Foods From The 2000s That Are Weirdly Making A Comeback

Several foods from the 2000s are weirdly making a comeback. But it's not so weird when you think about it. Marketers know that they can tap into our sense of longing to get us to buy foods we once enjoyed. According to HowStuffWorks, nostalgic experiences like eating and smelling certain foods from our past cause our brain to release chemicals such as dopamine that make us feel good.

Something interesting that we noticed about many of the foods that are making a comeback is that companies are releasing them for only a limited time or in a very limited supply. Some are available from only one store, to a select few contest winners, or only to fan club members. According to the scarcity principle of marketing, we consider a product to be more valuable if it's in short supply, which makes us go out and buy it before it's gone (via Feed Dough). If we know that we can get Pepsi Blue or Neapolitan Oreos any time, we're less likely to make a mad dash to go buy them.

Some foods from the 2000s that have made a comeback may be here to stay. Others, however, seem to have been big teases since they had a limited release. Let's explore some of the popular comebacks from the 2000s to see what may be waiting on the shelf of a store near you.

Once upon a time, finding variations on original Oreos was rare. However, in the past few years, the company behind Oreos has really capitalized on having lots of flavors available and introducing seasonal favorites like Gingerbread. Oreo occasionally revisits old favorites, but this is the first time it has brought back Oreo Cakesters since 2012.

To promote Oreo Cakesters, Oreo took over the last-standing Blockbuster video store and gave away free Cakesters in what looked like old VHS cases. The catchphrase was "It's 2007 all over again!" (via BizBash). Well, not quite. Most of us were watching movies through Netflix and on Blu-Ray by then.

If you're more of a cake than a cookie person, you can rejoice because Oreo Cakesters are the perfect compromise between cake and cookie. One nostalgic fan calls the Cakester a "mass-market whoopie pie" (via Reddit). Cakesters have two puffy pieces of cookie-shaped cake stuffed with a creamy filling. Since they're soft, there's no need to dunk them in milk (unless you want to), and they're also excellent frozen (via Influenster).

Some consumers say they taste exactly like "a cake version of an Oreo" (via Influenster). Meanwhile, others who haven't tried them before were disappointed, saying that Cakesters were essentially a Hostess cupcake (via Influenster). Overwhelmingly, though, Oreo lovers and Cakester lovers have been thrilled at this 2022 comeback. We wouldn't be surprised if they stick around a while or make it into the regular Oreo rotation. Only time will tell.

Doritos have come a long way since they debuted their first flavored tortilla chips in 1967. The first flavor was Taco. Then, along came the classic Nacho Cheese flavor in 1972 (via Maxim). These were the only two flavors available during Doritos' early years, but after they introduced Cool Ranch in 1986, they realized they were onto something and started producing new flavors. Since then, they've released over 170 types and flavors (via Taquitos).

Blazin' Buffalo & Ranch Doritos were first released in 2006 and briefly returned in 2011. Then, they were spotted on the shelves again in 2017 (via Impulsive Buy). Their most recent reappearance in 2022 is a part of Doritos' Solid Black Initiative. Two thousand limited-edition bags featured original artwork by Mz. Icar, an art collective whose members are mostly Black women. Blazin' Buffalo & Ranch chips in these special bags were available only briefly online (via Yahoo!).

If you weren't lucky enough to grab one, you may still be able to find this flavor at Sam's Club. Blazin' Buffalo & Ranch is a Sam's Club Exclusive Doritos flavor for a limited time. Of course, there's a chance they're already gone since we couldn't find them on Sam's website in September 2022. Doritos brings this flavor back every five to six years, so you may have to wait until 2027 or 2028 to find them again if they're completely out of stock.

Another food from the 2000s that is making a comeback is Berries & Cream Dr Pepper. It debuted in 2006, but it wasn't around for long. If you've been awaiting its return, we're sorry to report that Dr Pepper only produced a few cans of Berries & Cream for the 2022 comeback, and you can't get them in stores (via Elite Daily). In fact, it may already be too late to get your hands on one of these limited-edition Dr Peppers. Dr Pepper announced on Twitter in February 2022 that you had to sign up for Pepper Perks for a "chance to win." So, we're afraid there may be no more forthcoming. Then again, it could have been a way for the company to gauge interest in the flavor before committing to mass production. 

Pepper Perks winners got only a single 12-ounce can of Berries & Cream Dr Pepper, which seems like a big tease (via Reddit). Of course, it did get more people to sign up as Pepper Perks members (via Reddit).

Berries & Cream Dr Pepper was difficult to find in 2017 when Dr Pepper last brought it back (via Influenster). Fans said the dessert-like Berries & Cream Dr Pepper was creamy and tasted like a cross between Vanilla Dr Pepper and Cherry Dr Pepper (via Influenster). If they brought it back to the shelves before, they can do it again. So, keep your eyes open for it.

Pepsi Blue also made a comeback from the 2000s. We first saw the electric blue soda on shelves from 2002 to 2004. It returned in 2021 for a limited time (via Tasting Table). Interestingly, there have been rumors of it returning again in 2022. So, its first comeback likely was successful.

Pepsi hinted at Pepsi Blue's return in June 2022 with a tweet saying, "Fashion trends come and go, but Pepsi blue will ALWAYS be in style." On the same day, Pepsi replied to a customer on Twitter to say it was selling Pepsi Blue only as a limited-time offer. What a tease! Or perhaps it was a marketing ploy to determine how many people would be interested in a reboot.

Pepsi targeted its early version of Pepsi Blue at pre-teens and young teens. One said at the time, "It tastes like a Crayola but not as good," which isn't the most glowing review the drink could have received. Another called it "disgusting" and said that it tasted "profoundly artificial" with a "weird tingle to it" (via Mental Floss). Still, there were plenty of people who found the 2021 version delicious (via Reddit).

Pepsi Blue disappeared from shelves in 2004, possibly because it contained questionable Blue No. 1 dye. Healthline cites various studies that did not find any evidence that Blue No. 1 caused cancer. So, maybe we can relax our concerns for the next Pepsi Blue comeback.

Ritz is another company teasing us with limited releases of old favorites. On August 10, 2022, Ritz announced it was giving away 300 boxes of its Ritz Bits Sandwiches S'mores, a "Y2K classic." All you had to do was follow its Facebook page and leave a comment tagging a friend (via Facebook). So, you were supposed to get your friends all excited about the s'mores flavor rising from the grave, but only 300 were going to get a box? We're hoping they're planning a larger release to the general public later. Surely, they can't just tease and walk away. However, the whole thing was in honor of National S'mores Day (also on August 10), so maybe that was all we get (via Chew Boom).

The last time Ritz discontinued its Ritz Bits Sandwiches S'mores was in 2016 (via Twitter). However, at least one person reports still being able to buy them in Canada in 2022 (via Reddit), so there's certainly hope these tasty treats could show up on U.S. shelves again in the near future if we keep our fingers crossed.

A fun food from Y2K that is making a comeback is Frosted Grape Pop-Tarts. Back in 2020, Mashed listed Frosted Grape as a Pop-Tart flavor "you'll sadly never get to try again." But we were wrong. They're back! Grape Pop-Tarts first appeared back on shelves in April 2022. Hopefully, they're here to stay.

To herald their return, Pop-Tarts gave a grape-tastic prize to the first 50 fans who tagged and shared a "Frosted Grape look" on Instagram. Fans posted pictures of themselves with purple hair or wearing purple in an attempt to win a prize packet. The winners received a year's supply of Frosted Grape Pop-Tarts and a "Y2Grape Time Capsule" filled with purple Y2K memorabilia like a purple hat, grape lip gloss, butterfly hair clips, and more (via PR News Wire).

When Pop-Tarts first discontinued Frosted Grape, they said they did so because there weren't enough fans. But their scarcity before their demise may have been why they didn't sell as many, as one customer noted (via Twitter). However, plenty of people consider Frosted Grape Pop-Tarts their favorite, so it seems that the fans won on this one (via Influenster).

The comeback of Foot Loops Cereal Straws is a good example of how petitions may succeed in getting popular products back. According to USA Today, 81,000 people signed a petition on Change.org between 2017 and 2021 to get Cereal Straws back after a 12-year absence. Kellogg's not only brought back its Froot Loops straws but also its Cocoa Krispies straws.

Cereal straws look a little like pirouette cookies but with a cereal coating on the outside and flavor on the inside that you taste as you suck milk through the straw. The beauty of these straws is that you can eat them when you've finished drinking milk through them. So, you don't even have to wash a spoon.

If you can't find Froot Loops Cereal Straws in a grocery store near you, you can find them online. Each packet contains 18 green, yellow, orange, and red straws. The serving size is three straws, so you get six servings per package.

Fans are excited to see this 2000s food making a comeback. One even says that "these are the straws that will save the planet, not paper straws" (via Reddit). We wouldn't go quite that far with our praise unless you use an edible cup, too, but they certainly are making people happy.

Kellogg's Eggo Cereal made cereal lovers happy with two flavors when it was introduced in 2006: Cinnamon Toast and Maple Syrup. Fans were saddened when these cereals disappeared in 2012. Interestingly, a tweet in 2019 led the way for the return of this breakfast great. The tweet pleaded with Eggo to start making its cereal again. Eggo responded on National Waffle Day, saying that it would bring the cereal back if the post could get 10,000 retweets. Amazingly, it did. National Waffle Day was on August 24, and by November, the Twitter user became a hero of Eggo-cereal lovers everywhere when the cereal returned to store shelves.

Not only did Eggo start producing the newly named Maple Flavored Homestyle cereal, but it added Blueberry Waffle and Chocolate Waffle to its cereal repertoire as well (via Mashed). That's quite a task in such a short time. Some fans from the 2000s were amazed by how close to the original the comeback cereal was, while others weren't nearly impressed with the flavor, saying that the milk washed it away too quickly (via Reddit).

In 2021, some people were worried that Eggo Cereal had gone away again, but it only seemed to be a temporary shortage (via Reddit). As far as we know, Kellogg's has no intention of taking it off the shelves again so soon.

Burger King's first run with Chicken Fries was from 2005 to 2012. They came back for a limited time in 2014 (via Time) and were added to the permanent menu in 2015 only to disappear again in some locations.

In July 2020, Burger King's marketing director in the U.K., Katie Evans, said that Burger King was "delighted to be able to bring back another much-loved menu item" (via Tyla), which had been cut during the pandemic. Then in July 2022 Burger King decided to advertise them in an "odd yet hilarious way." Its Instagram ad featured a chicken fry lifeguard overseeing human hands dressed as pool-goers with swimsuits. The caption said, "Heart for honey mustard, comment for ketchup." So, why over-advertise what is already a fan favorite?

Burger King's Chicken Fries are well-loved and represent what focus-group testing indicated customers wanted. Not only did they provide customers with a chicken option in a burger-based fast food restaurant, but they were more like chicken fingers than chicken nuggets. BK Chicken Fries are made from single strips of white-meat chicken rather than ground chicken, making them much tastier than a nugget option. So, it's surprising they ever went away. 

Pizza Hut's P'Zone is an example of a relaunch gone wrong. Pizza Hut first put P'Zones on its menu in 2002 and launched them with a Super Bowl ad. They briefly resurfaced in 2007 and again in 2011 (via Mashed). However, when Pizza Hut tried to bring P'Zones back in 2018, fans said that the new version was "almost nothing like the original" and that "Pizza Hut should be embarrassed by this P'Zone" (via Reddit). Pizza Hut launched them once more in 2019 with a NCAA partnership and a social media campaign proclaiming that "A Legend Returns."

Pizza Hut tried to bring P'Zones back again in 2021, but they didn't sell well. One employee said they only sold 10-15 per week, and several customers noted that Pizza Hut should have advertised their P'Zones better (via Reddit). After all, people tend to buy their old standbys when they order pizza and may not look at the extended menu.

Once again, some said the latest P'Zones were nothing like the originals. A customer on Reddit said that the previous version seemed fresh with parmesan and oregano sprinkled on top, while the new ones are flavorless with parmesan baked into the dough.

P'Zones were nowhere to be found on the menu in the fall of 2022. Hopefully, when Pizza Hut tries to resurrect them again (as they seem fond of doing), they'll use the old recipe and get it right.

Spicy chicken is all the rage these days, so it makes sense that Wendy's has finally brought back its Spicy Chicken Nuggets. They first found their way to Wendy's menu in 2009, but they disappeared in 2017.

Fans of Wendy's Spicy Chicken Nuggets were devastated after discovering they were gone. An employee said that Wendy's removed them from the main menu because they weren't selling well. Supposedly, franchises could still buy them if they wanted to, but they weren't a requisite menu item anymore. So, in most places, they just disappeared (via Reddit).

Interestingly, Thrillist says it was Chance the Rapper who prompted Wendy's to return the Spicy Chicken Nuggets to its regular menu in 2019 after he tweeted a positive affirmation about getting Wendy's spicy nuggets back. Wendy's replied by saying, "Y'all keep asking, so here's your chance. The people in charge say if you guys can get our tweet (this one right here) to 2 Million likes, they will bring SPICY CHICKEN NUGGETS BACK. Let's freakin' do this!" More than 1.9 million people liked the post.

In the past few years, Wendy's seems to have no limits when it comes to social-media advertisements, which has kept fans looking to see what it will say next and craving menu items like spicy nuggets (via Facebook). With Wendy's staying in the social-media spotlight, we're hoping Wendy's Spicy Chicken Nuggets are here to stay.

Another food from the 2000s that returned in 2022 was Neapolitan Oreos. They were last seen on shelves in 2011 (via Elite Daily). Fans were happy when Twitter predicted their reappearance in June 2022. They were on the shelves as a limited-edition item by July 2022 (via Instagram).

Neapolitan Oreos are waffle-cone-flavored cookies triple-stuffed with vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate creme fillings, making them a much-sought-after treat. Chew Boom said that they would be around only while supplies last, which means you may not be able to find them anymore if they're already sold out in your area.

Some people thought they tasted exactly like "ice cream in a cookie" (via Influenster). However, not everyone likes them, which may be why they were limited edition. One person on Reddit said, "The waffle cookies are really bad and do not taste like an Oreo cookie. It almost had a cinnamon taste to it, which combines with the strawberry flavor into a weird mix that almost tastes more like cinnamon apple. Would have been much better on normal golden Oreos."

If you didn't catch these when they were available in a store near you, keep looking. They're bound to pop up again eventually.

The one familiar Mexican flavor notably absent from the chip master's portfolio, Doritos Guacamole made an auspicious debut in 2003, to joyous cheers from lovers of both Doritos and guac. Though the collection of dusted Doritos has expanded and contracted many times throughout the years, these glorious green crisps gathered a following, though it wasn't nearly big enough to justify continued production, and in 2006, parent company Frito-Lay pulled the rug out from under fervent fans. With low sales being the real reason Doritos Guacamole disappeared, it was back to making guacamole from scratch and spreading it on chips by hand like it was 2003 all over again.

Lo and behold, the nostalgia rush has brought a whisper on the wind that heralds the pending return of Doritos Guacamole. Though it won't be in time for Superbowl tailgating opportunities, this fan favorite will make a return sometime in spring of 2025. Who knows how long they'll be around for this time. Maybe if chip aficionados show mad love for Frito-Lay putting Doritos Guac back on the block, the zesty snack will have an even longer run this time. But it's best to jump on them as soon as they hit, just in case it doesn't work out.

An M&M's candy that incorporates a jelly essence into the peanut butter versions of the candy seems like a no-brainer. Yet it took until 2009 for the company to come up with something even marginal, in the form of Strawberried Peanut Butter M&M's, and even that didn't push the PB&J potential as far as it could have. But it caught the attention of candy lovers who salivated at the sweet possibilities — that is, until the flavor was pulled, leaving a chocolate-peanut-butter-and-jelly void in the candy world once again. All these confection connoisseurs had left were Reddit threads to confirm their memories of enjoying such an obvious treat.

A new year brings new opportunities, and M&M's has taken advantage of the 2025 reset to bring a fresh version of the old flavor to market as actual Peanut Butter and Jelly M&M's. Jelly flavoring incorporated into the candy coating provides a tricky twist that lets the chocolate interior surround a creamy peanut butter core. It's a confection whose time has come — again — and gives 2000s sugar fiends another chance to get their taste buds on a classic flavor blend in a timeless sweet that never seems to run out of candy-coated curveballs.

Fast food took on a new shape in 2006 when McDonald's introduced Snack Wraps to a clientele accustomed to burger-shaped geometry. A cult following for these crispy chicken tortilla twist-ups ensued, which made the company's 2016 decision to remove the wrap from the menu a much-maligned move. It seems that the disappearance was due to low sales, as well as the fact that franchisees weren't pleased with the production time the wraps consumed. The loss was enough to inspire petitions, email-writing campaigns, and ongoing online clamor that even pulled in big names like Doja Cat, who helped bring back Taco Bell's Mexican Pizza.

The positive pressure worked, and in 2025, the Snack Wrap will not only be making a celebrated return to McDonald's U.S. menu boards, it will be a featured item on the McValue Menu. This savvy stroke of marketing genius means eager eaters will be able to snatch up two for just a dollar more than the single wrap price. Keep an eye out for the catchy campaign that will surely precede McDonald's reinstituting the Snack Wrap. So far, there's just a tweet from the company's X.com account, stating simply, "snack wraps xx.xx.2025." Oh, the savory suspense!

Canada has had the lock on the tangy tomato-and-BBQ zest of All Dressed chips (what is the flavor, anyway?) for a good long time. Anyone fortunate enough to have connections to the Great White North may have developed a taste for this ketchup-like dust. But the wild zing had been sidestepped in the U.S. until Ruffles brought the international flavor to grocery and convenience stores, first in 2021 and again in 2023. It seems shelves have been absent of this unique treat long enough; as of September 2024, Ruffles has brought back its All Dressed version to tempt snackers old and new (chip lovers looking to forego the corrugated version can enjoy Lay's All Dressed instead in mid-January 2025).

If you've ever tried Ruffles All Dressed, you know what the fuss is all about, and you either love the tongue tingle that comes from the singular mix of seasonings that settle between the ridges or you decided at first taste that this blend was too bold for your chip-flavoring sensibilities. For those of us who fell under the spell of the singular All Dressed flavor profile, knowing there's a readily available American version of the Canadian classic is enough to inspire a grocery run to stock up. Ruffles could decide to lower the boom yet again, leaving you searching for hold-out bags being offered on eBay.

Anyone asking themselves "Whatever happened to Skittles Bubble Gum?" will be tickled to know that this come-and-go favorite from the early-2000s has made a comeback, though not in its original form. Hubba Bubba snatched up a collab with the creators of the tastable rainbow to create Hubba Bubba Mini Gum featuring the five original Skittles flavors. Having been around for a while, the new take on Skittles Bubble Gum appears to be more than just a limited-time lark — great news for long-time lovers of the treat hoping to have it as a possibly-permanent possibility.

What's different about this new incarnation of the Skittles you don't swallow? Rather than replicating the usual flying saucer form of the famous fruit-flavored candy, Hubba Bubba fills its shaker cup with rounded rectangular pellets. This provides more surface area for chewing, though it's still too tempting not to shake out a handful to make the bubble blowing more massive. It's also a great excuse to mix the flavors into one colossal fruit salad. The formula also creates a cooling sensation when first chewed, providing many ooh-and-aah moments as you work your way through the package. Who doesn't love an interactive reboot of a beloved 2000s candy aisle goodie?