TikTok is obsessed with weird cottage cheese recipes

Why TikTok loves fast-casual restaurant Chili's

The company noticed TikTokers posting enthusiastically about its food and began partnering with creators on the platform. The videos include mukbangs, a South Korean trend in which users eat a massive amount of food, and #cheesepulls, where Chili's mozzarella sticks are stretched to their limits.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

It seems like we shouldn’t have to say this: Cheese is not like crack

While news reports may claim cheese is addictive, the facts behind the research show cheese and crack have little in common. It appears that highly processed foods with high levels of sugars and fat, rather than cheese specifically, are most closely associated with addictive-like behaviors. In fact, cheese ranked lower than foods like pizza, chocolate, and fries in terms of its addictiveness.

The world's most unique cheeses

Some are set apart by their unusual ingredients, like moose milk or live mites. Others are defined by texture, like the Georgian specialty tenili, a very rare hand-pulled cheese that resembles yarn or pasta strands. There’s even a canned cheese that has been using the same strain of bacteria for more than 70 years.

TikTok can turn everyday users into stars

TikTok is such a cultural force, it’s now a platform for turning ordinary users into stars. This "Planet Money" podcast episode performs a deep dive into how Tai Verdes went from working a day job and dreaming of becoming a successful musician to using TikTok to gain a following.

Watch the iterative process of successfully printing a slice of vegan cheesecake

3D printing food requires integrating ingredients with a variety of properties, which may not all resist the physical stress of stacking. This means successful 3D printing of food may require rethinking how ingredients are layered and modifying ratios of each, potentially sacrificing taste for structural integrity.

Deepfake videos impersonating real doctors are spreading false medical advice

More than 100 videos, found primarily on Instagram and TikTok in August 2025, promoted products related to beauty, wellness and weight loss. While TikTok removed 94% of content violating its policies on AI-generated content, these deepfakes were watched and shared before removal, undermining public trust in medicine.

'Dirty soda' took off in Utah before exploding on TikTok

The concoction is a combination of Diet Coke, coffee creamer, and citrus. This Eater article delves into the history behind the sugary drink, pinpointing its start as a Mormon-friendly alternative to alcohol and caffeine. The explainer also explores why the drink became so popular on social media and offers helpful hints for crafting your own recipe.

In 2019, videos on TikTok convinced children they had Tourette syndrome

Right before the COVID-19 pandemic, an "outbreak" of Tourette syndrome was attributed to videos from a German TikToker who documented his life with the condition. The children experiencing the symptoms all had the same tics, which experts say was a case of mass sociogenic illness, also referred to as mass hysteria.

Cheese is a less-well-known Hanukkah culinary tradition

It comes from a story of Judith, a widow whose hometown of Bethulia in Israel was seized by the Assyrian king Nebuchadnezzar. In some iterations, Judith brought the king's general, Holofernes, an array of salty snacks, including cheese, leading him to drink enough wine to pass out. Judith then beheaded Holofernes, inspiring the Israelites to attack and win the battle.

Critics argue social media made 'foodie' culture increasingly superficial

For 40 years, being a "foodie" meant possessing knowledge and expertise about ingredients, restaurants, and flavors. Now, the author argues, being a foodie has more to do with documenting aesthetically pleasing meals than critical consumption. She argues for increased attention toward the complex systems that bring food to our tables.

TikTok is resurrecting sampled songs

Rapper Doechii's song "Anxiety" has become a bona fide chart hit. Interestingly, its popularity on TikTok propelled Gotye's "Somebody I Used to Know" (the song Doechii's song samples) and Sleep Hallow's "A N X I E T Y" (a song that samples the Doechii song) onto the charts as well.

Meta has added video features to attract more young users to Facebook

Amid an aging userbase and competition from newer social networks like TikTok, Facebook has seen its perceived relevance and cool factor progressively decrease. The Local tab and dating features are among several efforts to counter this perception.

Disco fries are New Jersey's answer to poutine

The dish—french fries topped with mozzarella cheese and brown gravy—is a staple for New Jersey diners, where the dish was served to inebriated patrons who'd just left the disco club. There's no clear inventor responsible for the delicacy, though most people assume it's a variation of poutine, the similar dish that's popular in Canada.

The fitness industry has seen a lot of fads—and Peloton might be one of them

Like SoulCycle and Tae Bo, Peloton has struggled to stay at the forefront of the fitness industry. Despite periods of incredibly high interest and high-profile users (like the Obamas), Peloton has lost many users since the pandemic ended—and has struggled to add more. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Consumers are buying more books now than they were 20 years ago

Interest in reading spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued building since then. The romance and fantasy genres in particular have been especially popular, with titles celebrated on BookTok, a wing of TikTok dedicated to reading, spurring the craze.

Explore Wikipedia, but TikTok-style

Wikipedia's vast trove of information can be a bit dull to navigate. This homemade website takes real Wikipedia pages and places them in a swipeable format similar to TikTok, so you can learn about very random things in a similar mode as the culture-shifting TikTok app. Check it out here.

Find dozens of allergen-free recipes

This collection of allergen-free meal and snack recipes, designed by celebrity chefs and others, was curated by the nonprofit Food and Allergy Research & Education group. It includes items like taquitos, pizza, chickpea burgers, various desserts, and more.

Pickleball's ubiquity has led to a culture clash with tennis

Since the late 1800s, tennis has been the world’s premier racquet sport. But in the late 2010s, rapid growth and investment in Pickleball changed that dynamic. This Cult Tennis video explores the newly created tension between tennis and Pickleball players, both on and off the courts.

Most Westerners don't need more protein, despite the protein boom

You can find the macronutrient in snack bars and pretzels, shakes, and more, even though most normal diets in the West are already protein-heavy with meat and milk. A mix of increased exercise culture and influencer sway has led to a market hungry for it.

History's weirdest weight loss fads, fact-checked

Nothing catches popular attention more than a claim to have found a quick weight-loss technique. History shows us such claims are often unfounded. Dr. Michael Mosley explores extreme weight-loss tips from history, from tapeworms to vinegar diets.

Some Ozempic users lose their desire to eat

This essay follows a writer whose Ozempic journey involves a dramatic loss of appetite, leading them to stop compulsive snacking and even lose some of the joy of eating. As a result, he becomes fixated on watching food videos and eventually tries to "beat" an all-you-can-eat steak buffet. The experience leaves him feeling disappointed and lacking in desire.

How cultured meat is made

In recent years, a number of companies have debuted meatless alternatives to traditional burgers, chicken, and more. Some are made from soy, while others use molecular formulations to recreate the flavor profile and texture of meat. Now, actual meat...

How to make an iconic Roman dish, with the help of a nonna

Searching for an eggplant parm recipe isn't hard, but finding one worth your time certainly is. Thankfully, this recipe puts you in the kitchen with an actual grandmother, who walks you through her signature dish in a short video explanation. Unlike other online recipes, there isn’t an onslaught of pop-up ads—you’ll just get what you need and the sweet instructions from a genuine nonna.

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

Collagen supplements have become a multibillion-dollar industry

Beginning in our 20s, the amount of this protein in our skin, muscles, and connective tissue declines. But independent, high-quality studies—like those that are double-blind—have not yet shown a significant association between their use and evidence of it improving skin elasticity, reducing wrinkles, or combating hair loss. Some collagen supplements do seem to help with joint pain and knee function, but NPR cautions that studies on that purpose are industry-funded.

Uncrustables' reinvention of the PB&J

In the 1990s, David Geske and Len Kretchman came up with the ingenious idea to package and mass-produce a crustless version of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. This makeover to an American childhood staple resulted in a $1B business. Read this article in Mental Floss to learn more about the origins of the brand Uncrustables and its extraordinary success.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157.

Telehealth demand for GLP-1s for weight loss is booming as consumers seek easier access.

Fear or disgust related to clusters of holes and cracks, called trypophobia, may stem from evolutionary processes to help us avoid pathogens.

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

Hear 50 years of iconic hip-hop samples, the genre's foundational looped tracks

Studies suggest when you sleep is as important as how much you get, and syncing with your circadian rhythms may lead to less fatigue and improved long-term health outcomes

'Saturday Night Fever,' the 1977 film that introduced disco to the mainstream, was based on a fabricated magazine story.

The use of fungi to detoxify land and water—a process known as mycoremediation—has been used to clean up natural resources affected by the 2025 California wildfires.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

A pickleball's loud 'pop' sound can reach 120 decibels, which is equivalent to a hammer hitting a nail

Massive blooms of microscopic plankton called dinoflagellates produce the neon blue light seen in glowing tides.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

When you complete a CAPTCHA on a website to prove you are human, you may be unknowingly training algorithms for self-driving cars, whose systems require training data to help identify crosswalks, bicycles, and other outdoor objects.

Prince's sexually explicit 1984 track 'Darling Nikki' attracted the ire of the Parents Music Resource Center, an advocacy group that inspired the Parental Advisory sticker, even though the song ends with a Christian message.

See photos of Meteora, a mountainous site in central Greece, home to 14th-century monasteries perched atop soaring outcroppings.

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

Brandi Chastain, the star of the 1999 US victory over China in the 1999 Women's World Cup, was a last-second choice to take the penalty kick that sealed the victory.