Viral / Popular / Social Media Recipes & Food Trends that are actually good! (Or were a disaster!)

Saregama · February 16, 2026, 10:08pm

I have been obsessing over Dumpling Lasagna since I saw it, and am about to go out and buy wonton wrappers and ground turkey or pork to take the plunge.

Will probably make Deconstructed Dumpling Noodles while I’m at it, which I also saw on social media.

Got me wondering about the food trends we get sucked into because we see them on social media or they go viral there and then start showing up in other food publications, and which of those end up actually tasting great and make it into our repertoires – or we never feel the need to make again!

The first one I remember making the rounds was the Tik Tok Feta Pasta (which originally came from a Finnish blogger).

Have you made any “trending” recipes that have worked out well? Or that totally bombed?

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wabi · February 16, 2026, 10:59pm

The baked feta pasta recipe is good. I make it whenever we have a surplus of grape tomatoes, my wife loves feta in dishes.

ricepad · February 17, 2026, 12:17am

I made deconstructed dumplings/lasagna a couple of weeks ago. They turned out fine, and I may do it again. I was thinking that in ramekins, they might make a nice first course for a CNY dinner. No real recipe, though. Half a pound of ground pork, about half a pound of shrimp, a good knob of ginger, some water chestnuts, and a few rehydrated shiitake mushrooms, all minced up and blended into the pork. Add some cornstarch, sherry, soy, sesame oil, and white pepper. Mix it up well, then layer into ramekins with some skins. Steam until done (I think I went to 150F internal). Serve with some chili crisp or your favorite source of heat plus black vinegar and soy sauce.

GretchenS · February 17, 2026, 1:54am

I really look forward to your reports on these recipes!! They both look intriguing.

Sunshine842 · February 17, 2026, 11:37am

When the TikTok pasta hit the socials during the height of lockdown, I figured that woth roasting those ingredients together it couldnt be awful, and it was something different!

I still make it because its delicious and easy.

Saregama · February 17, 2026, 6:01pm

This is encouraging!

I’m think I’m going with ground turkey, because the ground pork I can get is very fatty (over 20%), and season the mixture along the lines of shiu mai. WIll add veg similar to what you mentioned, plus maybe some cabbage and carrot to bulk up the meat a bit (& add “health” lol).

Shiu mai filling as burgers and meatballs is also very effective – I’m surprised that dumpling meatballs or burgers haven’t been made viral yet!

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Saregama · February 17, 2026, 6:02pm

I don’t like feta much, but I’ve thought about trying it with something else creamy, like Boursin, or even plain cream cheese. One of these days.

Saregama · February 17, 2026, 6:38pm

Forgot about a few kabab / kebab tricks:

1) Sheet pan Koobideh / Kefta / Adana Kababs – this technique of skipping forming the kababs and just separating the block of meat on the sheet pan works great!

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2) “Smashed” Kababs / Koobideh – aka easy Lahmacun (tried but no pic – works great!) – kabab mixture flattened on a pita or tortilla, griddled, and then topped or stuffed & rolled. Same technique for Smashed Tacos.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cte1rgDA2Aw/

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3) Homemade “rolled” Doner kabab – still to try (I’ll squeeze out the onions though):

GretchenS · February 17, 2026, 8:30pm

Fascinating technique. Another one I can’t wait to hear a report on!

MunchkinRedux · February 18, 2026, 12:44am

NYT also had a version of this (gift link):

GretchenS · February 18, 2026, 1:55am

Thanks @MunchkinRedux, I have no idea how I missed that! Have you tried it?

MunchkinRedux · February 18, 2026, 2:18am

No, I haven’t tried it, but I agree it looks promising. It’s high on my list. I’ve been waiting for spring when our herbs come in, and we stage our annual Greek Week.

Saregama · February 21, 2026, 3:56am

Came across a meatball-like no-wrap dumpling which also looks good:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DUXAiWKikvj

This kid’s knife and cooking skills are pretty impressive:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DUyS2q0EZ3R

MidwesternerTT · February 21, 2026, 6:16pm

I tried the Boursin cheese and cherry tomatoes pasta which blogger got from TikTok. Big disappointment - how can herby cheese/tomatoes turn into a flavorless dish?

Saregama · February 21, 2026, 6:29pm

That’s so odd, and disappointing!
Boursin is so popular as a pasta toss-in, and roasted tomatoes are never not delicious.
Wonder if it was the blogger’s proportions – as in, too much pasta for the amount of Boursin & tomatoes?

Saregama · February 24, 2026, 2:51am

Snow day made for some kitchen fun.

DUMPLING “LASAGNA”

I used ground turkey instead of pork, so maybe I should have used more liquid than called for to compensate for the fat difference. But I doubled the vegetable content (cabbage, carrot, black mushrooms), so that balanced the moisture of the filling. Forgot the cabbage leaf layers, though I put chopped cabbage inside.

This is easy, and probably even easier as a larger portion rather than individual serving.

Reminded me of a wonton wrapper lasagne I made a while back (here and here).

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“BLANKET” / NO-WRAP DUMPLINGS

These also worked, but were harder to extract from my non-stick pan (maybe I needed some more oil).

Same filling, different method – spoonfuls onto a pan, plop a wrapper on top and squeeze. Better filling to wrapper ratio than the lasagne, though.

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SMASHED KOOBIDEH KEBAB / CHEATER’S LAHMACUN

I decided to use up the other half of the package of ground turkey and some frozen flour tortillas.

I’ve made this the other way around before, starting a flour tortilla on a pan, spreading it with the seasoned mixture, and then finishing it in the oven.

Both ways work well, but depending on what’s in the kabab, it can get a bit sticky to cook the meat side directly on the pan. (I made a piyaz salad with arugula instead of parsley, and garlic-mint yogurt.)

MunchkinRedux · February 24, 2026, 12:06pm

A trifecta of good eats! I want them all.

Zoeliculious · February 24, 2026, 2:37pm

I think I made the tomato feta pasta once after it went viral.

Baking feta in tomatoes was already a thing in Greek cuisine, usually served as a meze.

Mixing the pasta in was new I guess!

I haven’t made too many viral recipes, or I can’t think of any.

I did seek out Tompouce, a Mille Feuille with pInk icing, after seeing them on IG..Haven’t made them but I convinced a local Dutch café to make them, and they’re now on the menu!

LulusMom1 · February 24, 2026, 5:37pm

I make it fairly often, always with Boursin, since LLD isn’t a fan of feta.

MunchkinRedux · February 24, 2026, 9:05pm

The Tik Tok folded quesadilla is a little dated, but I remain a fan: