The 1980s saw the arrival of a whole host of fascinating foods. Children's lunchboxes were filled with Fruit Roll-Ups and Lunchables, teens hung out in malls armed with Chicken McNuggets and frozen yogurt, and parents served saucy chicken Marbella at dinner parties. Here, we take a trip down memory lane and reveal the 32 foods Canada and the US fell in love with during the 1980s.
Click or scroll our gallery to discover the foods we all adored – including some we still miss – from the 1980s, counting down to our favorite of them all.
We've based our ranking on the enduring popularity of each food item at the time and beyond, and on the opinions of our well-traveled (and well-fed) team. This list is unavoidably subjective.
Originating in Genoa, Italy, pesto is thought to have been enjoyed in some form as early as the Roman era. But the store-cupboard staple shot to wider fame in the 1980s, namely thanks to a fascination with regional Italian cooking. Home cooks began adding the sauce to everything, from pasta noodles to salads. Made with basil, garlic, pine nuts, and Parmesan, pesto has been popular ever since.
Between 1983 and 1989, The New York Times printed a recipe for plum torte every September. It marked the start of the Italian plum season and the arrival of fall. By 1990, the publishers decided to stop, but not without upsetting hundreds of readers who had failed to cut out the recipe and missed the bittersweet annual tradition, which signaled the end of summer.
The decade's coolest snack bar, Peanut Butter Boppers had a creamy peanut butter center and crunchy cereal coating. Launched in 1985, its first flavors included Fudge Chip, Honey Crisp, and Peanut Crunch, but it wasn’t long before Fudge Graham and Cookie Crunch joined the bars on supermarket shelves. Sadly, Peanut Butter Boppers didn't stand the test of time.
This retro movie night snack is guaranteed to bring childhood memories flooding back. Crunchy Cheerios are toasted in a frying pan with butter and salt to create a winning 1980s dish. Although not the healthiest of snacks, it was super easy and could be made sweet with the addition of sugar and cinnamon, or savory by grating over Parmesan and garlic.
This Tex-Mex dip featuring refried beans, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, grated Monterey Jack, shredded lettuce, scallions, and black olives, was ubiquitous in the 1980s. You don't see it much anymore – perhaps because while its distinct layers may have looked impressive when it was first made, it didn’t stay neat for long and the guacamole quickly browned.
Brought to life by Nestlé brand Stouffer’s in 1981, Lean Cuisine was an under 350-calorie ready meal range. Offering dishes such as veg-loaded Zucchini Lasagna and a saucy Oriental Beef, the products launched with huge success; in fact, they were so popular – thanks to the decade's obsession with dieting and convenience food – that it wasn’t unusual for supermarkets to run out. While the range has been discontinued in Canada, you can still get hold of it in the US.
In the 1980s, baking brand Bisquick started running recipes for 'Impossible Pies' on the back of its pre-packaged mix boxes. One such dish was the Impossible Cheeseburger Pie, an easy weeknight dinner that could be whipped up in next to no time. The recipe called for home cooks to combine one of Bisquick's flour box mixes with milk and eggs, before pouring it over the top of cooked ground beef. In the oven, it magically turned into a pie with a crust.
This easy appetizer was a real crowd-pleaser in the 1980s. Intensely comforting and moreish, this gooey dish featured a wheel of Brie smothered in a rich sauce (usually apricot jelly or mustard), before being wrapped in puff pastry or crescent dough and baked until perfectly golden. The cheesy treat was often paired with apple slices, crackers, or a baguette. By the 1990s, it featured on plenty of restaurant menus too.
Renowned for his role in the 1980s hit TV series The A-Team, Mr. T took advantage of his success, launching a cereal brand. Produced by the Quaker Oats Company, the cereal was perhaps not the most adventurous, featuring corn and oat flakes (and lots of added sugar) shaped into the letter T. The cereal, which came in a box featuring a cartoon Mr. T on the front, was available from 1984 until 1993.
Quick and easy to make, and perfect for prepping ahead, pasta salads became a popular choice when guests were asked to bring a dish to a buffet, barbecue or potluck in the 1980s. Tri-color pasta, olives, and chopped veggies were all regular features in those big bowls – but really there were no strict rules about what you could (or couldn't) mix in. Complete with a sweet vinaigrette or creamy sauce, it's still a popular buffet dish now.
The 1980s saw plenty of innovation in the world of cereal, with American food manufacturer General Mills introducing some of its most iconic brands. One of its most enduring was Cinnamon Toast Crunch, launched in 1984. People across the US and Canada have been eating the crunchy cinnamon and sugar–coated wheat and rice squares ever since.
Who can remember when these crispy pan pies featured on McDonald’s menus? While it was short-lived, McDonald’s Pizza was test marketed in select locations across the US during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Complete with a white, green, and red box, the pans were served in a personal size and came loaded with toppings like cheese, pepperoni, green bell peppers, and onions.
While its history is hotly debated, with some believing it originated in Italy and others saying it was invented in New York, this pasta dish was a regular feature on Italian restaurant menus throughout the 1980s. Penne or rigatoni is generously coated in a rich and creamy blend of tomatoes, vodka, cream, and chilis.
Bringing together shredded lettuce, tomatoes, grated cheese, cooked ground beef flavored with spices, tortilla chips, and dressing, taco salad may have been around since the 1960s, but it was in the 1980s that the dish really became a regular weekday dinner feature. It was such a hit that even fast food chains Taco Bell and Wendy's added it to menus.
Introduced in the 1970s, Pudding Pops were the ultimate summertime treat throughout the 1980s. These pops came in a variety of flavors, including chocolate, vanilla, and chocolate swirled with vanilla. Despite the product's initial popularity, the brand was discontinued in the 1990s. The treats did return for a brief period in the 2000s, rebranded as Popsicles, before eventually disappearing once again.
This Mediterranean-inspired dish is what you'd make to impress dinner party guests. Featuring in Sheila Lukins and Julee Rosso's super accessible and extremely popular The Silver Palate Cookbook, its key ingredients include bone-in chicken legs and thighs, garlic, prunes, olives, capers in brine, and herbs. Baked in the oven, it turned into a saucy, sweet-sour sensation.
It was pretty much a given that you'd find this tasty dish gracing buffet tables in the 1980s. Featuring a hollowed-out loaf filled with a creamy dip, this moreish number was served alongside crudités and Ritz crackers for dipping. Spinach and artichoke was a popular option, while New Englanders preferred a crab, clam, or shrimp mix inside their pumpernickel.
Featuring layers of mascarpone and espresso-soaked sponge fingers, this sumptuous Italian dessert went from unknown to everywhere in the 1980s. You could expect to find the sweet pudding on Italian restaurant menus across the US and Canada and, by the end of the decade, fans even started whipping up tiramisù at home.
Cookies laced with rich chocolate chips were one of the most popular sweet snacks of the decade, thanks to President’s Choice and its The Decadent range. Available from Loblaw supermarkets, this Canadian brand launched its crumbly cookies in 1988 and they quickly became a favorite choice for post-school munching. While the range has expanded since, it’s the cookies 1980s kids will always have fond memories of.
While you can't beat a cheesy, pepperoni-loaded slice, the 1980s was the decade pizza toppings changed forever. In 1985, experimental pizza chain California Pizza Kitchen opened its first location, launching with a menu designed by Ed LaDou (the man widely credited with popularizing gourmet California-style pizzas). Soon creations such as sweet and smoky barbecue chicken pizza were brought to the masses, and a new wave of innovative toppings followed.
A sweet and fruity tape you unrolled and ate, Fruit Roll-Ups were a staple snack if you grew up in the 1980s. First produced by Fruit Corners in 1983, the popular brand was taken over by Betty Crocker by the end of the decade. Initially sold under the guise of being a healthy treat, the company was forced to change its labels after people complained that there was actually very little real fruit or nutrition in it.
The meaty McRib, first brought out in 1981, has been on and off McDonald’s menus so many times that we’ve lost count. Despite its rather misleading name, it's not actually made of pork rib, but rather from processed pork meat covered in a tangy barbecue sauce and stuffed inside a bun with onions and pickles. Nonetheless, the elusive item has achieved mythical status and fans get very excited every time it returns.
Although this peanut butter candy first became available in 1978, it was Steven Spielberg’s 1982 movie E.T. that put the product on the map, with sales shooting up by 65% in the weeks after its release. It's said that Mars was offered the opportunity for M&M's to feature in the film first but declined. The rest is of course history, and Reese's Pieces are still enjoyed the world over today.
Produced by British ice cream brand Wall’s, Viennetta traveled across the Atlantic, landing in Canada and the US in the mid-1980s. This creamy frozen treat, complete with layers of flaky chocolate and ice cream, quickly became a hugely popular dessert. The brand was sadly discontinued in the early 1990s, but has since resurfaced in the US thanks to ice cream brand Good Humor.
Arriving in the frozen supermarket aisle in 1983, Hot Pockets were an instant success. Brimming with piping hot fillings, these microwavable savory snacks came in a host of flavors including Ham & Cheddar and Pepperoni Pizza. They gained a reputation for being a go-to snack or speedy meal for school children, college students, and overworked parents. In truth, most people have enjoyed a Hot Pocket (or two) at some point.
These large, flat, fried pastries have been a Canadian favorite since 1978, when Grant and Pam Hooker first set up a stall selling them at a fair in Ottawa. Quickly garnering a reputation for its sugary delights, BeaverTails went on to become a beloved Canadian chain by the 1990s. The classic style sees these crispy pastries topped with a sprinkle of sugar and cinnamon but nowadays, fans love them with indulgent toppings like apple pie filling, Reese’s Pieces, and chocolate spread.
Following the successful launch of Massachusetts dairy company HP Hood LLC's frozen yogurt in the early 1970s, the tasty treat quickly boomed. By the 1980s, frozen yogurt chains began opening across the country, including the still-popular TCBY (The Country's Best Yogurt) whose first store was located in Little Rock, Arkansas. You could find frozen yogurt shops in malls all over, serving up icy creations loaded with fruity toppings and sweet sauces.
In the 1980s, America fell in love with gourmet ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s for its rich and chunky flavors, quirky marketing and good ethics. While none of the brand's original eight flavors – including its first, vanilla – have survived, fans can still get their hands on late 1980s arrivals, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Cherry Garcia.
This now global chain began as a small family business in Arlington County, Virginia, in 1986. Set up by Jerry and Janie Murrell, plus their five sons (hence the name), Five Guys started selling fresh beef burgers with customizable toppings and its trademark boardwalk-style fries cooked in peanut oil. Word of this new, seriously tasty fast food quickly spread around the US and later, the world.
It's hard to imagine a time without this soft-serve ice cream dessert, but the flavor-packed treat only launched in 1985. Dairy Queen reportedly sold 175 million Blizzards that year and they're still devoured with the same enthusiasm today. You'll also still find DQ employees serving the treat upside down, just to prove how thick and creamy it is.
Introduced in 1988, Lunchables quickly became an easy go-to snack and packed lunch option for children across the US and Canada. The classic build-your-own packet featured crackers, cheese, and meat slices. Years later, it's still available to buy in stores, with new spin-off versions such as Mini Cheese Pizza and Mini Hot Dogs.
Chicken McNuggets and their accompanying dipping sauces are now a Golden Arches classic, and most people can't hit the drive-thru without picking up half a dozen. But it hasn't always been the case; in fact, the deep-fried chicken pieces only became available at all McDonald's franchises in 1983. Before that, chicken lovers had to venture to the chain's competitors to get their chicken fix. Can you imagine?