As a restaurant owner or manager, you know how important social media is to your overall marketing strategy. With the ever-growing presence of TikTok, this is one platform you want to start paying attention to if you aren’t already.
In this article, we look at food trends to follow on TikTok. By following these trends, you can not only get ideas for unique food items to highlight in your restaurant, but you can get great tips for posts of your own.
TikTok is transformative in many ways, and the more time you spend on the platform, you’ll notice how TikTok is changing the way people eat and even what they eat. TikTok users are obsessed with food, and they see food as a way to connect with others. (tweet this)
So, take some of these food trends and use them for tips for your own posts. Keep the trend but make it unique to your restaurant for the best success.
Dalgona Coffee
Sometimes called whipped coffee, Dalgona coffee has over two billion views on TikTok.
It’s a creamy, caffeinated beverage that became really popular during the Covid lockdown in 2020. People were desperate for their favorite coffees, and this drink hit the spot for many. Korea is the country of origin for this drink, but TikTok made it famous.
In Korean, Dalgona means “it’s sweet.” What’s so great about this delicious drink? It’s made with only three ingredients: instant coffee, sugar, and boiling water. You simply mix it until it’s light and fluffy. You can add it to a glass of milk with ice.
Baked Feta Pasta
With millions of views and the hashtag #fetapasta, more and more TikTok users are flocking to this food trend.
The key to trends such as baked feta pasta is that many of them use ingredients already found in your pantry. They’re usually quick and easy, so they become popular quite quickly. That was the case for this food trend.
Baked feta pasta can be eaten on its own or as a dip. It’s easy to make with six ingredients: cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, chilis, garlic, pasta, and a bit of basil.
Pasta Chips
Another famous TikTok pasta dish, this one is also quite easy. This trend has people boiling pasta, dressing it up, and then putting it in the air fryer until crispy.
This recipe is versatile and easy to tailor to your own tastes. For example, add cinnamon sugar for a sweet chip, or you can add some cumin, garlic, and chili powder for an extra special savory treat.
Smashed Vegetables
This TikTok craze started with potatoes, but you can make it with a number of vegetables, including Brussels sprouts.
Simply season, bake, and smash. The seasonings are up to you.
Vegetable Burger Buns
From just two videos came one of the biggest trends on TikTok.
The person who created this recipe swaps the traditional burger bun for a bell pepper that is hollowed out and cut in half.
People love this recipe because it’s easy and healthy. This trend certainly hit a niche market with much fewer carbs than traditional buns.
Corn Ribs
In another famous plant-based dish, all you need to do is cut the corn down the middle and into quarters. You want your corn to look like a traditional barbecue rib. You also leave some of the core intact.
Next, you add olive oil and spices and air fry. Perhaps the best part is you then serve it with dipping sauces.
Cloud Bread
This is the most viral food trend ever on TikTok, with more than three billion views.
While Cloud Bread has been around since the 1970s and the Atkins diet, it became trendy in the last year or so.
People love this fluffy, puffy bread. It’s made with just egg whites, sugar, and cornstarch. Basically, it’s a soft baked meringue. But it’s marketed as bread and infamously popular on TikTok.
You can even add food coloring for festive clouds of bread.
Pancake Cereal
This is another one of the most popular food trends on TikTok with over one billion views.
TikTok users find this amazing take on cereal as one of their most favorite ever. And, yes, it’s just like it sounds. It’s mini pancakes in your cereal bowl.
Frozen Honey
The gift of the honeybee, it’s odd to think that you can freeze honey, but TikTok has again proved on trend with frozen honey.
TikTok users squeezed honey into a popsicle that could be frozen, and the internet went crazy.
Dalgona Candy
Like the Dalgona coffee, this is an incredibly popular Korean snack that went mainstream on TikTok.
Made from melted sugar and baking soda, the Netflix series Squid Games made it popular as TikTok users filmed themselves trying to carve a symbol on the candy, just like in the series.
Final Thoughts
TikTok is definitely a platform worth looking at for your own restaurant. As you do so, take a look at the hashtag #foodtok. This is one of the most prominent hashtags on the platform, and it’s a true content cornerstone on the platform.
FoodTok is a place where TikTok users exchange and share recipes, tips, tricks, favorite products, and more. You can use TikTok to learn more about food trends and to learn what might engage your own restaurant followers. (tweet this) It can also help you find out about upcoming food trends.
According to the New York Times, using TikTok is the fastest way to become a food star. More than one billion people worldwide spend a great deal of their time watching TikTok videos.
Now that you know some of the most recent food trends, you have plenty of tips for posts to get you started.
At Restaurant Engine, not only do we create great, responsive websites, but you can count on us to create a website and online menu that works with your TikTok posts, too. Let us help you make the perfect site that draws customers in, improves your conversion rate, and enables you to grow your business! Ready to take the plunge and create a new website? Get your free website consultation today!
Images: Alexander Shatov and Markus Winkler on Unsplash