Love it or hate it, the cottage cheese boom was impossible to escape this year. According to TikTok’s annual Year on TikTok report, “cottage cheese in everything” was actually the #1 trend of the year. From bread to ice cream to cookie dough, we covered a lot of cottage cheese-adjacent recipes this year as people rushed to include this polarizing ingredient in everything they could think of. The common verdict amongst all of us at BuzzFeed was that they weren’t all that bad! Actually, they were…dare I say…good.

Today, you can still find thousands of cottage cheese recipes on TikTok, many with the goal of adding an extra dose of protein to everyday dishes like pasta sauce or scrambled eggs.

It all started with Lily Ghodrati’s viral upside-down nectarine tarts, which amassed over 50 million views on TikTok. Lily’s savory iteration using balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and onions also received an impressive 28 million views. After that, everyone jumped on the opportunity to create their own version of this super simple pastry.

I, Claudia, also tried this viral tart (and created a couple of my own versions), and it’s truly one of those TikTok recipes I’ll defend with all my heart — I find that the basic structure of it allows even beginner cooks to get a little creative in the kitchen.

The evolution of the Italian sub over the past few years is iteration at its finest. It started off with the classic Italian sub (or grinder, hoagie, whatever you want to call it), which we all know. Then, it morphed into the grinder salad, followed by the grinder salad sandwich in 2022. The Italian sub’s viral resurgence culminated in the chopped sandwich in 2023, which, IMO, is its peak form.

After trying it for myself earlier this year (Ross, here!), I was ridiculously impressed. Haters have called this trend out for normalizing “pre-chewed food,” but I think it’s delicious. Chopping and combining all the standard Italian sub ingredients on a cutting board still leaves plenty of texture in every bite, and I’d even argue that it allows the flavors to marry together in the most harmonious way.

It’s everything you love about the Big Mac — sans the bun. Well, buns. Basically, they’re smash burgers with the addition of a tortilla; plop a ball of meat on your hot skillet, top with a corn or flour tortilla, smash the whole thing down until it reaches crispy, smashed perfection, and top with the usual Big Mac accouterments.

When BuzzFeed writer Dannica Ramirez wrote about this viral summer TikTok trend in July (the #2 trend of the year, according to TikTok’s annual report), the review was…mixed. At the time, over 145 million people had viewed videos under the #bigmactacos hashtag. Now, that number sits at over 230 million. “The more I ate it, the more I disliked it,” Dannica wrote. “At some point, I was just wondering why I couldn’t just use a burger bun and eat a homemade Big Mac instead of taco-fying it.”

I could write an essay on this trend — actually, I did just that earlier this year — so trust me when I say that WaterTok was by far the most controversial TikTok food trend of 2023. To grossly oversimplify: Said to be popularized by TikToker Tonya Spanglo, the trend started with a handful of creators adding multicolor, flavored sugar-free syrups and flavor packets to their water to help them stay hydrated. Eventually, the trend went mega-viral. The #WaterTok hashtag had 220 million views on TikTok when I wrote about it in May; now, views sit at just under a billion, and hundreds of thousands have tried the wild, whimsical “water recipes” for themselves.

There’s far too much to unpack in just a couple short paragraphs, but the need-to-knows here are that it created an entire online community, literally sold out an entire line of Stanley insulated tumblers, and experts still don’t necessarily agree on its perceived risks or benefits.

(I have not yet tried a Unicorn Cotton Candy Water, but you better believe I bought myself a knock-off Stanley after covering this trend.)

With every season of The Bear, we’re gifted three things: crushes on Jeremy Allen White, secondhand stress, and a standout recipe or two. If Season 1’s fan-favorite recipe was the family meal spaghetti, Season 2’s was the potato chip omelet. I, Ross, wrote about the simple recipe when the season premiered, which features silky eggs, Boursin cheese, and crushed sour cream and onion potato chips for a surprising (and exceptionally tasty) crunch.

Though I haven’t made the omelet in several months now, there’s one trick from this recipe (and the show!) that I employ all the time: scrambling eggs through a fine-mesh sieve. It gives you the creamiest results possible, and it’s become a morning go-to in my household.

Pesto eggs and feta pasta walked so that feta eggs could run. This super easy breakfast (lunch, dinner, snack — whenever you choose to eat it) was thought up by recipe developer Grace Elkus and tested by BuzzFeed writer Dannica Ramirez earlier this year. She gave them a 10/10 and noted, “The recipe is so simple, it takes no longer than five minutes to make, and is so, so tasty.”

The major appeal here is that it only takes two ingredients: feta and eggs (duh), and maybe an optional toasted tortilla. It’s pretty foolproof and customizable, which is probably why Grace’s original video has over 15 million views and thousands of comments.

This frozen watermelon treat was basically the cousin of the grated frozen fruit trend. Rather than grating whole frozen fruits, this trend used watermelon that had been chopped and frozen, pulsed in a food processor, then mixed with lime juice to create a sorbet-like dessert.

The original video by @claredodo was so popular — it has a whopping 21 million views — that BuzzFeed writer Alana Valko tried it for herself and gave it an overall rating of 8.5/10. So, yeah, this one might be making a comeback during summer 2024.

At this point, pastina might be making the rounds on social media until the end of time. The already-popular Italian “feel-better soup” became one of the most popular dishes on social media this past winter, and as the weather now becomes cooler once again, I’m already seeing it make a huge resurgence. I, Ross, wrote about it in January of this year when pastina hype reached peak virality, and I’ve been making it on an almost weekly basis ever since.

Made with a handful of budget-friendly ingredients, like tiny pasta, chicken stock, cheese, and butter — egg vs. no egg is your call, though I’d highly recommend it — it’s the ultimate lazy lunch or dinner when you’re feeling under the weather or just need a fast, nourishing meal without a whole lot of effort. Videos under the #pastina hashtag on TikTok have now been viewed over 200 million times, so lucky for us, this recipe isn’t going anywhere any time soon.

This sweet and creamy summer beverage was all over FYPs throughout summer 2023, and for good reason: It’s a refreshing departure from standard lemonade since it’s frozen, utilizes sweetened condensed milk, and opts for whole limes instead of lemon juice. The Brazilian recipe has been around for ages, but thanks to a boost in popularity from basically every social media platform this summer, it became a bonafide international hit.

BuzzFeed writer Fabiana Buontempo tried Brazilian lemonade for herself over the summer and discovered the key to success on her second attempt: removing the white pith from the quartered limes since the limes are blended whole into the drink. “The final result was a deliciously smooth and creamy summer drink that had just the right amount of lime flavor without being too bitter and the perfect amount of sweetness,” she wrote in her post.