America's Most Delivered Food Item of 2022 Proves That We Aren't All About Pizza and Burgers
Some nights just call for delivery. After a long day spent conquering commitments and taking care of responsibilities, what's there not to like about a delicious dinner—or dessert or even beer— delivered right to your front door?
Maybe it's the convenience of it all, or simply that thrill we all feel when the doorbell rings, but food delivery has never been more popular. Nowadays, most Americans consider takeout and delivery "essential to the way they live," according to a poll conducted by QSR Magazine last year.
So, what exactly are Americans ordering? Grubhub, a leading U.S. food ordering and delivery marketplace, just released its annual '2022 Delivered' report—and America's most delivered food this year is sure to surprise many readers. It wasn't old favorites like burgers, pizzas, or sandwiches, but burritos that landed the number one spot.
That's right, diners just couldn't resist the flavorful punch burritos packed all cozily wrapped in a warm tortilla. Or, perhaps it was all the customizable options and possible ingredients that attracted so many toward ordering a burrito for delivery.
Burritos aren't just for dinner or lunch either, plenty of people ordered breakfast burritos filled with eggs and sausage. All told, over four million burritos were ordered in 2022.
Grubhub's annual "Delivered" report is based on trends gathered from tens of millions of orders placed on the Grubhub platform. This year's edition details the rise in popularity of food items placed by Grubhub diners between January-November 2022, as compared to the same time period last year. Read on for more of the foods we can't stop getting delivered to our front step.
Second place: Cheeseburgers
After burritos, cheeseburgers took second place. From there, cheese pizzas, pad Thai, and chicken quesadillas rounded out the top five, respectively. California rolls—which oddly enough weren't invented in California—earned sixth place, followed by fried chicken sandwiches, caesar salads, chicken tikka masala, and boneless wings.
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Top orders for breakfast
What about breakfast? The top AM order was a sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich, with donuts and a sausage burrito also making the top three breakfast orders. Other popular morning orders include muffins and a bagel with cream cheese. Interestingly, the city of Denver ranked number one for early bird orders (5 AM-8 AM), beating out the usual champion NYC.
Top orders for lunch
For lunch orders specifically, burritos once again reigned supreme, with cheeseburgers, fried chicken sandwiches, cheese pizzas, and chicken quesadillas all making the top five as well.
Late-night cravings
We all know there are technically three meals in each day, but every so often a late night calls for a midnight snack (or meal). The most popular late-night order (after 10 PM) was chicken quesadillas, with fried chicken sandwiches ranked second, cheeseburgers coming in at number three, mozzarella sticks landing the fourth spot, and cheese pizza following close behind at number five. Most people think of NYC as the city that never sleeps, but Boston actually had the highest percentage of late-night orders according to Grubhub's data.
Top dessert orders
What about those of us with a sweet tooth? There are plenty of dessert options available for delivery as well, and, surprisingly, tiramisu claimed the number one ranking with over 44,000 orders. Second place is held by baklava with over 35,000 orders. The rest of the dessert top 10 is as follows: cookies (3), cheesecake (4), brownies (5), churros (6), cannoli (7), carrot cake (8), chocolate cake (9), and flan (10).
Something to drink?
Beer, meanwhile, was the most frequently ordered alcoholic beverage, followed by margaritas, hot sake, pina coladas, and white wine (sauvignon blanc). Looking for a pick-me-up instead? Iced coffee was the number one go-to for coffee, with hot coffee landing the number two spot. Iced caramel coffee (3), iced french vanilla coffee (4), and frozen coffee rounded out the java top five.
Americans were also keen on trying some new flavors this year. Grubhub reports interest in Australian cuisine increased by 531% year-over-year. Additionally, interest in Cambodian food jumped by 4% year-over-year and interest in South African cuisine increased by 294% year-over-year.
Don't worry, we didn't forget about dips. Ketchup is still king in this category, with ranch (2), buffalo sauce (3), honey mustard (4), and spicy mustard (5) making up the rest of the most popular condiments.
