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Grubhub unveils its most-ordered foods of the year

Global flavors, spins on favorites and lots of sweets made the 2022 list.

Patricia Cobe, Senior Editor

December 20, 2022

2 Min Read
Grubhub most-ordered
Animation by Nico Heins via Shutterstock

When delivery soared during the pandemic, so did orders of comfort food favorites. More than two years later, they still top the list of Grubhub’s most-ordered dishes.

Drumroll, please: Coming in at No. 1 is the burrito, jumping from the No. 8 spot in last year’s ranking. “Diners stuck to the comfort that layered gooey goodness brought directly to hearts, bellies and doorsteps,” Grubhub exclaimed poetically in its 2022 Delivered Report.

The annual report is based on trends gathered from tens of millions of orders on the Grubhub platform placed by customers from January-November 2022, compared to the same timeframe in 2021.

Diners ordered burritos (both wraps and bowls) more than 4 million times in those 11 months, filling them with everything from sausage and eggs to guac and sour cream.

Nine more foods followed in the Top 10 ranking, many also reflecting comfort and others, popular global items:

2. Cheeseburgers

3. Cheese Pizza

4. Pad Thai

5. Chicken Quesadilla

6. California Roll

7. Fried Chicken Sandwich

8. Caesar Salad

9. Chicken Tikka Masala

10. Boneless Wings

What did consumers drink along with those meals? Last year, red wine topped the list—a cozy choice for diners who were still housebound. But in 2022, beer moved to the top, followed by margaritas. No doubt both go better with burritos.

Hot sake, pina coladas and white wine (mostly Sauvignon Blanc) rounded out the top five.

Coffee drinkers who prefer their brew delivered to the door opted for iced coffee over all other types, no matter what the temperature outside. Plain iced coffee rose to the No. 1 spot from No. 3 in 2021, with hot coffee in second place. But more cold options followed: Iced Caramel Coffee, Iced French Vanilla Coffee and Frozen Coffee in that order. And oat milk was the top choice for lightening the drinks, preferred 4:1 over almond milk.

Dessert was also an active category, with some familiar favorites in the Top 10, along with a few surprises. Tiramisu and Baklava, No. 1 and 2 respectively, might indicate that consumers prefer restaurant sweets they can’t easily make at home or buy at the grocery store.

The other spots on the dessert list included classics and a couple of outliers:

3. Cookies

4. Cheesecake

5. Brownies

6. Churros

7. Cannoli

8. Carrot Cake

9. Chocolate Cake

10. Flan

Perhaps more surprising were the Top Trending Cuisines. No Mexican, Japanese, Thai or Middle Eastern among the top three picks. Australian came in at No. 1, growing 531% year over year, followed by South African and Cambodian. Diners explored more local restaurants in 2022, and some of these global dishes may have come from smaller independents.

To celebrate the burrito’s win, Chipotle Mexican Grill is offering $5 off orders of $20 or more for Grubhub members during December. The offer will be automatically applied at checkout for orders in the Grubhub app.

About the Author

Patricia Cobe

Senior Editor

Pat plans and executes the menu sections of Restaurant Business and FoodService Director, covering food and beverage trends, Menu R&D, profiles of chefs and restaurateurs and Technomic research. She also contributes to the digital content of both RB and FSD and is editor of two weekly e-newsletters, Recipe Report and On the Menu. Pat’s weekly podcast, MenuFeed, covers a wide range of menu topics through interviews with chefs and operators.

Pat came to Winsight from Hearst, where she was an executive editor. She is the co-author of the Mompreneurs series of books as well as two cookbooks. She graduated from Cornell University and earned a Masters in Journalism from Boston University. She is active in several professional organizations, including Les Dames d’Escoffier and the International Foodservice Editorial Council (IFEC), and serves as a judge for the James Beard Media Awards.

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