Most popular TikTok food 2021

These are officially 2021’s most popular TikTok recipes

Fried cheese connoisseurs rise up

trash

People had plenty of time to recreate popular TikTok recipes back when lockdown hit last year, so no-one was expecting 2021 to come up with even more iconic viral eats.

TikTok is helpful for learning hacks, challenges and dances – but the cursed food combo might be the greatest thing to come from the app yet. From pickle juice-soaked Takis to chocolate tagliatelle, the ease and weirdness of each dish has drawn people in droves to try them out for themselves.

Well – I’ve got good news and bad news.

The good news? You get to take a trip down memory lane with me as TikTok have released the official list of this year’s most popular recipes. The bad news? You get to gag at videos of pesto-covered eggs once again.

tiktok food

1. Tortilla Trend – 4.7 billion views

@ogtacosebOur twist on the #tortillatrend Let us know what you think!! #ogtacos #quesabirria #fyp #bayarea

♬ Buss It – Erica Banks

To ease you in gently, we’ll start off with one of the tastier dishes on offer. The tortilla trend revolutionised how we wrapped our quesadillas and burrowed into our burritos. Who knew cooking a tortilla on a griddle and quartering it would work so well?

2. Baked Feta Pasta – 1.1 billion views

@d_shabaI can eat this everyday bye ✨ #fetapasta

♬ original sound – d_shaba

I can only apologise.

Feta Pasta’s somewhat cursed moment feels like it happened five years ago, but can you believe it only came about in February? This dish originated from Denmark and spawned some nasty-looking sequel versions. Does anyone remember that one woman who made baked cheese chocolate spaghetti? Foul.

3. Pasta Chips – 1 billion views

@bostonfoodgramPASTA CHIPS✨ #fyp #homecook #airfryer #foodontiktok #pastachips #tiktoktailgate #foryou #tiktokrecipes #boston #bostonfood

♬ Do It – Chloe x Halle

Come on, own up. Which one of you thought it’d be a good idea to put penne pasta in the air fryer? Don’t get me wrong, it’s absolutely genius. But who looks at a bag of fusilli and thinks “fry up material”? Regardless, this became one of the most popular TikTok recipes in 2021.

4. Nature’s Cereal – 934.4 million views

@natures_foodnature’s cereal #fruit #fruits #share

♬ original sound – 🥭Fruits & Leaves🍃

I simply refuse to believe Lizzo had us all spoon-feeding ourselves frozen pomegranate seeds in water, thinking we were gurus of health. It didn’t happen – sorry!

5. Baked Oats – 932.5 million views

@jackiesfooddiary#bakedoats for the first time 🤗 #oatmeal #quickrecipe #bakedoatmeal #foodie #VideoSnapChallenge #trendingrecipes #fyp

♬ telepatía – Kali Uchis

Once you get over the initial “it tastes like CAKE” hype, you start to realise you actually just made stodgy porridge with a crust on top. You can’t make Ready Brek nice, no matter how many add-ons you sprinkle over it. You either have to accept that porridge is grim and get it down you anyway, or avoid it forever – like me.

6. Pesto Eggs – 237.9 million views

@thekoreanveganThe man who became my #soulmate. #pestoeggs #foodtiktok #storytime #vegan

♬ Somewhere In Between – August Wilhelmsson

As a long-time pesto hater (I don’t think it’s meant for humans), this has to be the worst trend on the list. Fried eggs slathered in herby green stuff will never be a winner, particularly when you put it in a sandwich. I swear TikTokers are just making meals out of leftovers at this point.

7. Spicy Pickled Garlic – 222.6 million views

@jorimezudaReply to @jncrl_omsim Pickled Garlic Snack #garlicsnack #pickledgarlic #pickledgarlicsnack #pickledgarlictrend @lalaleluu #sriracha #redchili #spicy

♬ Monkeys Spinning Monkeys – Kevin MacLeod & Kevin The Monkey

Did anyone else come home from school on a Friday afternoon to virtually empty cupboards? So you’d make a struggle snack out of any crackers, condiments and seasonings you had left over from the week? Yeah. This.

You fill your pickled garlic clove jar (?!) up with sriracha sauce, then dust it with thyme and chili pepper flakes. I guess you’re meant to just dig straight in with a fork afterwards? Who knows? They might’ve been on to something there.

8. Birria Ramen – 71.6 million views

@birrierialakoritaBirria ramen #foryou #fyp #birriaramen @hildali @pachas09_oficial @jolinay18

♬ El Sandwich – Banda Fresa Roja

This is genuinely one for all the instant noodle fiends out there. You’ve probably tried cracking an egg on top, stirring in string cheese and sprinkling over spring onions for *flavour* – but have you tried this?

A Mexican-Japanese fusion, birria ramen involves topping your plain noodles with spicy, stewed, shredded beef. Would definitely recommend.

9. Salmon Rice Bowl – 61.3 million views

@emilymarikoBest lunch of the week!

♬ original sound – Emily Mariko

A high-effort bowl you could probably buy in your local Itsu, but did that stop me from attempting to make it for lunch? Absolutely not. Totally worth the mess in my kitchen, salmon stuck to the bottom of my pan and hours spent online trying to find kewpie mayo.

10. Fried Cheese – 33.6 million views

@burr.its.stina This should just be a foodie tik tok 😂❤️ so bomb #foodtiktok #fyp #koreanhotdog #friedcheesesticks ♬ Body (Remix) [feat. ArrDee, E1 (3×3), ZT (3×3), Bugzy Malone, Buni, Fivio Foreign & Darkoo] – Tion Wayne & Russ Millions

It sounds really bad for you, and that’s probably because it is. But I can’t stop watching mukbangs, recipes and restaurant videos all about fried cheese. The stretchy synthetic mozzarella, the glistening granulated sugar, the fluffy crunch of the ingrained potatoes. I’m hooked.

Related stories recommended by this writer:

This TikTok photo hack is genius and ensures banging pics every time

2020core: The hellish new TikTok trend where people wish they were in lockdown again

Investigating whether Flossie and Olivia are mates again after their rumoured fall out