The UK's favourite party food has been revealed and we can't believe it

Christmas is a time for party food. Sausage rolls, mini scotch eggs and vol-au-vents are all likely to feature at festive gatherings this season, but none of them can claim the title of the UK's favourite party food.

It seems some of the nation's traditional and much-loved canapés have been overlooked in favour of, wait for it... potato salad, which has scooped the title of top party offering.

Yep, in news that will no doubt surprise foodies, the dish, which is better known as a summer BBQ accompaniment, has been named the nation's top buffet treat.

The party food reveal comes courtesy of the team at HelloFresh, who analysed search data to determine which party foods we’re all googling in the run up to the festive period.

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And turns out potatoes mixed with mayonnaise is way up there, with an amazing 33,100 UK monthly searches, interesting considering its fellow creamy covered side-dish coleslaw didn't get at look in.

The classic quiche came in at number two with 27,100 average monthly searches, while the growing-in-popularity Halloumi fries slipped into third spot, tied with the cheese board, with both receiving 18,100 average monthly searches.

Spring rolls, pork pies and pizza did make an appearance later in the list, but more typical party food classics, such as cocktail sausages and chicken drumsticks, receive significantly lower searches, suggesting the nation's tastes are changing when it comes to the food we like to nibble at a festive do.

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In yet another 2022 surprise the humble (and halitosis-inducing) pickled onion featured in the list of favourite party foods, while the rather more everyday ham sandwich also proved to be a popular searched for, er, dish. Think we'd rather stick to having it for lunch.

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Here's the full list of party food favourites according to HelloFresh:-

1. Potato salad

2. Quiche

3. Halloumi fries

3. Cheese board

4. Sausage rolls

4. Scotch egg

5. Vol-au-vents

6. Spring rolls

7. Pork pie

8. Pickled onions

8. Mozzarella sticks

8. Chicken skewers

9. Cocktail sausages

9. Chicken drumsticks

9. Ham sandwich

10. Cheese pizza

This isn't the only Christmas food poll that is proving something of a surprise recently.

In a survey to determine the best aspects of the festive feast, crispy roast potatoes have been toppled from the top spot in favour of the main attraction – the turkey.

The study, conducted by food order app Foodhub, chewed over the nation’s festive foodie favourites and found that this year people were most looking forward to their helping of traditional Christmas meat.

Last year's research revealed that the ever-popular roast potato was the king of the Christmas dinner, with 57% opting for roasties as their favourite element.

However, the spud has been knocked off top spot this year, as meat (18%), whether that be turkey, ham or chicken, has been named number one.

Festive favourite pigs in blankets followed narrowly behind taking 17% of the vote, while last year’s winner, the potato rounded off the top three with 12%.

When asked which three ingredients combine to make the perfect forkful of Christmas dinner, Turkey (42%) roast potato (35%) and stuffing (30%) came out on top, with pigs in blankets (28%) just missing out on the favoured mouthful.

Top ten elements of Christmas dinner

1. Meat (18%)

2. Pigs in blankets (17%)

3. Potato (12%)

4. Yorkshire pudding (7%)

5. Sprouts (7%)

6. Stuffing (6%)

7. Green beans (5%)

8. Cauliflower cheese (4%)

9. Red cabbage (4%)

10. Parsnips (3%)