Salad, chicken, pasta and muffin: 4 viral recipes to take into 2025

SINGAPORE – Having tired of feta and whipped coffee, the cooks of TikTok turned their attention elsewhere.

Enter the cucumber, the muffin, the humble jar of Lao Gan Ma chilli crisp. In 2024, it was their time to shine. 

But as the world prepares to head into a new year, which of these recipes will people be taking along?

And which will be consigned to the graveyard of temporary virality, languishing with the butter boards and ice cream-stuffed fruit roll-ups of yesteryear?

The Straits Times picks out four recipes worth the time and calories, on behalf of all amateur home cooks out there.

Cucumber Salad 

Descartes has “I think, therefore I am”. Socrates has “the unexamined life is not worth living”. Canadian influencer Logan Moffitt has “sometimes, you need to eat an entire cucumber”. 

Well, he is not wrong. And his words of wisdom have spawned a movement that has

depleted Iceland’s supply of cucumbers

. 

Videos of him slicing and shaking his cucumber salads have racked up millions of views on TikTok. To ensure his cucumber community never lacks for ideas, he regularly churns out new recipes that incorporate everything from smoked salmon to chilli crisp. 

Since cucumbers have a light, mild quality that makes them the perfect vessel for tastier ingredients, I want to see how they pair with a punchier dressing. I test out his

peanut butter chilli crisp cucumber recipe

– the gluten-free version of dan dan noodles, if you will. 

As expected, it is a hit. The creamy, spicy sauce delivers an umami-spiked kick that masks the cucumber’s blandness and bitterness. Its intensity is alleviated by the vegetable’s refreshing cool. 

This is my first time eating an entire cucumber in one sitting. And it probably will not be the last. 

Ingredients

Method

1. Slice cucumbers thinly and place in a sealable container.

2. Add peanut butter, chilli crisp, soya sauce, sesame oil, white rice vinegar, garlic, MSG and sesame seeds, and shake. 

3. Serve cold. 

Serves one 

Marry Me Chicken 

Forget about proposing with a ring. Try dropping down on one knee and holding out a plate of this chicken instead.

Marry Me Chicken recipes have been circulating for a few years now, the longevity of the dish a testament to the strength of its flavour. Tender chicken enrobed in a velvety sauce spiced with the tangy funk of sundried tomatoes – what’s not to love? 

American Lindsay Funston, former executive editor at food website Delish, claims credit for the original, created in 2016. The dish reportedly got its name when her colleague took a bite and blurted out: “I’d marry you for that chicken!”

Over the years, different variations of this tomato-cream chicken have popped up on all corners of the internet, and the trend shows no signs of slowing down. In 2024, videos by English chefs Harry Heal and Sam Way went viral on TikTok, drawing over eight million and four million views respectively. 

For my attempt, I take reference from the

recipe that started it

, but add tomato paste, lemon juice and paprika for that extra zing. I also finish the dish on the stovetop instead of popping it in the oven. 

I am initially sceptical about using breast meat, but after leaving it to tenderise in leftover buttermilk overnight, the chicken is surprisingly juicy. Still, feel free to swop it out for thigh meat. 

The recipe also calls for sundried tomatoes, which can be hard to buy in Singapore. I visit two FairPrice supermarkets to no avail, before finally locating a bottle in Cold Storage. 

If you cannot find whole sundried tomatoes, red pesto should work too. But keep an eye on the salt levels. The recipe tends to err on the salty side, and ingredients like cheese, cream and chicken broth already come packed with sodium. 

Ingredients

Method

1. Marinate chicken breasts in buttermilk for two hours to overnight. 

2. Pat chicken dry. Season with salt, pepper and paprika.  

3. Add half the oil to the pan. Over medium heat, brown chicken on each side for 4 to 5 minutes.

4. Remove chicken and turn heat to low. Add the rest of the oil and garlic.

5. Once garlic starts to turn fragrant – about one minute – stir in tomato paste, thyme and chopped sundried tomatoes.

6. Stir in lemon juice, chicken broth, thickened cream and parmesan cheese. 

7. Bring to simmer and return chicken to pan. Let it cook for another five minutes. 

8. Check that the chicken is cooked through – it is done when its juices run clear. Garnish with basil leaves and serve. 

Serves two

Caramelised Onion Pasta with Chilli Crisp 

I have high hopes for this one. Caramelised onions and chilli crisp sound like a winning combination on paper – nutty sweetness accentuated by a hit of spice.  

The question is how well these ingredients, with their strong personalities and bold flavours, will meld together. Will I end up with an all-star team or a bunch of divas who refuse to cooperate? 

The result: a decadent dish that honours the individual excellence of its star ingredients. But the confluence of multiple layers of richness also makes for a pretty overwhelming plate of pasta. 

It is best made when you have an hour or two to spare – the onions alone take at least 45 minutes to caramelise – and an empty stomach to fill. I follow

a recipe

by TikTok user @cookwithchay which has racked up over four million views, and add bacon for some protein. 

It injects some smokiness, which is not quite what an already heavy dish needed. In hindsight, perhaps I should have added tomatoes instead. A little more acidity would have helped perk everything up.

Ingredients

Method

1. Add olive oil and butter to a pan. Add onions and caramelise until soft and jammy by stirring on low heat for about 40 minutes. If onions start to burn, mix in a bit of water.

2. Boil spaghetti with 1 tsp of salt.

3. Remove onions from pan and set aside when done. 

4. Add bacon to pan. 

5. Once bacon starts to brown, add chilli crisp and garlic, stirring until garlic is fragrant.

6. Stir in thickened cream and caramelised onions. 

7. Once sauce has thickened, add boiled pasta and parmesan cheese. If sauce is too thick, add teaspoon of pasta water. 

8. Season with salt and pepper and serve. 

Serves two 

Chocolate Muffin

A short distance away from the lilac tracks of the Stade de France, another race was taking place during the summer Paris Olympics. Led by Norwegian swimmer Henrik Christiansen, athletes – and those watching at home from their couches – scrambled to get their hands on the viral Olympic Village chocolate muffins that he popularised on TikTok. 

Since the muffins were available only to those living in the village, copycat recipes soon sprouted like mushrooms after a summer shower, trying to replicate the original’s dense, moist texture and gooey chocolate centre. 

They call for all sorts of secret ingredients – from sour cream to Coke – but I have always been something of a lazy baker, unwilling to stock up on food I will likely not use again. In the end, I go with

this recipe

from TikTok user @ms.thessa, which is fairly straightforward and easy to follow. I also add espresso powder and halve the amount of ganache. 

It yields me 12 fluffy, intensely chocolatey muffins that I proudly distribute to family and friends. All return with positive reviews. Not bad for someone who once forgot to mix sugar into her chocolate cake before popping it into the oven. 

Ingredients

For the chocolate ganache

Method

1. Combine flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, espresso powder and salt in a large bowl.

2. Separately, whisk together eggs, buttermilk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract until smooth. 

3. Gently fold melted dark chocolate into wet ingredients. 

4. Chill batter for at least 20 minutes to thicken it and enhance flavour. 

5. Pre-heat oven to 200 deg C.

6. Scoop batter into muffin liners, ensuring each liner is three-quarters full. Garnish with chocolate chunks.

7. Bake for eight minutes on high, then lower temperature to 150 deg C and bake for another 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. 

8. Remove muffins from tray and cool completely. 

9. For the ganache, heat heavy cream over medium heat until it begins to simmer. 

10. Place dark chocolate chunks in a heatproof bowl and pour hot cream over chocolate. Let it sit for around two minutes. 

11. Gently stir mixture until fully combined and smooth. Let it cool until ganache thickens slightly, but is still pourable. 

12. Once muffins have cooled, use a chopstick to poke a hole in the centre of each one. Pipe ganache in. 

13. Let it set and serve. 

Makes 12 muffins