As Valentine’s Day approaches, love is certainly in the air, and on thousands of U.S. restaurant menus.

The prevalence of the word “love” — which is found everywhere from a meat-lovers pizza to a “From Russia with Love” cocktail — has slipped by 2% from both a year ago, but it still appears on nearly a quarter of menus overall.

What ingredient matches best with love, you ask? You may be surprised. Sausage is the ingredient that love is paired with most on menus, at 25.9%, followed by pizza, bacon, pepperoni and ham (critical toppings on a meat lover’s pizza.) But there are plenty of others.

“Heart” is on 21% of menus – with ingredients like hearts of palm, artichoke hearts, or a heart-shaped donut or pizza.

And “Valentine” is on less than 1% of menus – but the holiday is still important for foodservice operators to lure in crowds of couples and groups alike looking for a special occasion in the midst of what for much of the country are the final throes of winter.

Who loves love the most?

Women and millennials are a little more focused on food for Valentine’s Day, according to our Seasonal LTO report. About a quarter of women (24%) and Millennials (26%) associate Valentine’s with certain foods or flavors — including chocolate, Champagne, or pink and heart-shaped items — compared with less than one in five people overall.

According to our 2024 Winter Trends Report, double chocolate is the sweet flavor that’s most unique to winter menus, while lobster tail tops the savory ranking. But other top items can all be linked to Valentine’s Day: heart, candy cane, red velvet, chocolate syrup, ganache and milk chocolate (see the theme?). Sugar cookies, desserts drizzled or sweetened with honey, cocoa or hot chocolate and peanut butter are also especially common at this time of year.

But Valentine’s Day is not just about sweets and Champagne, consumers also associate a number of savory dishes with the holiday that align with a special occasion – like lobster, pasta and even pizza (we’re assuming they’re heart-shaped!)

Consumers’ views on Valentine’s Day foods

Here’s a look at what consumers think about these and other love-linked foods, according to our according to our FLAVOR database of food, beverages, and ingredients that tracks consumer interest:

However you choose to celebrate Valentine’s Day, know there are plenty of foods – both sweet and savory –  that speak the language of love.