As the weather gets colder, Brits are more likely to cook up their favourite comfort foods than in the summer months. Baked goods like crumpets and toast made the top 20 foods list while bacon sandwiches stole the top slot.
Whether you have a butty, a cob, a roll, or a sarnie, bacon sandwiches are the winner of British hearts when it comes to comfort food. Warburton’s study found the humble apple pie took second place while the great Sunday roast dinner came in third.
The study also found that Brits are emotional eaters with a third turning to comfort food after a bad day at work or a fifth grabbing a wholesome meal when they heard sad family news. Food is also a celebration with birthdays making the perfect excuse to dig into comfort food for 20% of Brits. Warburton’s have released this research in honour of the first ever national crumpet week, which runs this week (October 17 -23).
Crumpets make up a fifth of our breakfasts and came in 12th on the list of favourite foods when served with butter. Other stranger combinations with beans, macaroni and cheese or even chilli con carne were also mentioned by crumpet fans.
In honour of this, Warburtons have collaborated with Pizza Hut to make a crumpet crust pizza fans can create at home. They’ve also released recipes for crump-bao buns, crumpnuts and a crumpet breakfast stack.
Jonathan Warburton, Chairman of Warburtons, said: “It was heart-warming to see that so many people associate comfort foods with childhood or home cooking – which, to me, means family. Comfort foods do what they say on the tin - provide a bit of comfort - and that’s exactly what we all need right now.
“We know crumpets are favourites for many people across the UK, whether that’s for breakfast to a midnight snack, so it was a no brainer for us to launch a week dedicated them.”
The top 20 comfort foods according to Warburton’s are:
Bacon sandwich
Apple crumble
Roast chicken dinner
Toast with butter
Cheese toastie
Hot chocolate
Roast beef dinner
Lasagne
Spaghetti Bolognese
Sausage and mash with onion gravy
Beans on toast
Crumpets with butter
Cheesecake
Macaroni cheese
Shepherd’s pie
Roast lamb dinner
Jacket potato with cheese
Tomato soup
Steak pie and mash
Sticky toffee pudding
Whether you’re a bacon sandwich champion or want justice for pie and mash, there’s no doubt that Britain is a country of food lovers. Grab some crumpets this week and make yourself a crumpet pizza in honour of this humble breakfast staple.
