I tested every viral plant-based recipe on my FYP. These are the ones he now requests by name.
As someone who's been vegan for years, I thought I'd tried every trick to get my partner to eat more plants. Then TikTok entered the chat.
Last month, I started making viral vegetable recipes without announcing what they were. No warnings. No disclaimers. Just food, presented without context.
By week two, he—who considers bacon a food group—was asking me to make "that cucumber thing" for his work lunch. Victory has never tasted so garlicky.
The recipes that earned permanent spots in our rotation
Garlicky shake shake cucumbers
The gateway drug of viral vegetable recipes
Time: 5 min active, 30 min chill
Smash 3 cucumbers, cut into chunks, salt for 10 minutes. Drain. Add to jar with 2 minced garlic cloves, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp rice vinegar, 1 tsp each sesame oil and sugar, chili flakes. Shake violently. Chill 30 minutes.
He ate an entire English cucumber in one sitting. I've created a monster.
Shredded tofu bulgogi
The dish that broke his brain
Time: 10 min active, 30 min marinate
Freeze firm tofu, thaw, squeeze dry, shred with fork. Mix: 1 tbsp gochujang, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp sesame oil, 1 grated Asian pear (or 2 tbsp sugar), 3 cloves garlic. Marinate 30 minutes. Pan-fry until crispy.
"Wait, that's not meat?" followed by "Can you make this again tomorrow?" I nearly cried.
Rice paper dumplings
Foolproof dumplings that impressed his parents
Time: 20 min total
Sauté crumbled tofu with veggies, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, ginger. Wet rice paper, add filling, fold however. Pan-fry until golden.
No pleating skills required. His dumpling-snob mother asked for the recipe.
Spicy carrot noodles
Pasta that's not pasta
Time: 10 min total
Peel carrots into ribbons. Toss with: 2 tbsp peanut butter, 1 tbsp soy sauce, lime juice, sriracha, garlic. Top with peanuts.
He stopped asking where the "real" noodles were after the third time.
Giant summer rolls
Salad he'll actually eat
Time: 15 min total
Wet giant rice paper. Pile with every crunchy vegetable, herbs, rice noodles. Roll like a burrito. Serve with peanut sauce.
Vegetables become acceptable when wrapped and dippable. Who knew?
Creamy bean pasta
The protein-packed deception
Time: 15 min total
Sauté garlic, add 1 can white beans and spinach. Mash half the beans, add lemon juice. Toss with pasta.
"What kind of cream sauce is this?" Bean sauce, sir. It's beans.
What actually worked
After years of trying to share my plant-based life with my partner, TikTok taught me what I'd been doing wrong:
Stop announcing it's vegan. Let the food speak first, reveal later.
Texture is everything. Crunch, chew, crisp—vegetables need interest to compete with meat.
Familiar forms win. Dumplings, noodles, wraps—shapes he recognizes, filling he doesn't expect.
Speed matters. Under 30 minutes or it's not happening on a weeknight.
The verdict
These six recipes did what years of "just try it" couldn't. My partner now requests plant-based meals. He brings shake shake cucumbers to work. He texts me "bulgogi tonight?"
Is he vegan? No. But he now knows vegan food can be craveable, not just tolerable. And honestly? That's the win I'll take.
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to make another jar of cucumbers. He finished this morning's batch at lunch.
What viral recipe converted your skeptics? Drop your victories below—we're all fighting the good fight.
If You Were a Healing Herb, Which Would You Be?
Each herb holds a unique kind of magic — soothing, awakening, grounding, or clarifying.
This 9-question quiz reveals the healing plant that mirrors your energy right now and what it says about your natural rhythm.
✨ Instant results. Deeply insightful.
