Cooking with Social Media

Amber Wright, Marketing Lead

What’s for Dinner?

You get home exhausted after a long day and several tasks still await you. There’s limited time left before bed, and you are faced with that age-old question — what’s for dinner? Tired and out of ideas, you might be tempted to heat up a frozen pizza or order takeout.

If you relate to this scenario, you are not alone. After a long day, nobody wants to read through an endless list of recipes that might work. Factors like time, budget, available ingredients, and dietary restrictions all play a role in what ends up on your plate. The effort required to plan and cook meals can feel so overwhelming that many people opt for frozen dinners, takeout, or meal kit services like HelloFresh. The global meal kit industry has become so popular that it was worth over $18 billion by 2024, and is projected to reach $43.4 billion by 2031—a reflection of how many households rely on the convenient, time-saving service for healthy eating.

That’s where cooking with social media comes to the rescue. It offers instant access to specific recipes, meal ideas, and cooking hacks—all packaged into catchy, easy-to-digest videos. This doesn’t just mean an end to the “what’s for dinner?” dilemma, it also means that the ability to cook more efficiently and effectively is at your fingertips. And it’s available in literal minutes.

Save Time

Short-form videos like Reels, TikToks, and YouTube Shorts make discovering new dinner ideas easy. These quick clips condense complex instructions into digestible content—often under two minutes—so you can quickly compare recipes and find one that works for you. Seeing how a dish is supposed to look can also be more helpful than reading a recipe, and key details like measurements are often in the captions or easily searchable.

With the right searches, you can find thousands of meal ideas that fit your schedule, cooking skills, and available ingredients. 

For quick and easy meals, try searching:

• “15-minute dinners” – Great for busy workdays
• “One-pan” or “one-pot meals” – Less cleanup, more convenience
• “Meal prep ideas” – Cook in batches to save time during the week

Save Money

Social media is an excellent resource for budget-friendly cooking. Trending searches like “3-ingredient meals” or “5-ingredient recipes” highlight simple, low-cost meal ideas. You can also use apps like Supercook,  which suggests recipes based on the ingredients you already have, helping you avoid waste and unnecessary grocery trips.

If you’re shopping on a tight budget, check out influencers like:

• Dollar Tree Dinners – Shows how to create full meals using ingredients from dollar stores
• PlantYou/Carleigh Bodrug – Focuses on reducing food waste and creative ways to repurpose leftovers

For those living in high-poverty areas or food deserts, social media can be a lifeline for finding affordable meal ideas that work with limited shopping options. Get creative and specific with your search terms and you can find recipes, tips, and tricks for nearly any situation.

Create Your Own Cookbook

One of the best parts of using social media for cooking? It personalizes itself to your tastes. The more recipes you watch and save, the more your feed curates meal ideas tailored to your preferences.

• Save videos to a playlist to build your own digital cookbook
• Follow creators who align with your dietary needs and budget
• Let the algorithm recommend new recipes based on your past searches

With social media, you’ll never run out of easy, affordable, and delicious meal ideas. Whether you’re looking to save time, spend less, or just try something new—the possibilities are endless!