My Favorite Viral Recipes I've Ever Made

These are the ones that actually live up to the hype.

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If you’ve been around for a while, you know I love trying viral recipes. When a recipe or a food trend starts blowing up my feed, I honestly can’t help myself. I have to know if it’s good or if it’s all a lie. A lot of it is curiosity, but I also want to let you guys know too. Someone has to weed through all the bad ones and report back on the ones that are worth your time. And, I’ve volunteered as tribute!

Over the years, I’ve made a lot of them. Like, a lot. Many of them are pretty…meh. But, plenty of them have also blown my mind in a good way. I figured it’s time to round up some of my all-time faves.

If you’re going to make your way through this list (and I really think you should!), there are a few things that would be super helpful.

• A good baking sheet. At least four of these recipes live and die by the baking sheet. The parmesan potatoes, the onion ring chips, the pickle sandwich, and the crispy rice—all of it needs a quality sheet pan that heats evenly and doesn’t warp in the oven.

• Parchment paper. Not negotiable. The cheese-based recipes especially (looking at you, parmesan potatoes and onion ring chips) will stick to anything that isn’t parchment. I buy the pre-cut sheets and will never go back.

• A Dutch oven or large pot with a lid. This is what you need for the dumpling lasagna—you’re essentially using it as a steamer. It’s also just one of those things that earns its counter space over and over again. Mine gets used multiple times a week.

• Ramekins. These are the vessels for the dumpling lasagna, but I love using them all the time. They’re also perfect for the Japanese cheesecake.

• A good peeler. For the carrot ribbon salad, your peeler is actually your main tool—it’s what creates those long, beautiful ribbons. A sharp one makes the whole process faster and way more satisfying. A dull one will make you want to give up. Don’t give up, just get a better peeler.

• A blender. The lemon-tahini dressing for the shawarma salad comes together in a blender and that’s really the only way to get it silky smooth. I use mine for dressings, sauces, and soups constantly—it’s probably the single most-used appliance in my kitchen.

You can shop all of my kitchen favorites over on my Amazon Storefront—I keep it updated with exactly what I’m actually using.

Sometimes, the best things come in small packages – at least, that’s the case when it comes to this recipe! My Viral Crispy Garlic Parmesan Crusted Potatoes uses mini Yukon gold potatoes and only 7 other ingredients for a simple side dish that is anything but basic. This recipe went wildly viral when I shared it (50 MILLION VIEWS on Instagram!), and for a good reason. After all, what could be better than potatoes smothered in butter and parmesan cheese?!

I have to include my Chicken Shawarma Crispy Rice Salad because it’s the recipe that I am probably most proud of. Growing up, my dad made homemade chicken shawarma all the time, and this salad is my love letter to those flavors. Chicken thighs seasoned with turmeric, cumin, cinnamon, and garlic, cooked until tender and golden. Persian cucumbers, baby tomatoes, red onion, dill pickles, and fresh mint. And then the crispy rice piled on top of everything. The dressing is Greek yogurt blended with tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and a drizzle of honey, and it ties the whole bowl together in the best possible way. This is the salad that started my whole crispy rice era, and I will never get tired of it.

My friends Stella and Snejana were both posting their versions of these Viral Crispy Onion Ring Chips and I knew immediately that I needed to try it. The concept is simple: grate parmesan cheese directly onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, lay thin-sliced onion rounds right on top, brush with olive oil, hit it with Italian seasoning, and bake. That’s it. Four ingredients total. The cheese crisps up, the onions get perfectly tender and caramelized, and the whole thing tastes like a pizza-flavored chip. I served mine with warm pizza sauce for dipping and it was perfect. The hype is 100% earned.

Okay, I’ll be real — my expectations for this Viral Japanese Cheesecake were pretty low. Yogurt and Biscoff cookies do not scream “cheesecake” to me. But then I tried it and I was completely sold. You push the Biscoff cookies straight down into the Greek yogurt, cover it, and refrigerate overnight. I also added raspberry jam, but you don’t have to. By morning, the cookies have softened into this cake-like layer and the yogurt turns thick and custardy. Does it taste exactly like cheesecake? Of course not. But it’s creamy, lightly tangy, subtly sweet, and weirdly satisfying — and it works just as well for breakfast as it does for dessert.

The moment someone called this Viral Carrot Ribbon Salad “edible skincare,” I was fully in. You know I love a good skincare routine and I love food equally, so the combination of both? Done. This salad is just peeled carrot ribbons tossed in a sesame-soy dressing with honey, lime juice, fresh herbs, and sesame seeds. It comes together in about 10 minutes and it’s bright and fresh and genuinely delicious. The carrot-as-retinol angle is real too — carrots are loaded with beta carotene, which is basically nature’s version of retinol. Whether or not it clears your skin, I cannot promise. But I can tell you it tastes amazing and I’ve made it more times than I can count.

I love dumplings a lot, but I do not always have the patience to fold them. This Viral Dumpling Lasagna is the solution to that problem. You mix a classic dumpling filling — ground pork, napa cabbage, mushrooms, ginger, garlic, sesame oil — layer it in ramekins with wonton wrappers (your lasagna sheets, essentially), pour in a little water, and steam the whole thing for 20 minutes in a Dutch oven. The wrappers soften into tender, silky layers, the filling stays juicy, and the whole thing delivers every bit of that cozy dumpling magic without the fussy assembly.

I know. I know what you’re thinking. When I first saw this Viral Low-Carb Pickle Sandwich, I was skeptical too. Pickles as bread sounded a little unhinged to me. But here’s the thing — the cheese melts together and hardens as it cools, giving the pickle “buns” actual structure. They hold up. I filled mine with romaine, turkey, pesto, and pickled red onions, and it was so good. Crispy on the outside, briny, fresh, and satisfying. If you’re a pickle person, this one is completely non-negotiable.

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