The 10 Best TikTok Food Trends of 2022

Who knew the way to make an already beloved pasta go viral would be simply to supersize it? Gigantic, 12-inch-long fusilli was the key to this TikTok trend. La Fabbrica della Pasta Gragnano, the brand that produces the enormous noodle, sells a 500g bag for $9.99 plus shipping. When done right, the upside to giant fusilli is that sauce will find its way into every crevice of that big ol’ coil so each bite is packed with flavor. We never would have found out about these, if not for TikTok.

Tired of having the same old boring sandwich for lunch? This TikTok creator roped in thousands of viewers with a special set of dice that determine their sandwich fate. Roll for sandwich is a system based on Dungeons & Dragons developed by TikTok user @adventuresinaardia. The selections for each category sometimes change from roll to roll; a certain roll of the dice might dictate double portions of a given ingredient or require another roll. Whatever the case, the dice ultimately determine what the sandwich will consist of. While we probably won’t be building our own lunch this way, @adventuresinaardia proves that sometimes it’s just better to leave things up to chance.

The TikTok account New World Cuisine helped keep recipe videos from growing stale this year (as they threaten to do every year). Take a look at this stop-motion video of an anthropomorphized chicken breast peeling a tomato and beheading shrimp only to eventually chop itself up and turn the whole bunch of ingredients into meatballs. Some might find it a little creepy that this raw chicken breast is prepping itself to be eaten, but we know for certain this got your attention. In fact, that video currently has 24.7 million views, inspiring other creators to get good and weird, too.

Move over, charcuterie, there’s something new and greasy in town: the butter board. If you somehow haven’t heard about this culinary phenomenon yet, it consists of softened butter spread out artfully on a wooden board and then covered in delicious things, served with crusty bread for spreading and dipping. Although likely not the most sanitary way to partake in a serving of butter, these boards truly took over in 2022. They weren’t born on TikTok—they’re the brainchild of chef Joshua McFadden—but FoodTok influencers such as Justine Doiron helped launch the trend into the stratosphere.

Although this cooking method for pasta did not originate on TikTok, it did proliferate there, and we nonetheless appreciated coming across the hack on the video platform. Instead of heating water on the stove and then adding the dry pasta once the water’s at a rolling boil, you simply place dry pasta in a microwave-safe bowl, cover it with water, then microwave it until cooked. This pasta hack saves some time and energy versus the usual method (especially if you use a gas stove) and is highly useful for anyone lacking a full kitchen. Dorm-room cooking is cool again.

Behold, the video that launched a thousand cocktails. This HBO promo clip thrust the Negroni Sbagliato (with Prosecco) into the 2022 spotlight. Before Emma D’Arcy, of HBO’s House of the Dragon, seductively uttered the phrase “a Negroni Sbagliato... with Prosecco in it,” some of us had never even heard of this twist on a classic. The drink itself is simple: Normally a Negroni is equal parts gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth, garnished with an orange, but the Sbagliato swaps out the gin for Prosecco or any kind of sparkling wine. And in 2022, everyone ordered one.

Brazil brought the world a whole lotta joy this year with the revelation that a can of light beer can become a refreshing cocktail with a vulgar name. Cerveja na bundinha, the Brazilian art of drinking a beer “in the ass,” goes like this: flip a can of macro lager upside down, use something sharp to poke a few holes in the bottom, fill the divot of the can’s underside with coarse salt, squeeze lime juice over the salt, then drink—the beer will come up through the holes, past the salt and lime, and bring all three flavors to your lips at once. The trend gained so much traction in 2022 that people now post videos showing off their efficient na bundinha contraptions that drill holes into the beer can with one swift push.

Unless you live in Utah, you probably have Olivia Rodrigo and TikTok to thank for bringing Dirty Soda to the attention of the general public in 2022. “Dirty soda” is a combination of pebble ice, soda, flavored syrups, and sometimes fruit, topped with cream or milk, creating stunning swirl effects in the cup. Mormon people have been up on this trend for a long time (spurred perhaps by the church’s prohibition of coffee, alcohol, and other typical “fun” beverages), but after Olivia Rodrigo posed with a cup from a chain called Swig, which claims to have originated the drink, #dirtysoda TikTok blew up.

Using vinegar to create a refreshing drink is nothing new, but the practice found viral fame on TikTok in 2022. The idea in the video above is that “healthy Coke” can be made by mixing LaCroix and balsamic vinegar, but we’re not interested in making healthy coke. We’re interested in making a shrub.

Shrubs are vinegar-based beverages flavored with various ingredients, typically fruit, herbs, and spices, diluted with your liquid of choice, often still or sparkling water. Switchel is a drink similar to a shrub that involves water, vinegar, and sweetener. It may not immediately sound tasty if you’ve never had one, but don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.

Grinder-style sandwiches are enjoyed by many already, but when TikTok user @ohheyimgray posted their version it had a ripple effect on the sandwich community of TikTok.

Starting with a semicircle of focaccia split in half and toasted, Gray’s sandwich is assembled from 21 ingredients in all: 6 meats, 3 cheeses (including multiple layers of Parmesan), tomatoes, and a “Grinder Salad” composed of iceberg lettuce and onion with freshly made dressing. Gray advised that the “Grinder Salad” could be added to any sandwich, and TikTok users took it away from there.