Instagram isn’t just for brands and businesses— it’s also for creatives in all sorts of niches: travel, food and drink, hospitality, beauty, fashion, and more! Food bloggers have taken to Instagram in droves to amplify their presence and funnel traffic to their blogs and external sites.
The great thing about Instagram for food bloggers? Everyone loves to eat! There’s nothing quite like coming across a beautiful picture of a dish that you can basically smell, and Instagram users are here for it. Food-based accounts have loads of followers, and new trends present themselves almost daily.
Food lovers have been shown to be extremely active on Instagram, consuming roughly 4x more content than the normal user. Food fans and bloggers alike are connecting to Instagram as many as 18 times a day, and that’s on average!
You can also see that food-related hashtags are popular on the platform, with millions of tags:
- #food: 467m posts
- #foodporn: 275m posts
- #foodie: 203m posts
The list goes on and on. If you’re a foodie on Instagram, you’re in good company and have a lot of potential to build a reputation on the platform. Bloggers can share creative dishes and get people to check out their other endeavors, and food lovers can find the inspiration they need to expand their recipes.
You can find tons of food stars on Instagram, including big names like Food Network Star Ree Drummond, Bobby Flay, Yolanda Gampp, and many more, all with millions of followers. We couldn’t forget Gordon Ramsay, who has a whopping 13.1 million followers on Instagram.
You’ll find a mix of not just food bloggers but also chefs, cooking show hosts, and other food industry folks alike to make up the strong community on Instagram. Many of these Instagram users give insight into their own cooking, share content of their cooking shows or documentaries, and also give a look into their personal life.
You don’t have to have millions of followers to be considered a food blogger, though. @lemonsandzest, Lorrie Yarro, has built a following of almost 13k followers and shares her recipes with her followers. This is a great example of a micro-influencer.
Lorrie commonly shares about intuitive eating and fights “diet culture,” much like @thenutritiontea, who is a blogger that looks to educate users about food and diet culture. She’s got 175k followers, and she’s a registered medical professional.
Another success story is @food_ilysm. Run by Philly-based Devon Rushton, you can find tons of different food features from around the world with engaging stories and links out to restaurants. She’s racked up 243k followers on the platform.
So, no matter what your current profession or featured content choice is, Instagram is a great place to be a food blogger, influencer, or general supporter of the genre. If you want to grow your account for a better reputation, we’ve got all of the Instagram food trends you should be following.
We’ll also give you some tips on how to get started with food blogging on Instagram, how to take quality Instagram food photos, as well as give you a peek into the best 20 food Instagram accounts.
Let’s get going!
Getting Started with Food Blogging on Instagram
As you’re getting started with your Instagram for food blogging, it’s a good idea to get some inspiration and see what other top food blogger accounts are doing. There are tons of great examples and mouth-watering strategies you can use to inspire your profile.
You can browse through different food brands like Walker, and even start-up brands like Batch Organics to better understand all of the different techniques they implement to deliver not only great products but also excellent Instagram accounts.
Some of the top-performing food and drink brands that are excelling on Instagram include Food Network, Coca-Cola, Instant Pot, Oreo, Gordon Ramsay, and many more!
These platforms use Instagram to launch new products, run campaigns, as well as offer recipes and specials to their followers. Instagram provides a vital opportunity for food marketers, brands, and bloggers to build a reputation and a voice of authority amongst their target audience.
It’s also the perfect chance to implement natural and organic sales techniques without being spammy or pushing people in a way that seems off putting. They don’t ask you to make a purchase, but they know exactly where to get the product and may even be able to do so from directly within the Instagram app.
Quest Nutrition is an excellent example of this. They have informative and organic content on their Instagram account, using a well-developed link-in-bio tool to provide all of the necessary purchasing links for anyone who wants to acquire the product.
Their brand started out as a simple product and has shot up to a top brand in the fitness community, with almost 1 million followers and many new offerings that didn’t previously exist.
Find your brand voice and use other successful accounts to find inspiration that will guide your strategy and your overall aesthetic.
Watch What’s Trending
One of the things you should absolutely do when researching other food Instagram accounts is take note of the consistent strategies and trending topics to understand what is currently impacting the industry.
If you’re looking for Instagram trends for food bloggers, you should be aware of customer insights and understand what the audience wants to see, which can help you to create valuable and relevant content.
You can find out about what’s trending from directly within your own Instagram content. You can search for “Food” from the search page on Instagram, and you’ll be shown a variety of pages— Top, Accounts, Tags, Places.
You may want to implement more specific keywords if you’re looking for niche content, but using the term “Food” is a great place to start if you want to see some of the general trends in the food and beverage industry.
You’ll notice that there is always a combination of delicious-looking indulgences as well as healthier options, which is one of the most common trends in food on Instagram. You should look at bloggers, industry brands, and other food-related accounts to have a full picture of what is trending.
Follow these accounts and keep an eye on them over a period of time; participate in conversations and network with accounts that you may find useful later for collaborations.
Instagram isn’t the only place that you can find trends for the industry— you can also look on food blogs, or even use a listening tool to track keywords and see what type of content comes up when people mention the keyword.
You can check out tools such as Awario, GroupHigh, and BuzzSumo to monitor these keywords and even find relevant accounts that could work for influencer marketing.
Healthy Food Posts on Instagram
As we mentioned above, one of the biggest trends in food at the moment is finding ways to make foods not only delicious, but also healthy. People want to enjoy their dishes without compromising their health at every turn, and that’s something reflected in Instagram food trends.
Some of the most popular health food trends include:
- Gut-friendly fermented drinks and dishes
- Gluten-free dishes
- Dairy-free dishes
- Vegan dishes
- Keto diet
- Paleo diet
- Vegetarian dishes
All of these different Instagram trends for food bloggers should be investigated, and you may want to consider if they’re something you want to focus on, or if you’re going in a different direction.
A good option is to include dishes that could work for a variety of the food trends mentioned above, for instance dishes that are vegan, keto, as well as gluten-free. That way, you have a wider target audience and are more niche-specific.
At the end of the day, it’s important to try and stay on top of trends as much as possible, but don’t lose your brand voice or identity and get lost in the trends. If they don’t align with your brand, find an interesting way to stay on top of your niche and implement other useful trends that better connect with who you are.
After all, trends come and go, but your brand identity is one constant factor that will stay with you forever.
Turning Trends into Actions on Instagram
So, now that we know about some popular trends on Instagram and where to do our research, how can we turn these trends into actions on our account?
One of the best ways is through Instagram stories. Instagram stories are used by over half of the Instagram user base every day— 500 million account holders. All of the biggest brands and businesses actively share Instagram stories to keep their followers and viewers engaged.
Interactive elements of Instagram stories are especially effective, including hashtags, mentions, and stickers that ask your followers/viewers to participate and take action instead of simply passively viewing your content.
For instance, one of the biggest Instagram trends for food bloggers is to share a picture or video on Instagram stories and add a hashtag; in addition to the hashtag, a poll sticker can be added to ask the viewers if they like it, voting either yes or no. They can also use a sliding scale ranking sticker to show how great they think it is.
These engagement trends on Instagram stories are increasingly popular and boost your user interaction levels, getting you in front of your audience more regularly due to a heightened performance against the Instagram algorithm.
Instagram uses different ranking signals such as how frequently a user interacts with your content, or how often the user searches for you, to determine which content will have priority in the user’s feed. The more engagement you get, the more priority your content will have.
In addition, you can ask users to send you a DM about something you posted in your stories or in-feed content. After they send you a message, you’ll then have an opportunity to have relationship-building conversations that can spark interest and brand support.
You can ask your followers for input on new recipes, what type of dishes they like or want to see more of, or ask a question about what you posted. That helps to show you are active on your Instagram and actually care about your followers and viewers.
Having a real, relatable presence is one of the most important factors in a successful Instagram account, especially for food bloggers.
When your followers start to see that it’s really you on the other end of the DM and not a copy-and-paste message that you send to everyone, they’ll be more likely to trust you and want to support your account. They may even share it with friends and family.
Social media is all about connections, and you can become more popular when you successfully relate to your followers. You can do so by:
- Hosting Instagram lives where followers can ask you questions and you answer in real time
- Share your favorite grocery store options and encourage your followers to share what they love
- Create stories that allow your followers to vote on which dish you should make next
These are just a few examples, but the opportunities are endless when you want to have an active community of engaged users.
What to Post as Food Bloggers on Instagram
Instagram offers many different content formats for you to showcase your work and give your followers something to check out on a regular basis. You can post photos of your creations, but you can go even further than that and incorporate video content that shows you in action.
No matter how you present your content, you should ensure that the photos or videos stand out from your competitors, are high-quality images or videos, and warrant your followers or viewers to stop scrolling and check out what you have to say.
Always ensure that your content is consistent as well. For example, if you post an Instagram reel that shows how to make a dish, do that for all of your recipes. You can then post an in-feed image of the finished product, using captions and hashtags to give insight into your dish.
You can include a link in your bio that directs users to your blog site, recipe pages, and more. When you follow a specific content strategy, your followers will know what to expect and where to find the information you need.
Consider making a series of it as well— let’s say that you want to share product reviews of different items you find in a supermarket. Do this on a weekly basis, like every Wednesday, and promote this on your account so your followers and viewers are always coming back to look for your post at that set time.
This will amp up your viewers and get people excited about your content, bringing people back to your account on a regular basis.
When you post your content, make sure that you have a consistent brand image and that your overall Instagram feed, bio, and story highlight album covers reflect who you are. For videos, choose photos that will look good in your news feed and encourage people to view your video.
No matter what type of post you create, you should ensure that your caption includes hashtags as well as a call-to-action (CTA). CTAs ask your followers to do something after viewing your content. This could be tagging a friend, sharing your post, liking your content, or even visiting your link in bio.
A phrase like “double tap if you agree” or “tag someone you want to make this for” can drive action and get more engagement for your content. If you have more information in your bio, let people know— you can say things like “link in bio” so that users know where to find the link.
Using CTAs is a vital part of Instagram strategy for food bloggers, no matter what trends you’re featuring in your content.
How to Take Quality Instagram Food Photos
You only have a short amount of time to capture the attention of your followers and viewers, so you need to make a strong impression at first glance. Your photos should be creative and eye-catching in order to do so.
Then, once you hook your viewer, your CTA will direct them to take action. Posting brightly-colored, appealing food photos and videos will be more appealing for users, making them more likely to become trending.
You can try a variety of different compositions and experiment with your content, tracking your reach and impressions as well as engagements to see which content performs best. Don’t forget to include props and attractive backgrounds to enhance your content.
Including fancy frames and effects can also make your content more attractive. For instance, if you’re featuring a fresh salad in your image, you can put it on a nice-looking table cloth and place natural ingredients from the salad for a nice effect.
Using natural light in your photos will also create a fresh and beautiful look. Dark photos don’t work well in food images, so make sure that the lighting and editing accentuate your photo’s subject matter.
Best Food Hashtags on Instagram
Instagram trends for food bloggers include hashtags, and they’re essential if you want to make your content discoverable and get more viewers in your target audience. Hashtags are typically better when they’re more specific.
Popular hashtags like #food have so many posts that are uploaded with the tag, which means that you’re unlikely to gain a lot of viewers. Your content will get pushed down the hashtag feed too quickly to be seen.
It’s better to use tags that are related to your particular post, as well as ones that your target audience is likely to follow. You want to get your posts seen by the right users— ones that are likely to care about your content and want to follow your profile.
For instance, if you’re a food blogger that focuses on Italian food, you may use hashtags like #ItalianSavory or #ItalianFoodRecipies. You’ll then be seen by Italian food lovers who are looking to check out italian-specific foods and dishes.
Another way to use hashtags on Instagram is to participate in challenges from accounts that have a lot of viewers. Check out the #foodchallengenetwork and #foodchallenges pages and make good use of the contests to get your work featured.
You can even create a contest of your own so that others will participate, boosting your visibility on Instagram and gaining you more user-generated content to feature on your profile.
Local Food Hashtags
If you’re targeting a specific location, or if you have a physical business location and want to reach the local population, you may consider using geo-hashtags. You can take a global hashtag like #foodlover and use a geo-modifier to make it more specific.
You’ll end up with a hashtag like #LosAngelesFoodLover, bringing your content to people who are from that local area. This is an effective way to reach your target audience and attract customers.
Let’s say you have a cafe in Burbank. You can use the hashtag #cafeburbank so that people looking for cafes in Burbank have the chance to come across your Instagram profile. Using niche-specific hashtags with geo-modifiers enhance your hashtag strategy.
Other Ways for People to Discover You on Instagram
You don’t have to stick to Instagram specifically— you may look elsewhere to funnel people to your Instagram. If you have a presence on a website or on other social media networks, you should talk about your Instagram there to drum up interest in your profile.
You can showcase your Instagram posts on your website or mention them in YouTube videos; if you send out an email newsletter, make sure to include Instagram links and you may even want to share some of your recent posts in the newsletter.
There are many different ways to get people to visit your Instagram account, so don’t forget to mention your profile on all available platforms.
20 Best Food Accounts on Instagram
Ready to check out some Instagram trends for food bloggers? Look no further— here we’re bringing you the top 20 Instagram food accounts to help you get started. These accounts are some of the best in the food industry, so you’ll love what they have to offer.
1@Gordongram
Gordon Ramsay is the most-followed figure in the food industry, boasting over 13 million followers. His engaging content includes videos, reels, and photos that engage his followers as well as feature users from all of his different cooking shows and encounters.
Notice how he tags other users and includes relevant events, such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, and food-heavy holidays. Gordon Ramsay has a lot to offer and if you’re ready to start your food Instagram, check out his profile.
2. @forksoverknives
Forks Over knives is another extremely popular Instagram in food, and their motto is “everything you need to make a plant-based lifestyle easy and enjoyable.” they’ve also got a branded hashtag, #ForksOverKnives, a notable strategy that you may want to incorporate into your own. With 1.5 million Instagram followers to date, their professional and informative content is a fan favorite.
3. @georgiepuddingnpie
If you are looking for inspiration on Instagram trends for food bloggers, where better than from a food blogger herself? Georgina Hayden is a food writer with a variety of different books out, featuring many recipes on her websites. Her Instagram is full of mouth-watering photos and recipes. Her bio links out to purchase her cookbook, as well as to her food column on @telegraphfood.
4. @food_ilysm
A Philly-based food blogger that will satisfy all of your cravings, Devon Rushton features food from all over the world. She uses CTAs like “tag someone who loves white pizza” to get people commenting, and always implements geotags and mentions so that her account can be seen by more people. You’ll definitely find something inspiring from her well-designed photos and consistent brand image.
5. @clerkenwellboyec1
You can find the best Instagram trends for food bloggers from accounts that aren’t necessarily bloggers as well, including Clerkenwell boy, who is listed as a public figure, investor, and advisor in his Instagram bio. He makes good use of a consistent brand image with flawless in-feed photos and videos. As a way to boost engagement and generate interest in his profile, he also holds competitions, which is another top strategy for Instagram bloggers and those in the food industry. His most recent competition celebrates truffle season, offering a free dinner for 4 in partnership with @PastaioLondon. Great way to get more followers + engagement as well as partner with local collaborators!
6. @thenutritiontea
Another of the most popular Instagram trends for food bloggers is breaking down diet culture and empowering people to create a healthy relationship with food, and that’s what @thenutritiontea does. Shana Minei Spence is an MS/RDN/CN from Brooklyn, NYC that emphasizes the “non-diet approach.” She offers virtual counselling and through her content, she promotes her endeavors and encourages her followers and viewers through educational and fun content.
7. @thenaughtyfork
Sam Schnur is a miami-based digital creator that focuses on miami eats that are indulgent and enticing. She features food that she makes not only herself but also that she gets from different restaurants in the area. Recently she did a paid partnership with Monster, which goes to show that if you build up your following, you’ll be able to take advantage of influencer marketing on your Instagram platform. She’s amassed 1 million followers on her Instagram.
8. @saladforpresident
A California food writer, chef, and cookbook author, Julia Sherman focuses on turning vegetables into incredible salads and dishes. She also features not only great food content, but includes some elements of her personal life as well. If you’re looking for some ideas about how to photograph food and make it look fresh, you won’t be disappointed when you check out @saladforpresident.
9. @thefeedfeed
Feedfeed is a page that offers delicious recipes by not only their editorial team, but also by the community! They have a branded hashtag, #feedfeed, where people can share their creations for a chance to be featured on the platform. This is a great way to get some user-generated content to share on your profile and build a loyal following that is interested in the content you share. They have 1.9 million followers, which shows they have created a successful brand image. You can find their shop, podcast, and TikTok profile featured in their Instagram story highlights album covers as well as in their link-in-bio tool.
10. @ambitiouskitchen
If you’re looking for someone that is “inspiring you in & out of the kitchen,” you’ll love what Monique of Ambitious Kitchen has to offer. She is a “mama of two celebrating mental health + real life.” You can use her branded hashtag, #ambitiouskitchen, for a chance to be featured on the account. As you can see, branded hashtags are a vital strategy for food bloggers on Instagram. @ambitiouskitchen has 513k followers and counting, with a great example of how to create branded Instagram story highlight album covers that align with your image.
11. @nobread
Another verified Instagram food blogger, Nicole Cogan of @nobread is based in Los Angeles and offers a lot of fun and personable content that places focus on not just food, but also her personality. It’s a known fact that images and videos on Instagram that feature people get more engagement, and Nicole Cogan knows it. She doesn’t shy away from the camera and uses her profile to feature products that are meaningful to her and showcase her daily life.
12. @Alibonar
Previously known as @avokween, Ali Bonar is the founder of @oat.haus and successful podcast host of @thealicast. She posts delicious recipes that are easy to make yourself, and talks about food and body image in a way that her followers can relate to. She has a variety of branded products that she’s created and promotes on her Instagram account, which could be a great avenue for Instagram food bloggers to pursue in their own efforts.
13. @food52
An account that knows about Instagram trends for food bloggers, @food52 encourages you to “eat thoroughly, live joyfully.” They’re got a podcast as well as a home decor Instagram called @home52. This fusion is a great way to capitalize on your Instagram food platform and engage your audience through related industries. With a cool 3.3 million followers, the offerings of @food52 are inspiring for any would-be Instagram food blogger.
14. @broccyourbody
Carissa Stanton, the face behind @broccyourbody, offers a newsletter that discusses her different food programs and recommendations for a healthy life. She creates healthy and simple recipes with accessible ingredients. You can see not only healthy food, but also partnerships with relevant brands and businesses for a taste of influencer marketing as well.
15. @rawmanda
If you’re into Instagram trends for food bloggers that involve vegan diets, you’ll love Amanda of @rawmanda. She’s based in LA and encourages people to ‘eat plants, not animals.” She has a variety of well-created content that features recipes, as well as other fun elements of a vegan lifestyle, including her vegan tattoos. You can find healthy and vegan versions of fun desserts, like funfetti cake and even savory dishes like pulled pork. The branded lettering that she puts on the cover image of all of her video posts is a great addition to her content.
16. @spoonforkbacon
Food Stylist Jenny and photographer Terilyn have joined forces to create the beautiful account that is @spoonforkbacon. They’ve got 3 cookbooks out and will make your mouth water with their impeccable Instagram posts. The good news is that you’ll be able to make all of their dishes with the included recipes. They showcase food as well as give a window into their personal lives, and their 459k followers agree that their content is delectable. They use a branded hashtag, #SpoonForkBacon for those who recreate their recipes. This can be a great way for you to boost your Instagram account and get noticed through features while building up your Instagram account.
17. @dianemorrisey
Diane Morrisey is a content creator that uses iPhone only to create incredible food features. She makes images out of her food, which adds a beautiful element of art to all of her creations. She recently created a lovely pizza dough with a remarkable autumn tree featured on top. Using consistent text for her Instagram reel covers, you can see a vibrant and colorful brand image on @dianemorrisey’s profile.
18. @chefsteps
ChefSteps wants to help you “cook and have fun along the way.” With over 250k followers, they’re doing exactly that. They have a fresh and natural look on their news feed, and in their link-in-bio they feature their website, from which you can join their mailing list. They make a wide variety of food that appeals to many different people in the food community.
19. @pophamsbakery
A revered London bakery, Pophams showcases their menu in many fun ways. From showcasing their food in the kitchen to how it would look on your own table through takeout, you can see some great examples of how to use your Instagram to promote your brick-and-mortar restaurant location. They also sell homeware, and their partner account @pophamshome is also mentioned in their bio, which is a great best practice.
20. @bakeritablog
Racehl Conners wants you to “make feel-good food” with her, promoting one of the Instagram trends for food bloggers through a plant-based and gluten-free recipe offering. She has her own cookbook, Bakerita, and posts her delicious and lovely creations on her Instagram page. Her Instagram feed projects a light and neutral image, with an air of sophistication that even you can achieve at home. She lists herself as a blogger and has almost 200k followers.
Final Thoughts: Food Trends on Instagram for Bloggers
If you’re a food blogger, chef, or a business owner in the food industry, you now know about some of the top trends to keep an eye out for as well as how to find out about what’s trending on Instagram in food.
Using Instagram strategies can help you to have a platform for your food, reach your target audience, and build a brand or business that can be successfully monetized on Instagram. Don’t forget to check out the above 20 accounts to find some inspiration and decide in which direction you want to go in.
One thing you can do right now is select a top foodie account and make one of their recipes; tag them in your post when you share it and look for a feature. That can get your account out to new audiences and you may just become the next top food blogger yourself!
