5 Places to Find Popular and Trending Recipes

Sometimes inspiration hits. Other times the creative tank is running on E.

Either way the show must go on. A recipe needs to be made and a post needs to be published to your blog.

So where you do go when you’re fresh out of ideas?

Here are five places you can look to find inspiration for popular and trending recipes. Not only will these recipes give you inscription and ideas for creating your own adaptations, but they’ll also give you an idea of recipes that are currently popular or trending.

Note: Just a reminder that recipes should never be directly copied. When using the ideas below, you should think of yourself as an artist visiting a museum. You’re looking to find inspiration that spurs you to create your own unique and inspiring art, not directly copy the painting that’s hanging on the wall. You can review this episode of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast if you’re looking for clarity on the subject.

1. The Food Blogger Pro Blog

Yep! You can find out about trending recipes right here!

We started a “Trending Now in Food Blogging” series on the FBP blog a few years ago, and it’s a great place to find what’s new and trending in the world of food.

In these articles, we uncover annual trends and current popular food searches in the hopes that it helps you create content that your readers are (potentially) already interested in and excited about.

These articles are posted on the last Thursday of every month, aka. the perfect time to start planning your editorial calendar for the following month!

2. Google Trends

Google Trends allows you to see how popular a search term is relative to the total number of searches done on Google. If you’re a food blogger, you can use Google Trends to see the best time of year to post a certain recipe.

Here’s a screenshot of the five-year results for the search term “snickerdoodles”:

The graph makes it clear that the most popular time to search for the keyword “snickerdoodles” is in December each year.

Google Trends will also show you related search terms and search terms that are rising in popularity. It’s a slick way to brainstorm ideas for new recipes!

3. Pinterest Trends

Pinterest Trends isn’t 100% food-specific, but it’s a great place to find some food-related topics that are trending on Pinterest.

Not only will Pinterest Trends give you an idea of what type of recipes are currently popular on Pinterest, but it’ll also give you an idea of what type of images are popular on Pinterest.

You can click on a specific trend to learn more and to see some of the popular pins related to that keyword.

According to Pinterest, Pinterest Trends only shows the search terms that are popular in the US, UK, and Canada within the past 12 months. That said, even if you’re outside of those countries, you can still use this tool to learn more about the trending keywords on Pinterest.

Bonus! Top Pins of The Year

Pinterest also has a “Top Pins of The Year” board that showcases the top pins in certain categories from the previous year. There aren’t any specific food boards from 2020, but you will be able to find some food and recipe pins amongst the different boards!

4. Simple Pin Media

Speaking of Pinterest, Simple Pin Media, which owned by Food Blogger Pro Expert Kate Ahl, is an awesome site that, among teaching you the ins and outs of using Pinterest as a content creator, can help you uncover trending searches and topics.

We love Pinterest (it’s one of the top traffic-drivers for our food blog, Pinch of Yum), and Pinterest users use the site to develop their cooking skills, find new recipe ideas, and learn more about different cuisines.

You can download Simple Pin Media’s FREE Pinterest Keyword Guide for content recommendations for each season, and be sure to check out their podcast and blog content about different kinds of pin trends throughout the year.

5. Exploding Topics

Exploding Topics is a relatively new tool that’s helpful for identifying super trendy food trends. They say that their tool identifies “exploding topics” before they actually take off, so by using this tool, you can potentially be one of the “first movers” for a specific keyword or term.

They have a whole section on their site dedicated to food trends, and you’ll see that there are different labels applied to each trend:

• Regular – The term’s popularity is growing at a normal pace
• Peaked – The term’s search growth has already reached its highest point
• Exploding – The term is experiencing steep, hockey stick-like growth

You can read more about how the tool works here.

What about you?

Where do you go to find recipe inspiration? Any other tips you’d suggest for finding popular or trending recipes?

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.