'Pancake Spaghetti' Is Having a Moment on TikTok

TikTokkers have moved on from NyQuil-soaked “sleepy chicken” to another bizarre trend: “pancake spaghetti.”

The novel dish went viral at the end of September, when Briana Archuleta posted a video of her husband Steven’s inventive creation. His creative take on the American breakfast staple involves cooking pancake batter in long, thin strands, placing the spaghetti-like pieces in a bowl, and serving the dish topped with syrup and powdered sugar. In the video, he twists the pancake spaghetti around his fork — just as you might with a bowl of pasta.

The video struck a chord with TikTokkers, where it has received over 9 million views and inspired countless copycat recipes.

“Wait, he’s a culinary genius,” one viewer wrote alongside a surprised emoji.

The trend isn’t without its detractors, however. Some commenters comment that the Archuleta’s dish (find a video tutorial below) was simply a funnel cake, though Briana notes in the comments that, unlike a funnel cake, her husband’s spaghetti isn’t deep fried. It’s also worth mentioning that similar dishes exist in other cultures, such as the Austrian dish Kaiserschmarrn, which is essentially a pancake scramble.

Even if the idea isn’t entirely new, pancake spaghetti’s success online speaks to TikTok’s reach in the world of culinary trends. Since the short-form video platform’s inception, TikTok has been a breeding ground for some of the internet’s wackiest food experiments and mashups, including the espresso orange juice combo, butter boards, and the infamous NyQuil chicken challenge.

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One popular explanation for the rise of food TikTok (aka Foodtok) is the pandemic, which not only sent food service workers home but also generated a huge appetite for intimate cooking videos. Though the pandemic restrictions have lifted, that appetite continues to be as strong as ever. Since the end of August, the #food hashtag has seen a 20 billion increase in views, bringing the cumulative total to a whopping 382 billion.