From “girl dinner” to “WaterTok,” countless food trends cropped up on TikTok in 2023. In addition to new vocabulary and approaches to eating and drinking, the platform also gave rise to plenty of viral recipes.
Short ingredient lists, quippy titles and true creativity are hallmarks of many TikTok-famous dishes. And while some of this year’s top recipes were easier to pull off at home than others, the joy of trying to bring these dishes to life off-screen was enough for the masses.
Below, we’ve rounded up 13 recipes that made a splash on TikTok in 2023.
Marry Me Chicken
While the concept of “Marry Me Chicken” dates back long before this year, the prospect of cooking a chicken dish so delicious it will lead to marriage proposals had a big moment on TikTok in 2023. The recipe that went viral on the platform is a Tuscan-style chicken with a creamy parmesan tomato sauce.
Pickles In A Blanket
The appeal of a viral TikTok recipe often lies in its simplicity. And it doesn’t get much simpler than “pickles in a blanket.” As TikTok user @clurmurr demonstrated, all you have to do is fry some cheese in a pan, add a pickle spear and then wrap the browned goodness around it.
Strawberry Bites
Over the summer, TikTokers looking for a homemade sweet treat found inspiration in “strawberry bites.” Also described as “chocolate-covered strawberry yogurt clusters,” these little delights are made by combining yogurt and sliced strawberries, freezing the mixture in clusters and then dipping them in melted chocolate before again freezing the final product.
Feta Fried Eggs
Year after year, at least one egg-based dish explodes on TikTok, and 2023 was no exception. Food writer and recipe developer Grace Elkus shared her recipe for “five-minute feta fried eggs” in July. Again, the concept is simple: Crumble feta around the perimeter of a skillet, crack an egg in the center, season it to your taste and then cover the pan and let the combination turn into a crispy, yolk-y wonder.
Lemon Sea Salt Popcorn
Want to jazz up your movie night? Plenty of TikTok users did just that with the popular lemon sea salt popcorn recipe. The combination of citrus and popcorn might not seem obvious, but it turns out mixing lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and popcorn makes for a refreshing snack.
Fruit Roll-Up Ice Cream
Another rather unorthodox TikTok food trend was the decision to combine Fruit Roll-Ups and ice cream. Apparently, if you unroll one of the fruity snacks and add a scoop of ice cream, you can then fold it back up around the frozen treat. The result is a handheld dessert with a satisfying crunch.
Big Mac Smash Burger Tacos
Can’t choose between burgers or tacos? Why not try your hand at a TikTok recipe that contains both? Enter the Big Mac Smash Burger Tacos. Press ground beef into a tortilla, cook it in a pan, add a slice of cheese and finish off with your burger toppings of choice.
Cottage Cheese Ice Cream
It seems TikTokers couldn’t get enough of unconventional frozen treats this year because another trending combination was “cottage cheese ice cream.” To create the dessert, all you have to do is blend cottage cheese with your mix-ins of choice (popular picks include honey, fruit and graham crackers) and place it in the freezer.
Cowboy Candy
As with “Marry Me Chicken,” “Cowboy Candy” certainly did not originate on TikTok but it had a banner year on the platform in 2023. The term refers to candied jalapeños, which can bring the perfect combination of spicy and sweet to your dish of choice. Many fans like to sprinkle cowboy candy on crackers with cream cheese, but you might also add it to sandwiches, nachos, chili, bagels, salads and more.
Chicken Cobbler
We tend to associate cobbler with desserts like the famous peach cobbler, but this TikTok recipe is a savory take on the food. “Chicken cobbler” is a casserole dish made with rotisserie chicken, biscuits (preferably Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits), cream of chicken soup and frozen peas and carrots.
Lasagna Soup
When SZA came across a video of TikToker @dannylovespasta enjoying a bowl of lasagna soup, the singer-songwriter had one request: “RECIPE PLEASE KING.” His subsequent video sharing how he makes this sort of deconstructed lasagna quickly captivated the masses, many of whom tried to recreate the gooey tomato-y goodness.
Hwachae
Over the summer, the TikTok world was captivated by a refreshing summer beverage: hwachae. A general term for Korean punches, hwachae can be made with fruit or edible flowers, but the versions that went viral on the platform typically involved watermelon, lemon-lime soda, milk and other cut-up fruits.
Cucumber And Sweet Pepper Salad
The TikTok-famous cucumber and bell pepper salad dish is simple yet packed with flavour. Chop up mini cucumbers and sweet peppers and then add Everything But The Bagel seasoning, ginger dressing and chilli crunch oil. Et voila!