If you’re feeling guilty because you’re too tired to make a proper dinner and end up just snacking, don’t feel bad about it — you're actually on trend.
TikTok’s newest viral meal hack is all about throwing together a little of this and a little of that, to make something called a “girl dinner". This trend is basically the anti-charcuterie board.
Content creator @liviemaher has gone viral for a video where she coins the term. In the video, which has over a million views, she says, "A girl just came on here and said how in medieval times, peasants had to eat nothing but bread and cheese and how awful that was, and she was like, ‘that’s my ideal meal.’ This is my dinner.”
What Is 'Girl Dinner?'
The influencer's meal consists of grapes, cheese, a block of butter, a jar of olives, a few slices of bread, and a glass of red wine.
But wait, how is that different from any other night when you’re too lazy to cook something and end up enjoying a bounty of snacks? Well, for one the trend is about having no shame in your game. This spread is not supposed to look pretty. It’s all about just grabbing some good stuff, without it being perfectly Insta-worthy.
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And it's not all just bread and cheese. A number of other content creators have shared their dinners, where they prove that any random bunch of snacks is capable of being a girl dinner.
In a video by @madde_rye, the TikToker shows off her dinner of Fruity Pebbles, crackers, pickles, coffee, soda, pepperoni, and cheese. “It’s so valid,” the creator comments.
With the hashtag #girldinner garnering over 15 million views, plenty of people seem to be fully on board with the meal trend.
"I feel French when I eat girl dinner," says TikToker @___zabe___.
"I love girl dinner. But I don't even put it on a napkin. I source it from the fridge all at once through various trips back and forth," adds @charlies444ngel.
Is 'Girl Dinner' Worth Trying?
But does girl dinner save you any money? We broke down the average cost of items in a typical girl dinner to see what you may expect to pay if you had bought them at a grocery store like Kroger:
Total: $13.28
Compare that with the cost of eating out and ordering a charcuterie board, which can cost anywhere from $15 to $50, according to the International Charcuterie Association (which is an actual thing, apparently). Girl dinner is also much easier to clean up then TikTok's previous butter board trend or the tinned fish date night trend.
Our takeaway? Leave it to TikTok to confirm what we’ve known for a while: snacks for dinner are a winner.