaine lettuce, bacon bits, fried croutons, anchovies, a creamy dressing and curls of Parmesan. At Pizza Express, a favourite chain of the era, you could have it with grilled chicken for an even classier meal.
The US trend for Tex-Mex cuisine spiced up UK dinner tables in the 1990s, with Old El Paso spice mixes becoming store cupboard staples. We also had a huge appetite for American-style chains, with TGI Fridays (hitting the UK in 1986) a popular choice for Tex-Mex feasts. People loved the chimichangas (deep-fried burritos), loaded nachos, hard-shell tacos and enchiladas – the cheesier the better – all served by waiters in cheery red and white striped uniforms.
A cherished choice for many, Cadbury’s Top Deck landed on shelves in 1993. The sweet treat was made up of two layers: a milk chocolate bottom, and a white chocolate top. Despite being a hit with chocolate lovers, it was discontinued a decade later. The bar has occasionally popped up as a limited-edition product from time to time.
Launched in Vermont in 1978 by school friends Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, Ben & Jerry’s had well and truly captured the US market by the time the brand appeared in the UK in 1994. We loved its iconic flavours, Cookie Dough and Chocolate Fudge Brownie, and fell for Phish Food when it joined the family in 1997. Eating it straight from the tub was de rigueur at girly sleepovers, mimicking the film trope of heartbroken American teenagers mainlining ice cream. It also helped that the ultimate 1990s icon, Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston), was seen eating a tub of Ben & Jerry’s in a 1994 episode of Friends.
When rocket was ‘re-discovered’ around 30 years ago, it became the height of culinary fashion, and the salad leaf of choice for food trendsetters. Known as rucola or arugula in the US, the Italian leaf has an intense, peppery flavour. It was actually a popular ingredient in 16th-century Britain, but it fell from favour over the centuries. It was embraced with such fervour in the 1990s that the likes of rocket salad with balsamic vinegar and sun-dried tomatoes became something of a culinary cliché.
Did you know that Doritos were actually invented at a Mexican-style restaurant in Disneyland? Rolled out across the USA in 1966, the hugely popular triangular corn tortilla snack eventually landed on UK soil in 1994 – and it hasn’t looked back since. Flavours like Cool Original, Tangy Cheese and Chilli Heatwave continue to delight British snack fans today.
If you were a vegetarian in the 1990s, liking goats’ cheese was a must. The creamy, tangy cheese took a starring role in most veggie menu options, often accompanied by another new food fad of the time: the sun-dried tomato. Thanks to Delia Smith, one of the TV cooks who introduced the nation to these exotic treats, our love of warm goats’ cheese salads and bruschetta topped with goats’ cheese and sun-dried tomatoes really flourished in this decade.
The chocolate bar that dominated school lunchboxes, Time Out launched in 1992 and quickly became a family favourite. The bar, produced by Cadbury, featured two wafer fingers coated with smooth milk chocolate. Much to fans’ dismay, it was discontinued in 2016, then replaced with a single-finger version called the Time Out Wafer.
Was a 1990s dinner party really a dinner party without banoffee pie for dessert? Featuring sliced bananas, a gooey, toffee-like sauce and whipped cream layered over a crumbly biscuit base, all finished with lashings of chocolate shavings, this unashamedly cloying pudding was reasonably easy to prepare – and it brought a touch of exoticism to tables throughout Britain. Though it was (and, in some cases, still is) hugely popular elsewhere, including the US, banoffee pie was actually invented at The Hungry Monk Restaurant in East Sussex.
One culinary trend that fascinated the nation throughout the 1990s was fusion food, with Asian-inspired takes on classic British dishes becoming increasingly popular. A number of major brands, including Birds Eye (remember that frozen chicken balti pie?), jumped on the trend, albeit with varying degrees of success. This interest in sampling different cuisines inspired a new generation of fusion restaurants across the country.
In a similar vein to goats’ cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and rocket, balsamic vinegar was the zippy condiment that dressed all gastropub salads during the 1990s. This dark, concentrated vinegar has a huge flavour profile, and professional chefs couldn’t get enough of the stuff. It still features on menus today and is perfect alongside extra-virgin olive oil and crusty bread.
Thanks to chilled soup pioneers New Covent Garden Soup Co., the likes of carrot and coriander and wild mushroom soup became staples of the British lunch in the 1990s. A gourmet alternative to Heinz's tinned tomato soup, the range of fancy fresh options in a carton shook up the soup category. The British brand first began trading in 1986, but its products were initially only stocked in the chiller cabinets of high-end food stores like Harrods and Selfridges. Sainsburys was the first supermarket to offer the chilled soup range in 1990, and the others swiftly followed suit.
A Genoese speciality that’s become a failsafe meal base for parents of young children, pesto was a sophisticated novelty back in the early 1990s. Sacla’ Classic Green Pesto – now a store cupboard staple for many – appeared on British supermarket shelves in 1991. Before we knew it, this vibrant green sauce was being dotted on (and drizzled over) everything. Red pesto (made using sun-dried tomatoes) swiftly followed; it was considered a travesty by Italian food purists, but Brits lapped it up (mostly spread on crispy crostini).
Now something of a culinary cliché thanks to its many appearances on the television show MasterChef, the chocolate fondant was the undisputed posh pud of the 1990s. Its origins are contested; Michelin star chefs Michel Bras and Jean-Georges Vongerichten both claim to have created the molten-centred dessert. It quickly became a mainstay of high street restaurant chain and pub menus. Often called chocolate lava cake, this gooey treat was also a popular ready-made dessert in supermarkets.
A silver pouch of Capri-Sun was a must-have lunchtime accessory for the 1990s kid. Perfectly squishable, it was easy to fit inside your lunchbox. Some childhood geniuses also realised it could be frozen and used to keep lunch items cool on those rare hot summer days. The original (and we’d argue best) flavour was orange, but tropical and blackcurrant also joined the family and garnered their own fans.
A standard choice for any UK kid let loose on the newsagent sweet counter, Opal Fruits were chewy, intensely flavoured fruit sweets that had been made by Mars since 1960. They were renamed Starburst in 1998, in line with the US brand. Though they're essentially the same (bar the addition of lemon and lime and blackcurrant flavours), the Opal Fruit brand remains a much-mourned loss among nostalgic sweet eaters who grew up in the 1990s.
Characterised by its coffee and liqueur flavours, this popular Italian dessert was invented in the 1960s and has gone on to become one of the world’s most iconic sweet treats. It eventually made its way to the UK in the 1990s, with Brits immediately loving the pud’s rich creaminess. Tiramisu has stood the test of time, remaining a cherished choice ever since.
It’s hard to imagine a time when Pringles didn’t line every supermarket snack shelf in the country, and yet the crunchy curved crisps didn’t arrive in the UK until 1991 – two decades after launching in the US. They quickly became a British favourite and classic flavours like Sour Cream & Onion still have plenty of fans today. And of course, no party buffet is complete without a tube.
Icy and refreshing, nothing evokes summer more than a Solero. The British favourite features smooth vanilla ice cream laced with a zippy fruit sorbet, all finished with a tropical fruit coating. The Solero was first introduced in 1994, and fans say the notes of mango, passionfruit, peach and pineapple linger with every bite. It’s still a popular choice today and comes in a tub format, too.
We all have our favourite childhood chocolate bar and, for some kids growing up in the 1990s, the Fuse was the ultimate treat – a winning combination of raisins, peanuts, crispy cereal and fudge pieces, all cloaked in Cadbury’s chocolate. It launched in 1996 to great fanfare and was an instant hit with Brits, with around 40 million bars sold in the first week. Despite the promising start, the confectionery company stopped producing the dense delight just 10 years later.
This vibrant orange drink launched in the UK in 1998, powered by a huge marketing campaign by Proctor & Gamble. The British public was initially dazzled by its modern-looking packaging and Floridian origins. However, Sunny Delight's high sugar levels and low fruit juice content was revealed by the UK's Food Commission, which criticised the brand for misleading consumers about the drink's health credentials. It was rebranded as SunnyD in 2003, with more fruit juice and no artificial ingredients or added sugar.
The year 1995 was a historic one for pizza lovers in the UK. This was when popular high street pizza chain Pizza Hut launched the stuffed crust pizza. We loved these extra-cheesy pan pizzas almost as much as we loved our multiple visits to the salad bar (those crispy croutons made everything feel fancy). TV presenter Jonathan Ross and model Caprice Bourret starred in the adverts for the new cheese-tastic pizza style.
The very first outlet of British sandwich shop franchise Pret a Manger opened in London in 1986, with the second store following four years later. By the 1990s, Pret was a major player in the chilled prepared sandwich market, and grabbing a latte and a ready-made sarnie became part of modern working life. As well as its traditional bestselling sandwiches (think tuna and cucumber, and posh cheese and pickle), the chain dazzled us with daring new combos like crayfish and rocket.
Ask any Brit and they’ll tell you that Christmas isn’t complete without a tub of Celebrations on the table. The seasonally-focused snack first appeared in 1997, featuring a host of diminutive classic Mars delights. These days each plastic tub or paper box comes stashed with miniature Bounty, Mars, Galaxy, Twix, Milky Way, Snickers and Maltesers bars.
Marking the end of the decade triumphantly, Cadbury released its Heroes selection box in 1999 to much fanfare. Stacked with miniature versions of the brand’s bestselling chocolates (think Dairy Milk, Twirl, Crunchie and Double Decker), it's still a beloved favourite over two decades later. A box or tub of these at Christmastime is a non-negotiable for many families across Britain.
Another cornerstone of the cool kid's lunchbox, Frubes – tubes of squeezable fruit-flavoured yogurt – were introduced to the UK by French brand Yoplait in 1991. Their USP was that they were the only hands-free yogurt around at the time and they were an instant hit with both school children and parents glad to see their little ones upping their calcium intake. Other yogurt-based Yoplait snacks, including tiny pots of Petits Filous fromage frais, proved popular too.
Introduced in 1998, these handy snack boxes became a covetable item in the 1990s school dinner hall, when ultra-processed foods and single-use plastics were all the rage. Forget your box of Sun-Maid raisins and soggy homemade sarnie, these perfect little rounds of pasty pink ham and plastic-like cheese, which you could sandwich together with tiny crackers, were the ultimate make-your-own lunch.
Spotting the red and white Little Chef sign as you drove along one of Britain’s A roads, usually in a car packed to the rafters for a family holiday, was a joyous feeling. This well-loved roadside restaurant served fry-ups, scrambled eggs on toast and pancakes drizzled with maple syrup to customers up and down the country. By far the most iconic item on the breakfast menu was the 1994 Winter Olympics–inspired Olympic Breakfast, featuring (deep breath): two rashers of bacon, a sausage, two fried eggs, mushrooms, sautéed potatoes, a grilled tomato, baked beans, and a choice of fried bread or toast.
The Cheestring was the snack to be seen with in the 1990s. A tube-shaped, plastic-wrapped piece of cheese that you could peel (bizarre when you think about it), this bright yellow product had us hooked. The lunchbox favourite burst onto the scene in 1996, with a zany-looking cheese character and the catchy tagline ‘Real A-peelable Cheese’. They're still around, should the craving strike.
Back in the day, Micro Chips were a big hit with university students (and knackered parents) around the UK; the promise of having freshly cooked chips ready in just three minutes was a compelling brand USP. The fact that McCain’s revolutionary Micro Chips were soggy, often stuck together and a far cry from the golden chips you could get from the chippy just down the road didn't impact their popularity.
How do you get children to lap up a certain food? Form it into an appealing animal shape, of course. The Bernard Matthews brand did exactly that when its turkey dinosaurs roared into our freezer cabinets in the 1990s. The processed bites quickly became an easy, kid-friendly meal all over the UK. Turkey dinosaurs then disappeared for a while, but they were far from extinct; they reappeared as Jurassic World 9 Turkey Dinosaurs in 2022, to coincide with the release of Jurassic World Dominion.
Now discover the foods we loved in the 1980s
Last updated by Natasha Lovell-Smith.