Abstract Dietary trends and changing lifestyle patterns have been associated with the increasing occurrence of obesity in the Western world. These dietary trends are commonly studied using longitudinal food consumption surveys. An alternative to studying changes in eating behaviour may be found in recipe analysis of traditional cookbooks. Few such studies exist, however, and it is unclear whether dietary trends over time can be identified this way. The present paper analyses full-meal recipes from a traditional Dutch cookbook between 1950 and 2010. The selected recipes show an increase in energy density. Additionally, the protein weight per kcal increased. In general, the observed trends are similar to those identified by the Dutch National Food Consumption Survey. The analysis therefore suggests that traditional cookbooks can be used as an indicator to identify dietary trends over time, although further studies are necessary to support this hypothesis.