All-Time Favorite or All Time: Which Is Correct?

Use “all-time favorite” when you want to name something you like more than anything else in its category, as in “Mashed potatoes are my all-time favorite side dish.” The phrase “all time” alone does not have the same meaning; it usually needs other words around it, such as “of all time,” to make your meaning clear. You can also use “all-time favorite” more casually for something you hold in especially high regard, without making a literal comparison to everything you have ever tried.

In “all-time favorite,” the words “all” and “time” work together as a modifier before “favorite,” so we hyphenate them. You can use the same construction in phrases such as “an all-time favorite recipe” or “our all-time favorite potato dish.” The hyphen helps you read the two words together, whether “favorite” stands alone or describes a noun such as “recipe.”

Use “of all time” after the thing you are comparing: “This is my favorite potato recipe of all time.” You can also place it after a ranking, as in “That is one of my best dinners of all time,” although “one of my best dinners ever” may sound more conversational. To move the time reference before “favorite,” rewrite the first example as “This is my all-time favorite potato recipe”; do not use “of” in that position.

“All the time” refers to frequency or ongoing activity, so “We make potatoes all the time” means we make them often, not necessarily that they are our favorite. If you mean a dish ranks highest in your preferences, choose “all-time favorite”; if you mean you prepare it frequently, choose “all the time.” A favorite dish can be one you rarely make, and a frequently prepared dish is not automatically your favorite.

Check the product’s listed specifications when evaluating “all-time” is not “all the time”.

For a title that identifies a collection as a favorite across time, “all-time favorite” is a natural choice, as in our All-Time Favorite Potato Cooking Bundle. Our team uses that wording to introduce the 5-in-1 digital download of potato dishes, eBooks, guides, and checklists. When you write a similar title, keep the hyphen in “all-time” and use “favorite” to convey preference rather than frequency.