The most popular savoury dish was a roast dinner (42%) and the favoured sweet dish was apple pie/crumble (46%).
According to the Ocado research 68% of Brits said that they choose a comfort meal because they know they’ll feel cosy and warm after eating it. The survey also found 36% claimed that they find nostalgic meals, such as ones they had as a child, the most comforting.
The top ten savoury dishes include: roast dinner (42%), shepherd’s/cottage pie (35%), fish and chips (30%), bangers and mash (18%), full English breakfast (17%), vegetable or meat stew (15%), soup and bread (14%), steak pie (10%), pizza (9%) and Lancashire hotpot (9%).
The top ten sweet dishes include: apple pie/crumble (46%), sticky toffee pudding (35%), bread and butter pudding (25%), jam roly-poly (20%), rice pudding (17%), chocolate cake (14%), spotted dick (14%), treacle tart (12%), cheesecake (11%) and trifle (11%).
Alice Williams, nutrition coach at Origym, said: “Evolutionarily, our brains associate familiar foods with safety and survival, triggering a comforting response. Additionally, the sensory experience—textures, flavours, and smells—evokes nostalgic memories, linking the food to positive emotions.
“When faced with stress or nostalgia, our brains crave the familiar. Exactly what comfort food we crave is often determined by childhood memories, family gatherings, and cultural ties, which is why it’s common to crave a warm home-cooked meal that you often ate growing up.
“The colder weather causes our bodies to crave warmth and sustained energy. Hearty meals, like a steaming bowl of beef and ale stew or a comforting plate of shepherd's pie, deliver that cosiness and robust satisfaction. The term ‘hearty’ captures the essence of these dishes—they're substantial and rich and that's a primal instinct to seek out calorie-dense options in winter.”