10 Foods To Get Excited About In February

At The Takeout, we live for new bites, inventive flavors, and weird promotional menu items. Looking ahead to February 2023, we see a mix of sweet treats to share with your sweetheart (lots of pink and red branding) and some savory items to enjoy solo, plus some deals unmistakably geared toward football fans.

Wherever your tastes fall, you'll find something fun to pick up in February. Keep in mind some of these limited-time-only items might not last through the month, so if you find yourself craving any of them, get on it.

Like a strawberry milkshake with two straws shared by sweethearts in a cozy diner booth, M&M's newest limited-time-only candy is heavy on the Valentine's Day theme. White Chocolate Strawberry Shake M&M's come in "colorful crunchy Valentine's Day themed candy shells" in pink, red, and green. Though green sounds out of place with the Valentine's Day color scheme, it appears to be a nod to the canonically sexy Green M&M character. You can find these candies on the brand's website or at Target and Walgreens.

This new Oreo, described by the brand as Oreo's "most playful cookie ever," has been given the title "The Most Oreo Oreo." What does that mean? It features the usual two chocolate-flavored cookies sandwiching a thick layer of creme filling—this is "Most Stuf" level, for you Oreo aficionados out there—but for the first time ever, the creme itself will have ground-up Oreo cookies mixed into it. It's "meta," and the brand is using it to promote Oreo's entry into the metaverse. This big ol' Oreo is only available for a limited time, so fans might want to jump on the presale. Yes, the cookie has a presale site. Otherwise, it hits store shelves nationwide starting January 30.

This new Halo Top ice cream flavor is completely on brand for the month of February. The pink-tinted Raspberry White Chip flavor features a creamy combination of raspberry ice cream and sweet crunchy bits. The 340-calorie pint retails for $4.99 and can be found at most major grocery stores nationwide. Since it's perfectly suited for the month of pink, this Halo pint won't stick around long. Get 'em while they're hot cold.

We don't need this, but we're certainly curious to give it a try. A true first from the Gatorade brand, this new energy drink is hitting shelves fast. Each bottle of Fast Twitch contains 200mg of caffeine (the equivalent of a couple shots of espresso) and flavors include Cool Blue, Glacier Freeze, Strawberry Watermelon, Strawberry Lemonade, Orange, and Tropical Mango. Because the drink was allegedly developed with sports performance experts, Gatorade notes in its press release that NFL players have already been swigging this stuff throughout the 2022/23 season. It's available nationwide, $23.99 for a 12-pack or $2.79 for a single 12-oz. bottle wherever you normally get your Gatorade.

Peeps are a divisive treat, but one thing is certain: The brand knows how to churn out endless new flavors and keep us all on our toes. This year, Peeps has dropped a whole spring lineup with some returning favorites and brand new flavors. The newest additions to the Peeps family are Dr. Pepper Peeps, Kettle Corn Peeps, and Mike and Ike–flavored Peeps Pops. You can find the Dr. Pepper flavor exclusively at Walmart, and the Kettle Corn Peeps are only available at Kroger stores.

Chili cheese dip and an ice cold beer are the ideal pairings for watching football, and Hormel has gone the deranged but potentially genius route of combining both flavors in one can. Hormel Chili Cheese Brew is a limited-edition beer available exclusively at this website, $24 for a four-pack while supplies last. Never forget that the month of February isn't just about Valentine's Day. It's also about sweaty professional athletes tackling each other while the nation watches between mouthfuls of chips, dip, and beer.

Although not technically "new," The Big New Yorker pizza from Pizza Hut will likely be new to many of the brand's Gen Z customers—the specialty pie debuted in the late '90s and is coming back on February 1 after a 24-year hiatus. The 16-inch pizza has six oversized, foldable slices with a crispy crust, sweet marinara sauce, and Parmesan oregano seasoning on top to embody New York flavor. The Big New Yorker drops onto the Pizza Hut menu on February 1 and starts at $13.99.

If you want something sweet and super exclusive to make you feel special in February, you could head over to Jamba and try the seasonal smoothie on the secret menu: the Chocolate Covered Strawberries smoothie. The not-so-secret and limited-time drink is essentially Jamba's Chocolate Moo'd smoothie but with added strawberry flavor. The festive treat will be available at the beginning of the month as part of the Underground menu, so it's only available via the Jamba app or website.

Post Consumer Brands

We love a good snack mashup, and this most recent collaboration between Post cereal and SNAX-Sational popcorn looks promising. The new Cereal Pop made with Fruity Pebbles combines two kinds of crunch, and it doesn't hurt that Fred and Barney on the bag stoke some serious nostalgia. The popcorn comes in at 150 calories per serving and will be available at Sam's Club nationwide in 20-ounce bags, reports Food Business News.

Two new flavors are coming to Ben & Jerry's "Topped lineup, whose pints all feature a layer of ganache just under the lid. Bossin' Cream Pie and Raspberry Cheesecake will be available for $5.49-$6.49 per pint. The Bossin' Cream Pie is meant to mimic a classic custard-filled doughnut, with a milk chocolate ganache layer atop vanilla custard ice cream swirled with cake pieces and pastry cream. The Raspberry Cheesecake, though, sounds unique in the dairy aisle: a layer of white chocolate ganache with graham cracker crumble sits on top of cheesecake ice cream with graham cracker pieces and raspberry swirls. The press release calls this flavor a "zingy, tart journey," and that's a journey we want to go on.