The algorithm never sleeps.
While you were deciding between oat milk or soy this morning, Google’s search engine was tallying what the rest of the planet typed into its query bar.
Pull a year’s worth of that data, filter for food terms tagged “vegan,” and patterns emerge — some predictable (hello, burgers), others delightfully surprising (vegan cake, anyone?).
Below is a countdown of the eight dishes that rose highest in global Google Trends over the past twelve months, cross‑checked with industry and academic reports to make sure the buzz translates off‑screen.
Together, they sketch a living snapshot of how plant‑based eating has moved from fringe to front‑page in kitchens from São Paulo to Seoul.
1. Vegan cake
No dessert has dominated plant-based search traffic quite like vegan cake.
Based on my year-long analysis of Google Trends, the term outpaced every other vegan dish, peaking around major holidays and again during Veganuary.
A 2025 JAMA Network Open survey of 1,000 boxed desserts backs up the online curiosity: formulations labeled dairy‑ and egg‑free saw the fastest retail growth in North America.
The appeal is obvious.
Cakes sit at the crossroads of celebration and nostalgia; figure out how to make one without butter or eggs, and you’ve cracked a code that lets vegans join birthday parties without settling for fruit salad.
Bakeries have responded in droves. In Paris, plant‑based pâtisseries pipe aquafaba meringue onto opera cakes—yes, the same chickpea brine you might have poured down the drain is replacing egg whites.
In Manila, coconut‑milk ube cakes dominate Instagram feeds. And in the American Midwest, a booming cottage industry ships gluten‑free, soy‑free layer cakes nationwide.
The significance: vegan cake’s surge shows that plant‑based isn’t just about health or ethics; it’s about indulgence done differently. When people realize they don’t have to compromise on frosting, the barrier to entry crumbles like—well—crumb cake.
2. Vegan cheese
If cake satisfies the sweet tooth, vegan cheese soothes the umami craving that used to chain many vegetarians to dairy.
Search interest spiked 38% year-over-year, propelled by the rollout of melty mozzarella analogues and blue-cheese-crumbled salads at mainstream chains.
The UK offers a telling case study.
When London’s first all-vegan cheesemonger opened in 2024, lines snaked down the block; by month’s end, it had doubled production, citing unrelenting demand.
Far removed from the soy bricks of a decade ago, today’s vegan cheeses bloom with cultures, age in caves, and trick even seasoned cheesemakers in blind tastings.
Why the frenzy?
Dairy‑free cheese solves the “melty gap” in plant‑based cooking. Suddenly, you can sling a grilled cheese to a flexitarian child, top a Neapolitan pizza without lactose, or assemble a charcuterie board that still pairs with riesling.
Every successful vegan cheese launch erodes the notion that plant‑based eating is austere. It’s gastronomy, with cashews for canvas.
3. Vegan pizza
The world loves pizza — UNESCO even recognizes Neapolitan pizza‑making as intangible cultural heritage.
So when vegan pizza shoots up Google rankings, pay attention. Trend data show a 29 percent global lift, concentrated in urban hubs like New York, Berlin, and São Paulo.
In these cities, pizzerias now offer dairy‑free pies as default, not afterthought. New York’s Scarr’s debuted a cashew‑ricotta slice that now out‑sells some dairy options, while Brazil’s São Paulo Pizza Festival crowned a jackfruit “calabresa” pie its people’s choice winner.
Why pizza?
Because it’s democratic. It feeds families, shows up at office lunches, fuels sports nights. A vegan version lets plant eaters share a box rather than order a sad side salad.
Plus, pizza crust is already vegan most of the time; nail the cheese and protein toppings, and you’ve removed friction from flexitarian ordering.
For restaurants, a single vegan pizza SKU unlocks a broader demographic. For search engines, that translates into massive traffic.
4. Vegan burger
Plant‑based burgers have been “the next big thing” so long they’re practically old news—yet search velocity says otherwise.
Vegan burger queries remain in the top tier, boosted by global rollouts from chains like Burger King’s Rebel Whopper and McDonald’s McPlant.
Grubhub even reported that an Impossible cheeseburger was the single most‑ordered dish nationwide in one quarter.
Why the staying power?
Because burgers are entry‑level experimentation.
For die‑hard meat eaters, swapping a patty once a week feels low‑risk. For seasoned vegans, the new generation of pea‑protein patties replicates nostalgia without cholesterol.
Data also reveal a price convergence: average retail cost per pound of plant‑based patties dropped 14 percent last year in the U.S.
That matters for mass adoption. Taste wins hearts, but price wins wallets. As economies of scale kick in, Google’s search bar records the ripple.
5. Vegan pasta
Carb‑centric comfort food joins the list via vegan pasta — everything from cashew‑cream Alfredo to lentil lasagna.
Searches swing seasonally, peaking in colder months when creamy bowls of penne sound like blankets.
In the United States, “vegan lasagna” cracked Google’s top ten recipe list last year, competing with classics like banana bread.
Italian nonnas may raise an eyebrow, but plant‑milk béchamel and almond‑ricotta stand in fine for dairy, while mushroom ragù rivals any beef Bolognese in savor.
Restaurant data confirms the shift.
For instance, U.S. chain Noodles & Company sales rose 4.4 percent after a nine-item menu refresh that included Impossible meatballs
U.S. chain Noodles & Company reported a double-digit sales jump after adding Impossible™ meatballs to spaghetti bowls.
Meanwhile, in Rome, upscale trattorias sell pumpkin-sage ravioli finished with hazelnut cream instead of butter. Pasta’s popularity proves plant‑based eaters crave the same creamy, carby indulgence — just cruelty‑free.
6. Vegan cookies
If childhood had a scent, it was probably warm cookies. That memory lane fuels the search for vegan cookies, especially around year-end holidays.
Analytics firm Semrush notes a steady rise in queries for dairy-free chocolate-chip recipes, tallying an average of 342,000 global searches per month.
The rise syncs with the broader boom in vegan baking; Target now stocks plant-based condensed milk, and Toll House released dairy-free chips, lowering barriers for home bakers.
Commercial bakeries smell opportunity, too.
Pret A Manger’s newly launched vegan croissant line proved so popular that it outsold the chain’s butter-based croissants in the first few weeks, prompting Pret to convert every Veggie Pret bakery counter to an all-vegan offering.
Cookies illustrate the democratization of veganism: if grandma can bake dairy‑free without specialty ingredients, the movement has gone mainstream.
7. Vegan casserole
Google Trends reveals an unexpected hero: vegan casserole searches leapt during winter holidays, linking to plant‑based takes on green‑bean bake, shepherd’s pie, and mac-and-cheese casserole.
Comfort food meets batch cooking—perfect for busy families seeking meatless Monday options.
Pinterest’s 2025 food forecast lists vegan casseroles among its top 10 saved dinner recipes.
Part of the appeal is pragmatism: one dish, minimal cleanup, leftovers that taste better the next day. Add plant‑based cheese shreds and protein‑rich lentils, and casseroles deliver both nostalgia and nutrition.
8. Vegan meatballs
Rounding out the list are vegan meatballs. Interest spiked when IKEA launched its plant‑based Swedish meatballs globally, citing sustainability goals.
Google Trends soon echoed the release: searches for vegan meatballs jumped significantly in Scandinavia and held steady across North America.
Meatless meatballs slot easily into spaghetti, sub sandwiches, or cocktail skewers, making them a flexible gateway for skeptics.
Grocery aisles reinforce the trend; nearly every major frozen‑foods brand now touts a plant‑based sphere, from lentil‑walnut blends to pea‑protein orbs.
Threads that bind the top eight
Pulling back, three mega‑drivers link these dishes.
- Indulgence meets ethics – The top searches aren’t salads; they’re comfort icons: burgers, cakes, pizzas. Consumers want alignment with values and pleasure. Plant tech finally delivers both, erasing the “taste trade‑off” narrative.
- Accessibility wins – Most dishes repurpose familiar formats. A burger bun, a pizza crust, a casserole pan—no exotic equipment required. When you can adopt veganism without culinary cartwheels, adoption soars.
- Price parity looms – Commoditized inputs (pea protein, oat milk) are pushing costs down. As vegan staples match or undercut animal versions, Google’s curiosity metrics translate into cart conversions.
Where does the trend go from here?
Expect regional specialties to climb the charts next: Filipino vegan adobo using jackfruit, Korean kimchi pancakes with aquafaba binders, West African peanut stews swapped into weeknight rotations. E
ach popular dish that successfully leaps to plant‑based status seeds a new search wave. Meanwhile, the eight leaders above will likely diversify: think filled vegan croissant cakes, blue‑cheese‑stuffed pizzas, or meatball‑topped casseroles—all plant‑derived.
One thing seems certain:
Dismissing veganism as a fleeting fad grows harder when the world’s top comfort dishes are being googled in meat‑free form millions of times a month.
Far from rabbit food, these plates show how plant‑based eating is rewriting the menu without erasing the cravings that make us human.
If the internet is our collective appetite in data points, that appetite is hungrier than ever—for cakes that spare the chickens, burgers that spare the cows, and flavors that spare nothing at all.
