Fourteen Great #FoodTok Creators and Why We Think You Should Follow Them

There's SO MUCH content on food on Tiktok. So we're gonna narrow it down to some favorites.

I’m a geriatric millennial. I’ve been around since WorldBook Encyclopedia and card catalogs, and I was warned that you can’t use Wikipedia as a primary source for your research paper. All that to say, I'm a deep skeptic. Anyone can make a YouTube video, right? 

And yeah, I use TikTok to dissociate from “the horrors” primarily, but the truth is, if you’re interested in cooking, there’s actually some truly educational, entertaining and fun food content for you to find and consume.  Here’s our favorite FoodTok creators - and the reasons why we love them. 

Tini (Tineke Younger)

@tinikeyounger

Back in the pandemic days, I was getting certified in social media marketing via online courses, and one of the assignments was to join a new social network you’re unfamiliar with and dissect its tone, content and community. 

One of the first creators that caught my eye while working on that project was also relatively new to the platform at the time, with her first post on her official account coming in late 2020. I ran across her just a little later - in early 2021 - and it was love at first video. There’s a lot of “cooking for my” accounts out there, but Tini was funny, down to earth, and had a real love of cooking. Not only that, she was a true cooking nerd. She wasn’t just going to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich - she was going to bake the bread, make the peanut butter, and then make the jelly. 

It turns out, obviously, that Tineke Younger, aka “Tini” caught more than just my eyes. Younger’s content has now gained enough traction to cause cavatappi pasta shortages around significant holidays with her viral Mac and Cheese recipe, she’s become a mentee of Gordon Ramsay, and now she’s among the new generation on Food Network. 

You can call it a glow-up, but it’s more than that. Tineke broke barriers in the culinary world without trying just by being herself. She made recipes that were accessible in a way that wasn’t scary to new cooks, but appealed to cooking nerds who loved to do things like make the perfect white bread for pb&j, and who managed to weave her real life into the story in a way that wasn’t self-aggrandizing or fake, but honest and vulnerable - something she continues to do today.  We love to watch her because she loves to share what she does. 

The Salad Lab

@thesaladlab

While I can agree that it's important to keep realistic expectations in life and can acknowledge social media's tendency to paint everything in blindingly beautiful "aesthetic" tones until you start to feel you're fundamentally broken because your world isn't as pretty as what you see as you doomscroll, I do think that in moderation, we all need aspirations.

In a weird combination of "healthy eating" and a sort of visual ASMR we have The Salad Lab. Are the recipes totally realistic and delicious? Absolutely!

BUT! Do I think that my finished salad will look like the glossy front page of Food and Wine? I mean, maybe if I shop for some really exquisite wooden salad bowls and tongs...but that's not the point. The point is to make something healthy look unfathomably delicious yet attainable. And maybe to make your life a little more pretty just because sometimes.

Your Barefoot Neighbor

@yourbarefootneighbor

Food is family, and gathering, and love embodied on a plate for a lot of us. It's in our cultural traditions, sometimes it's part of a regional identity. Being Polish and Midwestern, this is double true for me. Everyone gets fed, everyone feeds people no questions asked and makes sure they've got extra for the road. Maybe that's why Your Barefoot Neighbor's content resonates so well with me.

"Come fix you a plate" is the refrain from this absolutely pastoral place to find recipes that are so down to earth and practical you can't help but sigh in relief. The great thing about Your Barefoot Neighbor (Matthew Bounds) is that it's so easy to see him as your actual neighbor. He shares his own recipe and his own life, but also goes out of his way to try other people's recipes each week as part of his content.

I came across his content when searching for something to make for Valentine's Day dinner. I'd thought of making a nice dinner last minute and had been working all night, so it needed to be actually actionable, not overly complicated, and not so intimidating that I was going to burn myself out trying for perfection. Believe it or not, I made scallops for the very first time. They were fancy, but quick with not that many crazy ingredients, and I related so much to the stories he told about he and his husband and appreciated how he didn't make something that sounds unapproachable so often (scallops are so delicate!) seem unapproachable at all.

Not only is Bounds super cheerful, great as a cooking mentor for those who need encouragement, and an active activist, he's also improving the community around him, often raising money for Gulf Coast food pantries and helping make meals to pass out in his community. He's unpretentious and just a joy to stop and listen to in the midst of a doomscroll whether you make the recipe or not, and I would absolutely sit down at a table with him any time.

Jessica Secrest

@applesauceandadhd

Let me start by saying something that'll make you go "uhm..."

I don't like being yelled at. I really hate being yelled at. UNLESS, apparently, it's Jessica Secrest.

I started watching her content thinking "OMG, is she really gonna talk like this the WHOLE TIME?" and now she's a creator whose videos I look forward to the most.

I don't have kids. I don't have dogs. I do have lots of jobs, some that run through dinner hours, and some that mean I forget to eat. And while yes, Jessica is technically yelling instructions at you for a recipe, she's also just saying what we all don't say sometimes.

I don't really feel like cooking.

I have no time today.

I'm in a shitty mood and I don't really care what I eat.

The reality remains though, that something needs to go on the table. For you and your family. The other reality is maybe you got bad broccoli in your Instacart order and now you can't make the thing you were going to, and you need to improvise. Or, you just order takeout.

The best thing about Jessica is she just does the thing, and then shares how she did it, so you can do it too, or not. And she's confident that "of course it's good, I made it!"

In fact, it was her foray into sourdough (which thank GOD she did without any pretentiousness) that reminded me I could do hard things and get good results, and has even re-inspired me to maybe make my own Jane in the near future. (Also, how can you not love someone who names their sourdough starter Jane Dough.)

I've learned a lot from Jessica, and I'm going to absolutely make some of the great things she's made, but the thing I've really learned the most is to do the thing, wear the thing, be good to your friends, and be confident that it's gonna turn out good.

Liam

@theplantslant

There's plenty of "reaction" accounts on Tiktok that endlessly stitch other creators, most of the time to criticize them. And just like anything else, in small doses, that has its place.

There's also plenty of debunkers - some who are selling a new solution after they tell you something isn't the solution, and some who just tell you you're gonna die from eating those Lucky Charms because of the antinutrients without a single fact in sight.

Liam's the antidote. He has the facts on nutrition, but he's neither selling something or fear-mongering about micro-plastics. He's willing to try the "hacks" and high protein meals (especially if they have beans but he's also willing to tell you when something is just flat out bullshit. Not only that, he often defends creators who are making healthy choices and getting criticized for it.

It goes a long way to not only see if that high protein bean salad is actually easy to make but also figure out why it might fit into your diet and meet your nutritional needs at the same time, and that's exactly what Liam's content provides. It's fun to see if the recipe turns out, interesting to find out what makes it a "hack" or not, and useful to know if it's actually good or just looks great in a Tiktok video.

Reasonable, personable, and funny with great takeaways on viral food trends? I'll take that every time. Out of 10. Kbye.

Dollar Tree Dinners

@dollartreedinners

The reality of the world at large and the US right now is that lots of people go hungry or struggle to be able to keep food on the table. As SNAP benefits get cut and grocery costs rise, food pantries strain to keep up.

Even though this is a growing problem, it's also a pre-existing problem that many fail to see or address. Food deserts are real, and there's probably one very nearby to you now. Kids go hungry in the summer for lack of school lunch programs, and even those neighbors in the super nice house may have experienced job loss, sickness or any number of other circumstances that would lead to hunger.

I first really got hooked on this account when she did a $20 Thanksgiving dinner. Facing rising costs I was getting sticker shock at the potential price of my own 2 person casual holiday affair, and while skeptical, by the end I was downright speechless. It was full of traditional fare and fully loaded, but she'd done it all - appetizers, great sides, and dessert - so it didn't feel lacking in any way. This is God's work.

Even so, food insecurity is stigmatized, and people rarely talk about what to do if you find yourself in the situation. Dollar Tree Dinners never failed to address the reality that millions of people in the US alone face every day - very little money and a family to feed, in places where a dollar store may be the only option.

And so, she goes and does the thing so many families do - tries to make the best of it. And she does, with dishes that are hearty, healthy and actually delicious. It's a no judgement zone and a place to go when you really really need the help, and we all need more of that in our lives. Maybe you don't need to get your grocery haul at the Dollar Tree today, but if you ever did, now you'll know where to turn, and should you never need it, then hopefully it gives you a desire to help end hunger in your neighborhood. At the very least, you'll learn to make a crunchwrap.

Chloe Olson

@_cookwithchlo

Chloe Olson reminds me of the earliest days of Alton Brown, in the OG Good Eats era, and I mean that in the best way.

Now, she doesn't have elaborate sets or hunchback assistants, but she does have that same cool cooking nerd aura that endeared Alton to us in the first place. And while she's got sass, she's also got plenty of kitchen knowledge to go with it.

I think the first time I really started to pay attention to her content was when she was reviewing the best expensive things she didn't regret buying ( a lesser done take than the best inexpensive kitchen items) and later on, her practical lessons for the kitchen that help you learn the basics you can apply to everything.

A particularly good one is her video on heat control, which will, if taken into consideration when cooking, will take you from someone who can't cook to someone who can pretty quickly.

Snackolator

@snackolator

If you wanna tell us you don't snack, I'm gonna tell you you're a liar. As someone who used to shop for people professionally, I can tell you firsthand that nearly everyone's got a pack of Oreos or some Flamin' Hot Cheetos on the order with all their organic fruit and veg. The world of snacks is wide and wonderful, and honestly, hard to keep track of even if you're in grocery stores and convenience stores on the daily.

Lucky for you, one man has taken on the enormous burden of keeping track of every new flavor of Oreo, every limited edition energy drink or soda, and every type of chip and candy on Planet Earth.

But that's not all. He also does the hard work of keeping up with every ridiculous product the nation's fast food and fast casual restaurants are baiting us back in with, from Shake Shack to snack wraps and whatever ten new things Taco Bell puts out on a weekly basis.

These quick updates come daily and will help you be that person that's always got the hottest new snacks on offer and the best deals on stuff you love. And that's some social currency for you at the next cookout, potluck or picnic.

Alexis Nikole

@alexisnikole

There's a lot of food just growing all around us, and most of us will never notice or take advantage. And yeah, lots of the reason for that is because we're not really sure what's edible and what will actually kill us.

Still, foraging is a useful skill to have, and you can really miss out on some tasty treats if you don't learn those skills.

Luckily for us, there's the Poison or Snack lady, aka Alexis Nikole. She can teach you how to make dandelion wine and how to not die from berries you pick off a bush.

She's got a Miss Frizzle energy that's hard to ignore, and she's also fully cottagecore, weird and wonderful and enjoys more than a dash of whimsy in her content. Which makes her incredible, unique and educational all in one. We love that. Now, don't die, but do go find some free snacks outside your front door.

Roll for Sandwich

@adventuresinaardia

Now, I probably don't need to introduce you to Roll for Sandwich, but I will anyway, because (and I'm pulling one of those "I remember when" moments here) I remember when he had just started the series and it was all paper plates and testing fates.

I'm a very beginner to D&D but I loves me some good RNG any day, and the idea of rolling to see what your lunch would turn out to be was intriguing.

And it is. But to keep it interesting and continue to expand on it - to involve other huge fandoms, and try out ingredients from all over the world while you do it? That's genius.

So it's no surprise that we've seen this series last longer and get better. And look, there's been plenty of imitators. People roll for Girl Dinner, Breakfast, BBQ - everything you can think of. However, none seem to incorporate the spirit of a real D&D game the way Jake does, nor go as far with sets, lore and production. Roll for Sandwich is the kind of thing that you just can't replicate, and Jake's the kind of guy you root for, even when he's about to drink a reindeer pate and garlic yogurt milkshake thing.

Season to season, new big bads rise, from the celery curse to the ketchup spectre (Jake hates ketchup, which makes his frequent rolls for it unfortunate and hilarious). And new surprising things come together into something beautiful from the random rolls of dice. Enough that an entire cookbook came out of it!

If I ever met Jake at one of his live events, I'd like to take him to some sort of endless sandwich ingredient bar, no dice allowed, and see what he'd come up with, before sitting down for a good TTRPG. This is my must-see TV on Tiktok and while I love the reruns, I'm always salivating for a new season.

Baked Baking - 

@mattbellassai

Another creator who's a bit of a foodie guilty pleasure is Baked Baking, aka Matt Bellasai. He's as skilled at "gardening" as he is at actual baking, and controlled chaos is what you get when you put those things together.

For all the silliness and classic "gardener" moments he has where he forgets to turn the oven on or off, or actually forgets what he was making in the first place, the goofiness and pantsless man has serious baking chops.

He frequently pulls off things like french macaron and croquembouche while he's pretty far gone "in the weeds" as some would say. He's also great at coming up with stuff you'd only come up with while elevated, like funfetti cinnamon rolls and giant toaster pastries.

You can't help but giggle with him and then immediately want to follow in his footsteps, as stumbly as they may be. For a cook who's often turned off by the strict nature of baking, Baked Baking helps me relax and enjoy the process, and if you get nothing but laughs out of it, it's still worth the watch. Hopefully, though, you'll get some great recipe ideas and a kitchen full of pastry.

Amaury Guichon

@amauryguichon

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Remember when I was talking about visual ASMR food content? This is the king.

Amaury is like Jacques Pepin (Hello fellow kids raised on PBS!) the next generation.

To say he specializes in chocolate is like saying Picasso's pretty good at painting. The thing is you can tell that he loves what he does, and he's absolutely unbelievable at it. And for me, the bonus feature is that it's not just stuff on PVC frames - when he makes a showpiece everything is not only edible, but Paris patisserie worthy. If he makes a peach out of chocolate, it'll be filled with the most insane peach jam filled cake or cookie interior. A girl can dream, and just once I'd like to see one of those creations in person - and maybe take a bite.

Ian

@ianinrealtime

Another subgenre of food content I love to consume is travel food shows. I think it started with Rachael Ray's $40 a Day, oddly enough, but my love for No Reservations and Anthony Bourdain is inextinguishable.

Ian might not be the next Bourdain, but he certainly has a love of travel and food, and a weird, golden retriever sort of frenetic energy that's hard to be mad at. His interesting travels always involve food, whether it's a Dunkin in Dubai or somewhere much more posh, and it's worth watching simply to see where he shows up with what.

Sebabryks

@sebabryks

There's never a wrong time to reconnect with your culture. And a lot of times, that means the food. I'm personally of Polish heritage, and even though I'm living in a city that's second only to Warsaw in Polish folks, I've noticed, at least around me, a lot of the Polish places starting to fade out.

Couple that with the loss of my grandma a few years back, and it's been harder to get my paws on the food that raised me. I find myself yearning for golabki, pierogi and a whole bunch of other things that were simply part of every holiday and a few times a week for me at one point. That's why I'm glad to have found Seababryks. He's from Poland originally and moved to Chicago more recently, and he's been exploring the Polish food of Chicago as it is today.

This is showing me new places and reminding me of old ones, and generally connecting that link back up for me.

If you're like me and want to reconnect with the food you were raised on, Tiktok can be a powerful tool. Just one search for what you're looking for can flood in a ton of content based around it, and soon you'll have recipes and restaurant recommendations for places you can head to in your own area or beyond. The algorithm is powerful, and using it to your advantage is a power move that can drive great results - and tasty ones, too!

Take a gander at all this content and add your own recommendations in the comments!