Aim The present study aimed to examine the associations between dietary patterns and depressive symptoms in a Taiwanese population aged 53 years and over, and evaluate the longitudinal impacts of dietary patterns on depressive symptoms. Methods Data were from the Taiwan Longitudinal Study of Aging. Result Depressive symptoms were identified in 23% of adults aged ≥53 years. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that a Western dietary pattern, which was characterized by frequent consumption of meat/poultry and eggs, with infrequent consumption of fish, beans/legumes, vegetables and fruit, was cross‐sectionally associated with a high risk of depressive symptoms (P < 0.05). A traditional dietary pattern, which was characterized by frequent consumption of meat/poultry and eggs with infrequent consumption of fish, increased by 60% the risk of depressive symptoms during the subsequent 8 years (P < 0.05). A healthy dietary pattern, which was characterized by frequent consumption of fish, vegetables and fruits, was not significantly associated with subsequent depressive symptoms. Conclusions Dietary patterns correlate with depressive symptoms in a Taiwanese population aged 53 years and over. The Western and traditional dietary patterns, characterized by frequent consumption of meat/poultry and eggs, and infrequent consumption of fish, increased the risk of current and subsequent depressive symptoms. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2016; 16: 1289–1295.