The nation’s favourite Bonfire Night foods

Halloween and Bonfire Night are just around the corner, and Brits are preparing to get outside for evenings of outdoor entertainment. In fact, around 20 million people are estimated to attend either a private or public firework display over the November period according to The British Pyrotechnists Association.

AGA quizzed over 2,000 people about their ideal outdoor dining experience to find out what the ideal ingredients are for the best outdoor party.

According to the survey:

The perfect al fresco party is a family get-together with six to ten guests.
Surprisingly fizzy drinks were more popular than beer or wine with the respondents, yet cordials still came in last place.
Crisps and dips are the nation’s favourite pre-dinner nibbles.
Burgers are the most popular main course (with vegetarian burgers ranking in 8th place)
After the bun, the next most popular side dishes are coleslaw and mixed salad.
Ketchup is naturally the favoured condiment, closely followed by mayo and BBQ sauce.
Ice cream ranks top when it comes to pudding, even if it is getting a bit chilly outside.
Whilst we Brits often stress about the weather, the biggest worry when hosting an outdoor dining event is ensuring that food is fully cooked through.
Outdoor dining is set to become even more popular and a huge 20% of the people that AGA spoke to are cooking more outdoors than they have in the past three to four years.
A huge 38% of people have bought new outdoor furniture since March 2020, and 95% of those said the investment was worth it and that they make the most of their new outdoor purchases.

Who’s on the invite list?

According to the survey, the optimum number of guests to invite to your outdoor party is between 6 and 10 people. 44% of respondents signified that they prefer the slightly larger number of guests to cater for, with 41% stating they’d prefer to cook for 3 to 5 people.

Unsurprisingly, only 3% of respondents said they were interested in cooking for 16 or more people!

Preferred number of guests	Percentage of respondents
1 to 2	6%
3 to 5	41%
6 to 10	44%
11 to 15	7%
16 to 20	2%
21+	1%

In terms of who we like to have at our gatherings, most respondents said they were most likely to cook for their partner, children and families. Interestingly only 17% said they were likely to cook for their parents.

What’s on the menu?

Getting into the meat of their survey, AGA asked respondents what their favourite foods were to eat outdoors.

Pre-dinner nibbles

AGA’s survey revealed that a total of 77% of people said that they have pre-dinner nibbles when outdoor dining.

They also asked respondents to rank their favourite nibbles, and the top choice should be no surprise - the country simply loves crisps!

Ranking (Most to least popular)	Type of nibble
1	Crisps
2	Dips
3	Bread
4	Olives

Burgers are officially the nation’s favourite outdoor dish

Topping the rankings as the most important element of outdoor dining meals was burgers. Closely followed by sausages and two variations of chicken.

Ranking in last place however was tofu. The meat-free option didn’t prove popular, but several other vegan and veggie options came in much higher positions on the list.

Veggie/vegan burgers, kebabs, sausages and halloumi all made it into the top ten, proving that the meat-free versions of some of our favourite dishes are still essential elements of any outdoor dining experience.

Ranking (Most to least popular)	Main dish
1	Burgers
2	Sausages
3	Pre-marinated chicken
4	Plain chicken
5	Meat kebab skewer
6	Ribs
7	Vegetarian/vegan burgers
8	Vegetarian/vegan kebab skewers
9	Halloumi
10	Vegetarian/Vegan sausages
11	Lamb steaks
12	Pork steaks
13	Salmon
14	Prawns
15	Pulled Pork
16	Pork Belly
17	Tofu

Who could have a burger without a bread roll?

AGA also uncovered which of the country’s favourite side dishes and toppings are most important for their events.

Naturally, anyone that loves a burger needs a bun, so bread rolls topped the list, closely followed by coleslaw, salad, and varieties of potatoes (we clearly all need plenty of carbs to power us through a night of celebrating).

Ranking (Most to least popular)	Side dish
1	Bread rolls
2	Coleslaw
3	Mixed salad
4	Potatoes/potato salad
5	Onions
6	Cheese slices
7	Crisps
8	Tomatoes
9	Corn on the cob
10	Pasta salad
11	Lettuce
12	Mushrooms
13	Peppers
14	Carrot sticks
15	Olives
16	Hummus
17	Cucumber sticks
18	Guacamole
19	Boiled eggs
20	Feta cheese
21	Watermelon/berries/other summer fruits

The secret’s in the sauce

As suspected Britain’s favourite sauce is ketchup, but surprisingly, mayonnaise beat barbecue sauce to second place.

The full ranking saw salsa, sriracha and perinaise rank among the least popular condiments.

Ranking (Most to least popular)	Condiment
1	Ketchup
2	Mayonnaise
3	Barbecue sauce
4	Burger relish
5	Mustard
6	Brown sauce
7	Garlic mayo
8	Hot sauce
9	Sour cream
10	Salsa
11	Sriracha
12	Perinaise

There’s always room for pudding

Even after pre-meal nibbles, mains, sides and sauces, we all know that we can always make room for some dessert.

Whilst ice cream took the top spot, respondents also agreed that having a healthy option was important, with fruit making it to third place in the ranking.

Ranking (Most to least popular)	Dessert
1	Ice Cream
2	Cheesecake
3	Fruit
4	Cake
5	Cheese & biscuits/bread
6	Trifle
7	Pavlova
8	Pastries
9	Fruit Tart
10	Fruit crumbles

Non-alcoholic drinks are officially the most in-demand

Whilst many people choose to have an alcoholic drink or two at parties with friends, our survey showed that having alcohol-free options was the most important thing to remember when hosting an outdoor event.

AGA asked respondents to pick the three drinks that were most important to them, and fizzy drinks topped our list with 39% of people proclaiming it as one of the most essential drinks. That was very closely followed by 38% of people picking beer, and 36% of respondents also saying that wine was an outdoor dining essential.