The 70s was the decade when salads were encased in jelly; fruit was mixed into savoury dishes with wild abandon and processed and frozen foods began their relentless march.
It’s no wonder, then, that the prospect of food from the era of prawn cocktail and Spam fritters making a big comeback does not sound appetising.
However, some much-maligned ingredients are gaining popularity again, and are even being touted as health foods.
Gymgoers are whipping cottage cheese into protein pancakes, while other divisive ingredients such as tripe are even seen as fashionable.
Once a cheap butcher’s cut that was boiled and served with onions, it’s becoming a trendy ingredient for foodies to incorporate into curries and Korean-inspired BBQs.
Even cabbage is now Instagram friendly – as long as it’s charred wedges artfully floating in broth, proving that presentation is everything.
So, if the thought of bringing back grocery staples from the 60s, 70s and 80s prompts a wave of nostalgia, here’s how to rediscover retro foods and actually enjoy them.
Corned Beef
Then: A cheap and cheerful way to get your protein, corned beef was most often enjoyed in sandwiches in the 70s – or at times served with mash and veg.
Now: Corned beef is becoming yet another trendy ingredient in 2026, especially when cooked down into a crispy ‘hash’ and served with rice and eggs, in a Philippines-style breakfast – such as one served by Almusal UK.
Condensed Milk
Then: A can of condensed milk from Carnation was a popular pick in desserts, often either used as a key ingredient in creamy jellies or poured over them.
Now: Condensed milk is still used to make things nearly impossibly sweet – but now, the focus appears to have switched from desserts to drinks. One popular recipe is a Vietnamese inspired coffee.
Tripe
Then: Back in the day, tripe, the lining of a cow’s stomach, was a British comfort meal. It was cut was cut into pieces and cooked down in onions, milk and water. It was then thickened with butter and flour, and dressed with parsley, cheese and vinegar.
Now: With more young people turning away from meat cut snobbery and turning to more divisive animal parts like trotters and chicken feet, tripe is enjoying a comeback. However, boiling is no longer the go-to way to enjoy it. Now, it’s distinct taste is covered by flavourful curries or grilled away on East Asian inspired BBQs. Taking to TikTok, Zaay Kadi shared a Bengali-inspired Tripe Curry recipe with aromatic spices.
Tapioca
Then: Nicknamed ‘frog spawn’ due to its pearly appearance, Tapioca Pudding – tapioca mixed in with milk or cream – was a popular school dinner staple from the 50s and well into the 80s. However, while the dessert itself is enjoying a comeback too, it’s now more popular in another sweet treat.
Now: These days, you’d be more likely to buy tapioca to make your own ‘boba’ pearls – the key ingredient in cult-favourite ‘bubble tea’. It consists. in its most basic form, of black or green tea, milk, ice and tiny chewy balls of tapioca dough – shaken together like a cocktail and served with a wide straw. Originating in Taiwan in the 1980s, bubble tea ‘cafes’ and bars offering a dizzying array of creations have been on British High Streets and in shopping centres since the early 2010s and have become a fashionable hang-out spot for teenagers. But recently they’ve been experiencing a stratospheric growth – proliferating at an extraordinary rate, and all thanks to a surge in popularity on social media platforms such as TikTok, where these drinks have become a new viral trend.
Yoghurt
Then: Pre-packaged yoghurts became popular in the UK in the 60s, with Swiss brand ‘Ski’ coming out with varieties in supermarket shelves – and in the 80s, German Müller corners revolutionised the game once again.
Now: In 2026, yoghurt is largely scooped out into an aesthetically pleasing ‘bowl’, adorned with anything from fruits and nuts to syrups, jams, nut butters and seeds.
Beetroots
Then: As part of a common ‘meat and two veg diet’, beetroot was known as a popular choice which was easy to grow in gardens or allotments. It could be enjoyed pickled or boiled.
Now: The 21st century is seeing beetroot but into the blender more and more, to be added into ‘whipped feta’ pastes and ‘pink pasta sauces’. Its striking colour makes it the perfect garnish.
Cabbage
Before: Boiled cabbage has long been enjoyed as a British cuisine staple, especially so as a side to a roast – sometimes mixed in with the mash.
Now: 2026 has been dubbed ‘the year of the cabbage’ by food influencers, with many doing everything to the cabbage but boiling it. These days it’s been grilled, charred, made into a fashionable ‘slaw’ with other ‘microgreens’, used as a dumpling wrapper and fermented into kimchi.
Cottage Cheese
Before: It has always been praised as a ‘healthy’ food due to its high protein and low calories. But in the 60s and 70s, cottage cheese was most usually enjoyed on top of a Ryvita cracker, with fresh fruit.
Now: Cottage cheese is still seen as a diet food, but is now much more utilised in everything from ‘protein pancakes’ to a ‘whipped pasta sauce’. At Tesco, demand has rocketed by 200 per cent over the last two years, amid a resurgence for the high–protein snack on TikTok. ‘TikTok food trends often result in sudden sales spikes and we saw that happen last year with Italian bread and cheese,’ explained Elizabeth Tomkins, Tesco cottage cheese buyer. ‘But this is a fully fledged culinary phenomenon that has brought a lot of extra business to the UK dairy industry.’
Semolina
Then: Another dish which will likely spark school dinner flashbacks, semolina was mostly used in creamy puddings, cooked down in milk.
Now: Now, semolina is much more recognised as a flour that foodies like to use to make their own fresh pasta. It’s also used to make flatbreads and doughs, and sprinkled on top of pizza.
Tinned Fish
Then: Tinned fish – including everything from sardines to tuna – became popular in the 80s, as it was a quick, cheap way to get some protein into your diet. However, recipes rarely stretched beyond sandwich spreads, or popping some sardines on top of toast.
Now: Since 2020, tinned fish has enjoyed a renaissance, becoming not only a fashionable grocery store item – now often sold with colourful artwork – but a popular ingredient in a myriad of different social media recipes. One is a ‘rice bowl’ which serves up the fish of choice – sometimes mixed in an oil or mayonnaise spread – on top of rice with fresh vegetables and a seaweed. Another is a tinned fish ‘board’ which serves up preserved fish on a stylishly laid out charcuterie style spread.
