The Top Three Recipes I’ve Learned from TikTok

When I finally caved and made a TikTok account about a year ago, I thought the only videos I would watch would be of people doing the Renegade dance. Boy, was I wrong. 

---

Yes, it is fun to see the new dances people come up with, but my favorite TikToks are recipes. I’ll admit it: I’m not the best at cooking. I’d honestly rather go through the Chick-fil-A drive-thru and call it a day. However, after seeing how easy and inexpensive it is to cook simple lunch and dinner recipes that yield a good amount of leftovers, I’ve turned over a new leaf. Here are some of my favorite recipes I’ve learned from TikTok.  

Creamy Italian Chicken:

When I say I’m not the best cook, I mean that when I started college, I had no idea you could make chicken on the stove. Or how to boil noodles… but that’s a story for a different time. The only type of chicken I ever ate growing up was barbecued by my dad, and honestly, I don’t have much faith in teaching myself how to grill. So, when I finally figured out how to make chicken on the stove, it was a game-changer. Adding this recipe to my weekly dinner meals has saved me a lot of time in the kitchen. 

Ingredients:

• Oregano

• Salt

• Pepper

• 4 chicken tenderloins

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 3 garlic cloves

• 1 ½ cup of cherry tomatoes

• 2 cups spinach

• ½ cup of heavy cream

• ¼ cup of grated parmesan 

Recipe:

1. Season chicken with oregano, salt, and pepper.

2. Add chicken to a skillet on medium-high heat. 

3. Cook chicken on each side for about seven minutes.

4. Remove chicken.

5. Add unsalted butter and garlic cloves to the same skillet, and cook for about two minutes.

6. Add cherry tomatoes, spinach, heavy cream, and grated parmesan to skillet.

7. Once it thickens, reduce heat and add the chicken back to the skillet. Let it marinate.

Buffalo Chickpea Wraps:

I love wraps; I’ll order them almost every time I see them on a menu. When I came across this recipe on my For You Page, I knew I had to give it a try. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint. The chickpea mixture lasted me about four days, so this recipe is perfect for meal-prepping. 

Ingredients:

• One red onion

• One cup of chickpeas

• Spoonful of mayonnaise or vegan yogurt

• ¼ cup of Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo Sauce, more or less depending on the spice level you prefer

• One avocado

• Whole grain tortillas

• One cup of spinach

• Ranch 

Recipe:

1. Boil Chickpeas until they are soft enough to smash up.

2. Chop the red onion. 

3. Add the chopped red onion, cup of boiled chickpeas, spoonful of mayonnaise or vegan yogurt, and add Frank’s Red Hot into a bowl.

4. Mash up the mixture until it has a more solid consistency. Usually, I consider it well-mixed when all of the chickpeas are smashed.

5. Mash avocado (I used a fork to do this.)

6. Add avocado, spinach, and chickpea mixture to the tortilla (add as much ranch on top as you like).

7. Wrap it up and enjoy! 

Creamy Lemon Garlic Salmon:

I was blessed with this recipe during one of my nightly scrolls. I had never purchased any type of fish from the grocery store before, but I found frozen salmon at Aldi for around $5. Since I used frozen salmon, I took it out of the freezer and put it in a pot of cold water in my sink a couple of hours before making this recipe. 

Ingredients:

• Salt and pepper

• 2 salmon filets

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 1 cup heavy cream

• ½ tablespoon flour

• 1/3 cup parmesan cheese

• 1 lemon

• 3 garlic cloves

• 1 teaspoon dried dill

• ¾ teaspoon dried thyme

Recipe:

1. Season the salmon with salt and pepper.

2. Place salmon into the skillet on medium heat and cook for 4 minutes on each side.

3. Add heavy cream, garlic, flour, thyme, dill, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to a bowl.

4. When the salmon is done cooking, take off the skillet and put them on a plate to the side.

5. Add butter to the skillet and let it melt.

6. Add bowl mixture to skillet. 

7. Once the sauce is at a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and place the salmon back in the skillet.

8. Let salmon marinate in the sauce and enjoy!

---

TikTok taught me that literally anyone can cook. Finding easy recipes made grocery shopping and meal-prepping so much easier. It’s much more cost-effective than going into the store without a plan. Do you have any yummy recipes that you’ve found on TikTok? Let us know on social media @auburncampusrec!

Be well, Auburn.

---

Photography: Bridget F.