Having been around since the 1930s, cake mix didn't properly take off until savvy companies introduced frosting and other ready-made decorating items, making the process feel more hands-on. Cake-mix connoisseur brand Betty Crocker brilliantly tapped into the psyche of the 1950s home cook and thrives to this day.

Processed cheese was invented in Switzerland in the early 20th century. But it was Kraft Foods who, in the 1950s, introduced Kraft Deluxe Process Slices: pre-sliced cheese squares for cheeseburgers and sandwiches. Then in 1965, they came out with Kraft Singles – individually wrapped slices of cheese. They're convenient, have a longer shelf life than natural cheese, melt evenly and have a mild flavour, which has helped them to endure over the decades.

Frozen food has been available since the 1930s, courtesy of Clarence Birdseye, but it took off in the 1950s when many homes could afford a fridge with a freezer compartment. The origins of frozen pizza are disputed – the Celentano Brothers brand is often credited with having the first pizzas on the shelves, sometime in the 1950s, but it’s Totino’s that became a market leader.

This indulgent dessert of bananas flambéed with brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, dark rum and banana liqueur, served with ice cream, was created in 1951 at Brennan’s Restaurant in New Orleans, Louisiana. In the early 1950s, New Orleans was a major import hub for bananas and the dish was named in honour of Richard Foster, then-chairman of the city’s Crime Commission.

Infamous pre-cooked pork product Spam was created in 1937 and proved vital in feeding military troops. However, the tinned meat featured strongly in the average 1950s diet, illustrated by adverts and recipes from the era. By 1959 one billion cans had been sold. It continues to be a popular dish in the state of Hawaii, where they have the highest per capita consumption in the United States.

In 1954, businessman Anthony T Rossi – who founded the Tropicana brand in 1947 – used flash pasteurisation to preserve the fresh taste of fruit juice. The resulting product proved so popular that the company used a ship, the S.S. Tropicana, to transport millions of gallons of juice from Florida to New York.

Fast food of sorts has existed for more than a century, but 1950s America put mass-produced, flavour-rich but nutritionally-poor fast food on the culinary map. It was the decade that quick-service restaurant chains began to open and franchise – for example, McDonald’s (1st franchise; 1955), Burger King (1954), KFC (1952) and Pizza Hut (1958) – heralding a seismic shift in the way we eat.

From the 1940s to today: how America's fast food has changed through the decades

It’s widely thought that Irishman and owner of the Tayto company Joe “Spud” Murphy developed flavoured crisps (potato chips) in the UK in the 1950s. Barbecue-flavoured potato crisps, such as those by Herr's (1958), appeared in the US sometime in the same decade. The explosion of flavours we know today, however, didn’t occur until decades later.

The classic candy of peanut M&M’s was introduced to a soon-adoring American public in 1954, 13 years after the chocolate version. At the time they only came in a tan-coloured shell. It wasn't until later that more rainbow colours were added.

This ubiquitous salad dressing made from buttermilk, herbs, spices, garlic and onion was invented by husband-and-wife-team Steve and Gayle Henson in the early 1950s while they were working on ranches, first in Alaska, then California. Now the most popular salad dressing in the US, it's spotted accompanying everything from pizza and fries to chicken wings.

Invented in 1953 for the coronation banquet of Queen Elizabeth II, Coronation Chicken was created as a dish that would suit both foreign and British guests' tastes. This cold curried chicken recipe, often with added almonds and raisins, lives on – it was especially popular in the 1970s and has had a renaissance of late too.

In 1954, Swanson frozen TV dinners went on sale – the brand used technology from Birdseye and packaging inspiration from plane food. Saving time on preparation and washing up, TV dinners were a hit and led to numerous ranges of ready-prepared meals.

Invented by accident: how TV dinners conquered the world

Slivers of raw beef with olive oil and lemon juice may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but carpaccio, as it’s known, is a popular dish at Italian restaurants. Named after Vittore Carpaccio, a Renaissance painter who was famed for his use of red paint, it was created by Harry’s Bar in Venice around the 1950s (where, incidentally, the Bellini was also invented).

McDonald’s fast food restaurants started to appear in the US in the mid-1950s, but its most iconic burger wasn't born until 1967. The Big Mac consists of two beef patties, "special sauce", iceberg lettuce, American cheese, pickles, and onions, in a three-part sesame seed bun. 

Before there was Diet Coke there was Coca-Cola’s now-defunct Tab. And to rival Tab there was Diet Pepsi, which became available in 1964 and is still sold worldwide. The soda faced criticism in 2015, when the controversial sweetener aspartame was replaced with sucralose and many fans said the taste changed.

Cheese fondue was invented in Switzerland, however we have Swiss restaurateur Konrad Egli to thank for the chocolate version, which was created in New York in the 1960s as a promotion for Toblerone. The original was melted double cream (heavy cream), kirsch and Toblerone, with bits of cake and fruit presented around it for dipping. These days strawberries, bananas and marshmallows dipped in regular milk chocolate is preferred.

The finer details of how this finger-licking chicken dish came to be are disputed – but most people believe it was conceived at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo in the 1960s. The fast food is so revered in the US that the nation declared 29 July as National Chicken Wing Day.

Now, here’s an interesting fact: Gatorade, the sports drink formulated in 1965, was named after the Florida Gators, the sports teams that represent the University of Florida. Today it's one of the leading brands and is often credited as the first-ever sports drink (though British brand Lucozade actually dates right back to 1927).

Pop Tarts are everything that’s good about convenience food: easy, tasty and with a long shelf life; and everything that’s bad: sugary, processed and nutrient poor. But since Kellogg’s introduced the product in 1964, it has been a roaring success in the US and other countries such as Canada and the UK.

Although non-dairy creamers appeared on the American market from the early 1950s, it was Coffee-Mate – launched in 1961 – that garnered great commercial success, in part because it dissolved better in hot liquid. Benefits of Coffee-Mate include its long shelf life and its appeal to people who are lactose-intolerant. It remains the biggest selling creamer in the US.

An imitation whipped cream, Cool Whip was introduced to American homes in 1966 and soon became a leading brand. It was a key ingredient in pies and gelatine-based puddings of the era.

No, it’s not an urban myth – Doritos really were invented at a Mexican-style restaurant in Disneyland. The seasoned snacks were such a hit with customers that they were produced commercially for the local market before being rolled out nationwide in 1966.

This indulgent main course of seafood and red meat came about in the 1960s and was – and still is – incredibly popular. Lobster tail and beef tenderloin is a particularly luxurious version of the dish; another variant is the surf and turf burger, which might feature a beef patty topped with lobster meat.

When Mastering the Art of French Cooking, by chef and author Julia Child, was published in 1961 it became a runaway bestseller. Americans embraced all things Gallic and dishes such beef bourguignon – beef stew made with red wine, beef stock, carrots, onions, garlic, bouquet garni, pearl onions, mushrooms and bacon – were a hot topic. Today, French cuisine remains the epitome of fine dining.

Inspired? Read Julia Child's best-ever tips for cooking perfect chicken

For many kids, the long, hot summers of childhood were filled with ICEEs, Slurpees and Slush Puppies. But these garishly coloured beverages, responsible for giving brain freeze to millions, are a relatively recent treat. Invented by Dairy Queen owner Omar Knedlik in the late 1950s, slushy drinks were a craze through the 1960s and still live on today. 

In the early 1960s, Kellogg’s released Froot Loops: brightly-coloured cereal rings with a fruity flavour. Initially the box only contained red, orange and yellow pieces, but soon other colours such as blue and purple were added. However, controversially it has been revealed that all the colours taste the same anyway.

This cereal of toasted oat pieces and multi-coloured marshmallow moons, stars, clover and hearts, proved irresistible to kids when it was launched in 1964. The brand still carries Lucky, its leprechaun mascot, who has brought the brand good fortune – in 2018 it was General Mills' fastest growing cereal brand.

‘Once you pop you can’t stop’ – never was a truer advertising slogan created. These addictive crisps (potato chips) were first sold in the US in 1967, and although Pringles didn’t make it overseas until 1991, two-thirds of sales are now outside of America.

Taco Bell began serving Tex-Mex fast food to eager diners in the 1960s. Some six decades later, there are more than 7,000 of these restaurants worldwide. Taco Bell was instrumental in popularising this fusion cuisine and is also responsible for creating the pre-formed, hard taco shell that’s ubiquitous today.

Domino’s was founded in Michigan in 1960, and has become the largest pizza-delivery chain on the planet, thanks to the world’s insatiable appetite for this comforting takeaway treat. The bacon cheeseburger pizza – featuring minced beef (ground beef), bacon bits, pickles, chopped onion and burger sauce – is the brand's most recent creation, while long-running marketing scheme, Two for Tuesday, is still going strong.

The instant ramen snack in a foam cup was invented in Japan then launched in the US by Nissin foods in 1971. Since then it has become an indispensable, affordable snack. Today, Cup Noodles are healthier than before with no artificial flavours or MSG, and less salt.

As package vacations became accessible to Americans, so Hawaii’s culture was embraced and copied back home. In the 1970s the food magazine Bon Appétit featured a plethora of Hawaiian recipes including the then-exotic chicken baked in pineapple dish. Poke, the still-fashionable raw fish salad, became popular around this time too.

Drawn from a spring in Southern France, Perrier water was introduced to the US in the mid-1970s. The green glass bottle soon became a symbol of style and upward mobility among the health-conscious American middle class – at one point the majority of its sales were going to the US. Now just over 150 years old, the brand is still well regarded.

Sushi’s popularity rose in 1970s America thanks in part to the invention of California rolls, a type of maki roll that hid the seaweed inside and used crab and avocado. LA restaurant Tokyo Kaikan is generally regarded as the home of ‘American sushi’, though other chefs have also laid claim to the title.

Universally believed to be an Anglo-Indian dish (Glasgow in Scotland is often billed as its place of origin, although this is disputed), chicken tikka masala is one of the more enduring dishes to have emerged from 1970s Britain. Made up of chunks of chicken marinated in yogurt and spices, which is baked then served in a tomato and cream sauce, it remains one of the most successful fusion dishes of all time.

Created in 1972, the McDonald's Egg McMuffin consists of a perfectly round fried egg (cooked in a ring), a slice of bacon, and a slice of American cheese on a toasted English muffin. Served all day in the US, the dish is now a fast-food classic.

Spanish in origin, the word 'fajita' comes from the word 'strip', which describes the marinated then grilled skirt steak pieces served with tortillas. Its beginnings are muddy but most likely humble – it was probably a Tex-Mex meal that evolved in the 1930s on the campfires of cattle roundups, before popping up in Texas restaurants and fajita stands in the early 1970s.

Although fondue has been around much longer in Switzerland, this DIY dish took off in America in a big way in the 1970s. A dinner-party classic, it involves a molten pot of Gruyère and a splash of wine, served alongside pieces of bread and meat for dunking.

Now check out the most popular recipes in every decade from 1900 to today

Two New York restaurants planted their flag on this spicy chicken dish, named in honour of a great Chinese military leader: the now-closed Peng’s Restaurant on East 44th Street and Shun Lee Palaces on East 55th Street. A Chinese dish adapted to suit American tastes – it’s sweeter and the chicken is crispy-coated – it became a must-try dish in the 1970s.

The Jelly Belly jelly beans we know and love today were first sold in California in 1976, having evolved from an earlier product. Using natural purees, the first flavours included grape, green apple, root beer and 'very cherry'. There are now more than 50 official flavours, but the originals are some of the best.

Italians have been rustling up stunning veggie pasta dishes for centuries, but pasta primavera is a resolutely American creation, invented by chefs at the upmarket Le Cirque restaurant in New York, in the late 1970s. It’s an explosion of greens – asparagus and peas with spinach, broad beans, broccoli or zucchini – on a bed of spaghetti or tagliatelle, classically served in a creamy sauce with parmesan.

When Pop Rocks went on sale in 1975, they caused a sensation among kids who loved the tingling mouthfeel and crackling sound of the garishly coloured treat (Cosmic Candy, previously called Space Dust, was a powdered version). They were wildly popular until erroneous rumours spread that eating some with soda could cause your stomach to explode – however their appeal has resurfaced, and they have since appeared in desserts and chocolate bars.

Buffets were a big deal in the 1970s and at the heart of any spread was quiche, a French dish with English roots. Rich, salty and dotted with lardons, quiche Lorraine is the most famous.

Diners have had a tricky relationship with the salad bar since its conception in the mid-20th century, yet they live on in countless casual-dining restaurants. Though not a 1970s invention, the salad bar is most associated with this decade because it’s when they became ubiquitous, appearing in the likes of R J Grunts in Chicago and Pizza Hut.

Founded in 1972, Snapple was one of the first ice tea and juice drink brands to challenge the soda industry by claiming to offer healthier beverages. Notorious for its advertising campaigns and the fun ‘real facts’ on the inside of the bottle caps, the brand is still around today. 

This sweet salad made from Jell-O pistachio instant pudding, canned pineapple, nuts, whipped cream and mini marshmallows was the brainchild of Kraft's cookery team. It was named 'pistachio pineapple delight' until a food editor allegedly renamed it with a nod to the biggest political scandal of the 1970s and the title stuck.

Millions will remember eating Fruit Roll-Ups as a kid in the 1980s and, of course, the jingle: “real fruit and fun, rolled up in one”. The sweet snacks have been a favourite with kids for decades, and some even include tongue tattoos made from edible dye. 

From the mid-1980s, consumers embraced this additive-imbued fruit-flavoured juice that had to be squeezed to be drunk. Popular with children, which made it a mainstay of lunchboxes everywhere, it came in crazily named flavours such as 'Silly Billy Strawberry' and 'Chucklin’ Cherry', and there was even a colour-changing version. Brits enjoyed a similar product called Twist N Squeeze.

These bright green, pickled onion crisps (potato chips) came out in the UK in the late 1980s (the roast beef flavour was bright red). They were hugely popular because they defied inflation, costing 10p (13 cents) until 2007 when the price increased, causing uproar among snack fans. They’re now inoffensively potato-coloured thanks to food-colouring laws.

Screen legend Paul Newman had been giving out bottles of his homemade salad dressing to friends for a couple of years before the product officially launched in 1982. Pasta sauces, pizzas, microwave popcorn, salsa and more followed, and at the actor and philanthropist’s insistence, profits are given to good causes – over £420 million ($550 million) has been raised.

Not everyone will have heard of this dog, but it’s a 1980s invention that’s been served in bars, music venues and by street vendors for years. A wiener or Polish sausage topped with jalapeños or grilled onions, and cased in a toasted bun filled with cream cheese, it’s one of Seattle’s best-kept secrets.

This energy drink known for its hefty caffeine content was launched in 1987 and fast became a favourite with sports players, students and partygoers. It’s still the best-selling energy drink in the world – in 2018 nearly seven billion cans were sold worldwide.

Beloved by vegetarians, who appreciate the meat-free meatiness, portobello mushrooms as we know them didn't exist until the late 1980s. When natural foods were coming into fashion, the exotic-looking mushroom – which is actually just an overgrown common mushroom – was renamed to great acclaim.

Although pasta salads have been around, as we know them, since the 1960s, they were a go-to dish in the 1980s. Cheap, practical and versatile, they could be served hot or cold and could be fancy or simple depending on the variety of pasta shapes used. Tricolore pasta salad, made from tri-colour spiral pasta, was a true dish of the decade.

These are the retro dishes we think deserve a comeback

Pesto wasn’t invented in the 1980s – far from it. The recipe is likely to have been derived from an ancient Roman one, and it has been enjoyed in Italy and France since the 19th century. However, it shot to fame in the US and UK in the 1980s and has become a store-cupboard essential for students and busy families.

The German brand Müller, which briefly appeared in the US, but is better known in the UK and other European countries, has been a leading yogurt brand for decades. When it arrived in the 1980s with Müller Corner – sweet yogurt with an attached portion of fruit, chocolate or granola – it turned what was previously considered health food into a proper treat.

Now check out the childhood snacks you'll never be able to forget

Probably one of the most famous brands to be born in the 1980s, Diet Coke came into our lives in 1982, followed by a caffeine-free version a year later, then Cherry Coke and Diet Cherry Coke. Diet soda sales were at their greatest in 2005, but have been declining ever since as people increasingly opt for flavoured waters instead.

Like this? Find out what outrageous Coca-Cola flavours you can get around the world

Before the 1980s, it was all about ice-cream parlours, but when chain stores I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt! and TCBY opened in the US, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the frozen yogurt craze gathered pace. Bolstered by an increased demand for lower-calorie products, it's now estimated that 121 million servings of frozen yogurt are served annually in the US.

Named after the Gold Rush, this potato was developed in the 1960s, but not released to the public until 1980. It has become one of the leading spud varieties in the States because of its versatility, creamy flavour and appealing colour. 

Take another trip down memory lane: here's the candy we loved when we were growing up