Europe's fast food menu trends may be heading for U.S. shores
QSR operators looking for the next menu sensation may want to consider the crousty or a dip flight, just two of the items trending across the Atlantic.
May 28, 2026
Fine dining chefs have long looked to Europe, especially France, for menu inspiration. Not so much fast-food burger, chicken and pizza concepts. For them, Asia seems to have been a stronger influence.
But recently, countries like Spain, Germany and even France are becoming incubators for QSR menu innovation, according to Technomic’s latest Global Menu Trend Study. In 2025, South Korea and Thailand still led in limited-service menu development activity, with 49 and 47 new items respectively, but France had 27, Germany, 19 and Spain, 17.
Perhaps the food with the most compelling name is the Crousty. Originating in France, it has a base of white rice topped with bite-size pieces of crispy chicken, finished with a creamy sauce with spicy or sweet-and-sour flavor accents. Tasty Crousty and Krousty Sabaidi are two French concepts known for the dish, but other brands are launching riffs, too.
Germany is home to the doner kebab, a popular street food imported from Turkey similar to the gyro. Seasoned beef, lamb or chicken is cooked on a vertical spit, thinly sliced and served in a flatbread. But German QSRs are taking it in different directions, creating kebab-style toppings for burgers, pizza and salads. Burger King in Germany offers a chicken patty and burger layered with kebab seasoned chicken, providing a double portion of protein and flavor; it's rounded out with the cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and yogurt sauce typically used in the traditional flatbread sandwich. Telepizza in Spain rolled out a pizza topped with marinated chicken, onions, kebab spices, oregano and kebab sauce, naming it the Telepizza Kebab.
Signature dips and sauces can lure customers to one restaurant over another, and U.S. chains have been churning out flavors at a record clip. But fans are usually limited to the number of sauces they can add onto an order before they would have to pay an extra charge. France’s fast-food burger chain Quick launched a dip flight of seven sauces packaged in what looks like a paintbox. The LTO is promoted as “a tasting journey across the spectrum of spiciness, from sweet wasabi to hot mango to ghost pepper barbecue.”
The snacking craze has also hit Europe, and Germany is feeding the frenzy with crispy falafel balls—downsized versions of falafel. The shareable snack is available with garlic mayonnaise at Peter Pane, actually a casual-dining restaurant in Germany. Burger King Germany also introduced falafel bites as a snack, served with harissa sauce.
Jacket potatoes have been a hot item on TikTok for about a year, but the loaded baked potatoes haven’t made a significant dent on U.S. chain menus. In Britain, it’s a different story, with iterations of jacket potatoes accelerating.
According to Technomic, breakfast versions are on the rise. SpudBros Express recently rolled out a collection of morning potatoes in the U.K, including the Classic Brekkie featuring garlic butter, a flat omelet, baked beans, three-cheese blend, bacon and house-made Tram Sauce, a spicy mayo-based condiment flavored with Sriracha, mustard and lemon juice. There's also a Veggie Brekkie and Egg & Bacon Brekkie.
Although Subway doesn’t do breakfast versions, the sandwich giant lets customers replace bread with a baked potato to build-your-own loaded spud with any of Subway’s sub fillings.
About the Author
Patricia Cobe
Senior Editor, Restaurant Business
Pat came to Informa Connect from Hearst, where she was an executive editor. She is the co-author of the Mompreneurs series of books as well as two cookbooks. She graduated from Cornell University and earned a Masters in Journalism from Boston University. She is active in several professional organizations, including Les Dames d’Escoffier and the International Foodservice Editorial Council (IFEC), and serves as a judge for the James Beard Media Awards.
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