While many people probably survived college by eating too much instant ramen and pizza (guilty), one TikTok user is taking social media by storm thanks to his creative and resourceful approach to making all kinds of fancy meals in a college dorm room using just a small pot and an easy-bake oven.
With over 2.2 million followers and 60.2 million likes on TikTok, @lazypotnoodle is making the most use of his limited space (I mean, this guy is legit cooking lobster on a twin-sized bed!) to whip up some pretty spectacular gourmet meals.
With a diverse range of dishes including Thanksgiving dinner, complete with turkey, stuffing, mac and cheese, a sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, and gravy — all made from scratch — fans could not get enough of @lazypotnoodle's clever and delicious-looking creations. "I took it as a joke at first, but this is mad skills," writes one user in a comment, adding, "Plus it looks good. Happy Thanksgiving."
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@lazypotnoodle Preparing Thanksgiving Dinner in my dorm room! 🦃 🧀 🍁 HAPPY THANKSGIVING ❤️ #thanksgiving #thanksgivingdinner #thanksgivingrecipes #foodie #foodies #foodtok #foodtiktok #asmr #lazypotnoodle ♬ original sound - Lazy Pot Noodle🍜
While I'm a tad jealous to admit that the turkey he made in the easy-bake oven looked juicier than the one I spent half a day basting in a real oven (has anyone figured out why turkey is so darn difficult to cook, yet?!), like most commenters, I was impressed. "I started to laugh at first, then I was surprised. Now I'm mad. He ate better than me!!!," writes one user, while another adds, "Honestly, I’m just hella impressed at this point." (Agreed!)
But @lazypotnoodle doesn't just stop at making festive dishes in his makeshift kitchen (or should we say bed) — he's also dabbled in various international cuisines, including Butter Chicken (a popular Indian dish), Shrimp Scampi, Crab Rangoons, steak tacos, Korean corndogs, and even Shabu Shabu, a traditional Japanese hotpot dish featuring thinly sliced meat and vegetables cooked in a flavorful broth.
One of the most difficult dishes he attempted was Beef Wellington, users noted. A notoriously complex dish popularized by Chef Gordon Ramsay, Beef Wellington is an old-school dish known for its extremely thin margin of error. It involves coating a fillet steak with pâté and duxelles, then wrapping it in puff pastry and baking until the exterior is golden brown, all while ensuring the meat inside stays moist and tender.
"This [is] the craziest one yet, I can't believe he was able to pull it off," writes one user, while another adds, "Gordon Ramsey would be proud." Another user marveled at how @lazypotnoodle is able to turn his "dorm room into a Michelin-starred kitchen."
@lazypotnoodle Making Beef Wellinton in my dorm room as requested! 🍖 #foodtok #foodtiktok #foodie #lazypotnoodle #dormlife #collegelife #asmr #beefwellington #gordonramsay ♬ original sound - Lazy Pot Noodle🍜
The Bottom Line
If you're thinking about taking a crack at some of the elaborate recipes @lazypotnoodle makes, give our roundup of Time-Intensive Recipes Take a Whole Day (or Weekend!) to Make, a try. Plus, you've already got an advantage if you've got a real kitchen to cook in.
In the meantime, we'll keep surfing the web for more fun videos like @lazypotnoodle's, and be reminded that creativity in cooking knows no bounds — not even within the confined spaces of a college dorm room.