What international foods are Americans eating? The foreign cuisine favorite might surprise you. Audley Travel digs in.
Chinese cuisine is identified as America’s favorite, with Korean and African confirmed as the fastest growing in popularity. Cuisines from destinations across the globe are ever-present around the dinner table with vacation-goers keen to recreate a favorite culinary memory or sample flavors from a destination on their travel wish list.
Audley Travel has studied recent search data to identify what type of cuisine is most popular across the U.S. to understand what culinary adventures customers’ sights (and stomachs) had set on next.
Chinese cuisine came out on top as a firm favorite with double the popularity of the cuisine in second place. Taking up the second spot was Mexican cuisine, followed by Thai. Rounding up the top five most searched for cuisines in America was Indian cuisine in fourth and Mediterranean cuisine in fifth.
The differences between states
Chinese cuisine was a clear favorite in the majority of states, apart from Arizona and Idaho, whose favorite is Mexican. As for Hawaii and Washington, their favorite cuisine is Thai. Indian cuisine is another popular choice across the U.S., as it appears in every state’s top five cuisine types. Greek cuisine makes an appearance in the top ten across the majority of states but doesn’t feature in Wisconsin, Rhode Island, North Dakota, or Delaware.
Italian cuisine is a popular choice for all states, marking its place in all top tens. Alex Bentley from Audley Travel has commented on the study, “It’s no surprise to see that Chinese cuisine is the most popular cuisine type in the U.S.
“We have seen an increased appetite for food experiences across Asia, with our clients often looking to taste culinary specialties throughout the region. Whether this is on a street-food tour with a food
expert, making traditional dishes in a private cooking class led by an award-winning chef, or simply
visiting the local markets to experience the hustle and bustle of food merchants selling artisanal produce and handmade delicacies.”
Cuisines fastest growing in popularity in the U.S.
By comparing 2019 to 2021 search data, we see that Korean cuisine is the fastest growing in popularity, with an increase of 82 percent in search interest between 2019-2021. Interestingly, African cuisine is the second most popular in growth in the U.S., with an increased interest of 79 percent. African covers a range of cuisines from Moroccan to Senegalese to Ethiopian.
Additionally, Indian cuisine ranks in third place. With Thai and Mexican ranking in fourth and fifth place, respectively. To view the full survey findings and discover more about America’s favorite cuisines, head over to the full U.S. cuisine study page to find out about the most popular American cuisine study.
Audley Travel provides award-winning tailor-made holidays and private tours for discerning travelers
seeking authentic experiences around the world.
