These 10 Trending Recipes Took the Internet by Storm in 2021

TikTok Pasta

All the way back in January, a TikTok for a baked feta pasta recipe went viral, followed by dozens of copycat recipe videos. The recipe is so simple to make: You just bake a block of feta cheese with tons of olive oil and cherry tomatoes, then add garlic, basil, red pepper flakes, and pasta. Voilà the simplest, yet tastiest recipe to come out of 2021 — as long as you use real feta cheese so the sauce doesn't get grainy. Don't like feta? No problem, this recipe has been adapted for other easy one-pan baked pasta dishes as well, like mac and cheese.

Bacon Jam

Bacon jam is another TikTok success. While the condiment is certainly not a new phenomenon, Chef Gordon Ramsey created a bacon jam craze when he posted a TikTok recipe for his egg and bacon jam toast. Chef John's Bacon Jam is known to be enjoyed on sandwiches, burgers, or even just crostini as an appetizer.

Birria Tacos

Birria is traditionally served as a meat stew, but this Mexican dish received new attention for a whole different reason this year. Thanks to social media, cooks everywhere are dousing their tortillas in the fat that floats at the top of the birria, then filling them with the meat, and frying them on the griddle. The crispy tacos are topped with onions and cilantro, and typically served with the broth on the side for dipping.

Crockpot Chicken

Who doesn't love a slow cooker dish? They're so easy to prep and anything cooked low and slow is going to be delicious. With people heading back into the office, slow cooker chicken meals are such an easy dinner to have ready to serve by the end of the workday. This honey-garlic chicken recipe is one of our highest rated slow cooker chicken recipes, and it only requires six pantry-staple ingredients.

• Get Inspired With our Collection of Slow Cooker Chicken Main Dishes

Hamantaschen

Hamantaschen are triangular cookies that are traditionally enjoyed during the Jewish holiday Purim, which occurred in March this year. The buttery cookies can be filled with jam — our recipe uses prune and apricot jam — as well as chocolate, dulce de leche, or cheese.

Squid Game Cookies

Not only did Squid Game make Google's list for top trending searches for TV shows, but it also made the list for recipes. While the search claims to be looking for cookies, the disks the players have to maneuver the shapes out of are actually dalgona candies. The candies are made from caramelized sugar and baking soda and the ones in Squid Game have shapes imprinted in them that the players have to cut out with a needle — and if they don't get it out in one piece? There are deadly consequences.

• I Tried Making Squid Game's Dalgona Candy—Here's What You Need to Know

Baked Oats

Baked oats are yet another 2021 trend courtesy of TikTok. The breakfast is quite easy to make, but the real reason people seem to love baked oatmeal is that it tastes like dessert but is relatively healthy. The recipe possibilities for baked oats are endless, but this recipe from Allrecipes editor Darcy Lenz for Apple Pie Baked Oatmeal takes the cake — or oat cake? You know what we mean.

Cicada

When the cicadas returned after a 17-year hiatus underground, apparently, they piqued the interest of some hungry people across cicada country. A few restaurants even started putting cicadas on their menus, which begged the question: Are cicadas safe to eat? The short answer is yes. But whether you enjoy eating them is a whole different question.

Gigi Hadid Pasta

Gigi Hadid shared her now-famous spicy vodka pasta recipe back in early-quarantine 2020 on her Instagram. It instantly took off on TikTok, and obviously the model's impact lasted through 2021 as well. And if you're not convinced that the recipe lives up to the hype, We Tried It's Annie Campbell gave it her gold star of approval too.

Smashed Potatoes

You can probably already guess where this recipe is from — yep, TikTok. Of course, Americans already loved potatoes, but this is a fun (and tasty) new way to make them. As the name suggests, to make smashed potatoes you take baby potatoes, smash them down, sprinkle them with seasoning, and bake them until they're a little crispy.

More Inspiration

• 99 Recipes You'll Want to Make Forever
• 30 Most Popular Copycat Recipes of All Time
• More Everyday Cooking Recipes