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One biryani every three seconds: How India ate in 2025

From everyday comfort to festive feasts, India’s food habits in 2025 reveal a story of trust, indulgence, and evolving lifestyles.

Swiggy
Swiggy

In 2025, India transformed every meal into a celebration of flavor and indulgence. Between packed workdays, late-night scrolls, and festive gatherings, food continued to anchor everyday life. Ordering food wasn’t about indulgence alone anymore; it became instinctive. A pause between meetings. A reward after long hours, a reason to gather or simply enjoy a moment of comfort- delivered right on time.

Welcome to the 10th edition of How India Swiggy’d, a snapshot of India’s love affair with food and recap of the year’s delicious highlights.

Big Year, Big Bites

  1. Biryani retained its top spot for the tenth year, with 93 million orders in 2025—about 194 orders per minute. Chicken Biryani led the category with 57.7 million orders and the highest repeat rate.
  2. Burgers ranked second with 44.2 million orders, followed by pizzas at 40.1 million, while veg dosa recorded 26.2 million orders.
  3. Snack time between 3–7 pm remained peak ordering hours. Chicken burgers led with 6.3 million orders, followed by veg burgers (4.2 million), chicken rolls (4.1 million), veg pizza (3.6 million) and chicken nuggets (2.9 million).
  4. The chai-samosa ritual continued strongly, with 3.42 million samosas and 2.9 million adrak chai ordered during snack hours.
  5. In desserts, white chocolate cake topped the charts with 6.9 million orders, followed by chocolate cake (5.4 million) and gulab jamun (4.5 million). Kaju barfi (2 million) and besan ladoo (1.9 million) led Indian sweets.
  6. Chocolate dominated ice cream choices, with 3.3 million dark chocolate ice creams and 2.6 million chocolate sundaes ordered.
  7. Global cuisines gained popularity, led by Mexican (16 million orders), Tibetan (12 million+), and Korean (4.7 million). Matcha was the most searched global flavour.
  8. Regional cuisines saw strong growth, with Pahari cuisine growing 9x, while Malabari, Rajasthani and Malvani cuisines nearly doubled year-on-year.
  9. Dinner remained the most popular mealtime, with orders 32% higher than lunch.
  10. A standout festive order came from Hyderabad, where a single customer spent ₹47,106 on 65 boxes of dry fruit cookie gift packs.
  11. A Mumbai-based foodie placed 3,196 orders in 2025, averaging nearly nine orders a day—the highest in the country.
  12. Bolt deliveries peaked in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai, with Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Vizag and Kochi emerging as fast-growing markets. Chocolate cake and gulab jamun were the most ordered Bolt desserts.
  13. On Swiggy’s 99Store, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai led orders, with strong traction in Indore, Vizag and Kochi. Top-selling desserts included chocolate pastries (2.3 lakh orders) and chocolate cakes (1.3 lakh orders).
  14. One Mumbai customer placed a large 99Store order including 15 dum chicken biryanis, multiple kebab and paneer dishes, and 100 gulab jamuns.
  15. Delivery partners clocked 1.24 billion kilometres in 2025. Mohammad Razique from Bengaluru completed 11,718 deliveries, while Poongodi from Chennai led female partners with 8,169 deliveries.

Breakfast Staples to Midnight Binges

Through the day, cravings reflected India’s culinary rhythm, moving from familiar breakfast rituals to late-night indulgence.

  1. Late-night ordering between 12 am and 2 am became a mainstream habit. Chicken burgers led with 2.3 million orders, followed by chicken biryani, veg burgers and veg pizzas. Chocolate waffles, chocolate cakes and white chocolate cake topped dessert orders during late-night hours.
  2. Breakfast favourites were led by idli, with 11 million orders in 2025, followed by veg dosa at 9.6 million. Veg and medhu vadas ranked next, while veg puri (1.26 million) and aloo parantha (1.25 million) remained popular choices.

Festive Mania

In India, food isn’t just a meal, it’s the guest of honor at every celebration.

From 2.28 lakh modaks delivered on Ganesh Chaturthi to over one lakh Vrat Thalis during Navratri, festive food orders surged nationwide. On Ashtami, India clocked 2.2 lakh orders in just 60 minutes.

Independence Day saw Chicken Biryani dominate once again, while Kannur surprised with an order of 50 Special Faloodas. Rakhi witnessed 4,650 orders per minute during dinner, and Diwali peaked with 1.7 million kgs of sweets, dry fruits and desserts ordered during Diwali week.

Where Cravings Meet Value and Convenience

Innovative features on the Swiggy app reshaped how India ordered food in 2025.

● Group ordering grew 841% YoY, led by Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai.
● DeskEats gained traction across metros and emerging markets.
● Food on Trains orders grew 380%, with Vijayawada Jn leading nationwide.
● High-protein foods saw 23 million orders, led by Bengaluru.

● Incognito Mode saw 69.32% YoY growth, with peak usage at 1 pm and 8 pm.

Great Features, Great Experience

In 2025, smart features reshaped how India ordered and dined.

High-protein food emerged as a strong favourite with 23 million orders, led by Bengaluru, followed by Mumbai and Hyderabad. Swiggy’s Incognito Mode saw 69.32% YoY growth, reflecting discreet indulgence, with Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai leading usage. The feature also gained traction in emerging cities like Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Nagpur, with peak usage at 1 pm and 8 pm.

Group ordering surged 841% YoY, led by Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai, while cities like Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Kochi showed rising adoption. Corporate dining also scaled up, with DeskEats seeing strong demand in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad, alongside growth in Chandigarh and Jaipur. One standout order included pizzas worth ₹47,578 for a team gathering.

Food on Trains orders grew 380% YoY, highlighted by a Jhansi-based order of 50 veg special thalis worth ₹17,200. Vijayawada Junction remained the most popular station, registering 233% growth, with Kanpur, Vadodara, Salem and Nagpur also among the top stations.

Dining Out Evolves from Indulgence to Lifestyle Favourite

Dining out became a social experience rather than just a meal. In 2025, 23.7 million diners were seated, with Bengaluru, Delhi and Hyderabad leading. Average daily bookings more than doubled, while emerging cities like Jaipur, Chandigarh, Kochi, Dehradun, Vadodara and Mangalore entered the top 20 for Dineout usage.

Through Swiggy Dineout, India saved ₹774 crore, with Bengaluru recording the highest single saving of ₹1,50,800. Highest individual bills touched ₹3 lakh in Bengaluru and Mumbai, while Pune recorded a top bill of ₹1,73,885.

Late-night dining remained strong in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi and Pune, with cities like Chandigarh, Lucknow, Indore and Surat also gaining popularity. Coimbatore, Vizag and Nagpur reported the highest average bill values among emerging markets.

Group bookings were most popular in Bengaluru, followed by Delhi and Hyderabad. The Great India Restaurant Festival helped diners save ₹324.6 crore, with Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad leading savings, alongside strong participation from Jaipur and Chandigarh. Buffet bookings grew 78%, while premium dining saw 123.7% growth, with Jaipur and Lucknow recording over 165% growth.

Dinecash gained traction across metros like Bengaluru and Delhi and expanded into cities such as Ahmedabad and Jaipur.

In 2025, food moved beyond sustenance to become an expression of culture, connection and celebration. Whether dining late at night or gathering around a restaurant table, India continued to turn every meal into a shared memory.