A Trusted Friend in a Complicated World

12 National Food Holidays You’ll Want to Celebrate Every Year

Get ready to make a dozen new mouth-watering additions to your calendar.

1 / 13
dinner
casanisa/shutterstock

Who says every day can’t be a holiday? If you’re ever hungry and in the mood for celebrating, Foodimentary has a national food holiday for every day of the year. With over 365 yummy celebrations to choose from, we picked our favorite from every month for your noshing pleasures. Go ahead, eat up; we wouldn’t want you to get hangry, now would we?

2 / 13
popcorn
ikkker/shutterstock

January: National Popcorn Day

Whether you prefer to head out to the cinema and indulge in a massive bucket of buttery goodness or curl up in front of Netflix with some Smartfood, make sure to get your popcorn fix on January 19. And if you’re trying to be healthy, good news: You don’t have to forego this holiday! Popcorn has some great health benefits if you prepare it correctly.

3 / 13
chocolate
Fortyforks/shutterstock

February: National Dark Chocolate Day

Here’s another one that might not be as much of a guilty pleasure as you would think. Feel no shame about eating dark chocolate to your heart’s content on February 1; the cocoa concoction is loaded with antioxidants. In fact, it has so many surprising health benefits that you might want to make every day Dark Chocolate Day.

4 / 13
waffles
Dima Sikorsky/shutterstock

March: International Waffle Day

Yup, waffles are so great that they get an international holiday. Treat yourself to a breakfast fit for royalty on March 25. International Waffle Day first came to be in Sweden (nope, not Belgium!), and the reason is truly hilarious. March 25 was already a holiday in Sweden called “Our Lady’s Day,” a religious holiday marking nine months until Christmas. In Swedish, “Our Lady’s Day” translates to “Vårfrudagen,” which sounds very similar to “Våffel-dagen,” the Swedish words for “waffle” and “day.” So, naturally, the Swedish decided to take full advantage of this similarity, and March 25 became Waffle Day.

5 / 13
grilled cheese
Todd Maughan/shutterstock

April: National Grilled Cheese Day

Quick and simple to make, and yet so comforting and delicious, this succulent sandwich definitely deserves its own holiday, and it gets one on April 12.

6 / 13
dinner
Olga Klochanko/shutterstock

May: National “Eat What You Want” Day

This one doesn’t focus on a specific food—and that’s the beauty of it. Forget the rules and the diets for this one day and eat whatever your heart—or stomach—desires. Whether you love ice cream sundaes, baked potatoes with all the fixings, or Brussels sprouts, May 11 is the day to enjoy that food you love. Because the calendar says it’s OK.

7 / 13
cupcake
Ruth Black/shutterstock

June: National Cupcake Lover’s Day

Cupcake lovers, unite on June 13. Whether you bake a batch yourself or buy a treat from that bakery that tempts you on your way home from work, make this day as sweet as its name. Cupcakes actually have a pretty long history; the first recipe for “a cake to be baked in small cups” appeared in a 1796 cookbook, but the actual term “cupcake” wasn’t used until 1828. Why it took over 30 years to come up with that much more concise moniker, we don’t know. If you choose to celebrate by making yourself a sweet treat, beware of these 12 baking mistakes you didn’t realize you were making.

8 / 13
wings
Valentina G/shutterstock

July: National Chicken Wing Day

Did you know that chicken wings are also called “Buffalo wings” not because of another animal, but because they were invented in the city of Buffalo? (“Buffalo” might just be the most versatile word ever.) So it’s only appropriate that the holiday celebrating the messy-but-tasty finger food originated in Buffalo as well. In 1977, Buffalo’s then-mayor Stan Makowski proclaimed July 29 National Chicken Wing Day. The holiday now has its own website!

9 / 13
smores
Olga Miltsova/shutterstock

August: National S’mores Day

What better way to have a last summer hurrah than to toast up some S’mores on the very day designated for them, August 10? Before you send the kids back to school, have a campfire and make some S’mores—or put one of these tasty twists on the classic gooey, chocolatey treat. Legend has it that campers have been eating S’more-like snacks for many years, but we owe the Girl Scouts a big thank-you for bringing S’mores as we know them into the public consciousness with their 1927 Handbook.

10 / 13
coffee
Evgeny Karandaev/shutterstock

September: National Coffee Day

Though we have no doubt that you coffee lovers out there need no excuse to get your caffeine fix, September 29 is the best day to say “I love coffee” loud and proud. In the past, all your favorite coffee sellers have found some way to celebrate, and we imagine they’ll keep doing so. Some give you a free cup; some donate the proceeds from certain coffee sales to a good cause. You can also celebrate by commiserating with your fellow coffee lovers about these 10 coffee lover struggles—and learning how to fix them!

11 / 13
chinese
Lisovskaya Natalia/shutterstock

October: National Noodle Day

Whether you prefer them in Pad Thai, in chicken noodle soup, or simply tossed with butter, October 6 is all about the noodles. Grab your fork, spoon, or chopsticks, and go to town.

12 / 13
candy
Evgeny Karandaev/shutterstock

November: National Candy Day

Not much is known about the origin of this holiday, but whoever invented it totally had the right idea. Right after Halloween, you can head to your nearest convenience store and stock up on discounted candy just in time for November 4‘s sweet celebration. Satisfy your candy cravings with your sweet of choice. (If pink and red candies are your favorite, there’s a reason for that!)

13 / 13
strawberries
5 second Studio/shutterstock

December: National Chocolate Covered Anything Day

Here’s another holiday that gives you all the foodie freedom you want. On December 16, break out the fondue forks and douse your favorite fruit, salty snack, or even other dessert in chocolatey goodness.

Meghan Jones
Meghan Jones is a word nerd who has been writing for RD.com since 2017. You can find her byline on pieces about grammar, fun facts, the meanings of various head-scratching words and phrases, and more. Meghan graduated from Marist College with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 2017; her creative nonfiction piece “Anticipation” was published in the Spring 2017 issue of Angles literary magazine.