American

22 Hits From the 90s

August 13, 2015

With the imminent return of Clearly Canadian, we can't help but get excited about the 90s' culinary legacy: It was the decade that brought us Surge Cola, the Macarena, and some totally unforgettable food trends. Millennials recall the excessive use of sun-dried tomatoes and the ubiquitous Chinese chicken salad, but this decade really belonged to snacks like Twix Bars and Hot Pockets. We're bringing back this collection of iconic 90s recipes that are an integral part of our culinary vocabulary, so before you start binge-watching Twin Peaks, make the experience authentic with some homemade pizza bagels and a boozy milkshake.   

Homemade Funfetti Cake by molly yeh

How to Make a Funfetti Cake from Scratch

Shop the Story

  

Chicken Caesar Salad with Anchovy-Caesar Vinaigrette and Garlic-Parmesan Croutons by chilmarkgal

Chicken Caesar Salad with Anchovy-Caesar Vinaigrette and Garlic-Parmesan Croutons

 

Gushers by molly yeh

Gushers

 

Pizza Bagels by Sarah Jampel

Pizza Bagels are Back -- For Lunch

 

Jeffrey Morgenthaler's Grasshopper Shake by Kristen Miglore

Jeffrey Morgenthaler's Grasshopper Shake

  

Homemade Pocky by Samantha Seneviratne | Love, Cake 

Pocky

 

Homemade Twix Bars by Jestei

How to Make Twix Bars at Home

 

Squid Ink Pasta by Camille Becerra

Squid Ink Pasta

 

Dunkaroos by molly yeh

Dunkaroos

  

Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Out of the Sun by Cara Eisenpress

Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Out of the Sun

 

Mini Chicken Pot Pies by molly yeh

Potpies

 

David Lebovitz's Individual Chocolate Cakes by David Lebovitz

David Lebovitz's Individual Chocolate Cakes

  

Buttermilk Ranch in a Jar by tara o'brady

Buttermilk Ranch in a Jar

 

Homemade Milano Cookies by Carey Nershi

How to Make Milano Cookies at Home

  

Cookies and Cream Bars by Sarah Jampel

Cookies and Cream Bars

 

Tomato and Cream Cheese Turnovers by fiveandspice

Tomato and Cream Cheese Turnovers

 

Homemade Crunch Bars by Marian Bull

Homemade Crunch Bars: Better than the Original, and Just as Fast

  

Barbecue Chicken Pizza by thirschfeld

Barbecue Chicken Pizza

 

Homemade Pop Tarts by londonbakes

How to Make Homemade Pop Tarts

 

Homemade Mallomars by Carey Nershi

Mallomars

What are your 90s favorites? Which should make a comeback, like, now? Tell us in the comments.

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

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    Nicole
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    Lauren
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    Audrey E. Urban
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    Bella B
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    Nancy
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24 Comments

Nicole August 19, 2015
Planters Cheese Balls, nothing now compares!
 
Lauren August 17, 2015
Pizza english muffins, too!
 
Audrey E. August 15, 2015
My favorite from the 90's that I miss dearly.... Orbitz drink. I was allowed to get one a week when I went to dance class, and it was the highlight of my week. Sad, I know.
 
Bella B. August 14, 2015
I really want to try to make those Twix bars.

xoxoBella | http://xoxobella.com
 
Nancy August 14, 2015
fun look back, even if our memories differ.
Here's a website that shows food trends (home, restaurant and products) by decade. http://www.foodtimeline.org/fooddecades.html#1990s
One thing that should be on this list is "tall food" - those ever-more-outlandish and ridiculous ways food was plated in restaurants.
 
Richard L. December 30, 2014
The only things I recognise are the sun dried tomatoes but maybe that's a UK perspective.
 
Julie B. November 30, 2014
"When pizza's on a bagel, you can have pizza anytime." Still haunts my dreams.
 
Sarah L. November 30, 2014
How old is the author on this? lol. The first three things are so painfully 1980s. And it's downright nervy to put anything grasshopper on a 90s list. The 50s are ashamed of you right now. Homemade pop tarts? No. no no no. The 90s were about Toaster Strudel. The homemade pop tart, if anything, is a trend of the last 10 years. Same with the rejuvenation of ranch/green goddess /french dressing and putting everything in a tacky mason jar. This list was concocted by someone who either wasn't alive in the 90s or was a tiny tot. It was not complied by a person who was an adult in the 1990s.
 
nancy E. November 30, 2014
I was thinking the same things Sarah. Tomato and cream cheese turnovers??? Never seen those before
 
BeaCareful April 30, 2015
I+agree+with+the+above.+This+isn't+accurate.+Should+be+pulled.+
 
Emily August 17, 2015
As if people can't have different memories of the '90s. Pop tarts stand out in my mind as much as Toaster Strudel. This is a recipe site; that's why the things are homemade. No one homemade Milano cookies in the '90s either. As for the grasshopper complaint - frankly, no decade since the Stone Ages has been original. Just because there were flared jeans in the '70s as well as the '90s doesn't mean someone who remembers them from 1998 is making it up.
 
M T. November 2, 2014
molten chocolate cake
crème brûlée
focaccia
potato skins
stuffed portabello mushrooms
 
Kimbees54 November 2, 2014
This is pretty funny! I think the only thing missing is roasted garlic mashed potatoes?
 
Rebekah G. November 2, 2014
Eerily accurate.
 
Daniel Y. October 31, 2014
Apparently I slept through the 1990s but only now, thanks to you, have I woken up to this fact.
 
Angela B. October 30, 2014
Excellent roundup! I haven't made myself a pizza bagel in years, but now I'm totally craving one!
 
Kristen M. October 29, 2014
Excellent find on that BBQ chicken pizza. Should we have a Small Batch Snackwells? (Probably not.)
 
MV October 29, 2014
Ahhhh!!! One of each please!!
 
Rachel C. October 29, 2014
my childhood
 
Lisa W. October 29, 2014
LOVE this post.
 
Sarah J. October 29, 2014
The glory days. I want some instant ramen.
 
Kenzi W. October 29, 2014
I love everything about this roundup.
 
HalfPint October 29, 2014
Good times, them 90's