'I tested four viral recipes so you don't have to – there was one clear winner'

Helen Upshall stood in her kitchen with carrots and herbs on the table in front of her

Ever wondered if those viral recipes flooding your feed actually taste as good as they look? Or, in some cases, if they even work at all?

This is where my job comes in. As a recipe developer, as well as creating my own recipes, I myth-bust popular social media ones too, finding out if they really are as good as they seem in a 30-second, heavily edited video.

While there are some gems out there, mostly I need to rework them if they’re going to be as good, IRL, as they look on my feed.

Here are four I recently put through their paces – and what I really thought of them.

Wrap kebabs

One of the main selling points of the many tortilla (or wrap) kebab videos out there is that they’re so quick and easy to make.

Mince, finely chopped veg and seasonings are spread on wraps then topped with another – and so on, until you have a meat and tortilla layered tower, which is cut, skewered and fried on each of the four sides.

I won’t argue with the fact they look great. But although the recipe concept itself is simple – it sure isn’t quick.

The mince spread on multiple layers of the wraps, with wraps at both ends too. There are four large blocks of the kebabs on a chopping table waiting to have skewers put through them — Image caption,
Half way through the process

Yes, chucking mince into a bowl with some spices, onion, garlic and harissa paste takes a matter of seconds, but when it came to layering up the meat-covered wraps, things slow down considerably.

If you’ve got your game face on, that process is going to take you around 20 minutes.

Clever video editing and misleading prep time aside, this recipe is a solid party option that’ll be a real talking point.

Two-ingredient bagels

Helen holding one of the bagels with the air fryer in the background — Image caption,
Once I came up with some golden rules for making these, they worked a treat

If you’ve missed the two-ingredient bagel moment on social, I can only assume you’ve spent most of the last year under a rock. To fill you in, reviews are mixed on these – video comments are equal parts delight and annoyance.

The positive: They look super quick. You just mix yoghurt and flour, roll it into a light dough and that’s your bagel mix. Two ingredients.

The negative: They then use other ingredients – seasoning, egg wash and seeds – making their name somewhat misleading. This makes people very angry.

To defend content creators here, even professional recipe developers don’t include salt and pepper in ingredient counts. They’re seen as a staple in any recipe.

Before I tried them myself, I perused several comments sections and could see that while some people get great results, others complain they’re under cooked.

After a few attempts, I found there are three golden rules to making a brilliant two-ingredient bagel:

1. Don’t over-work the dough. It’ll end up too tough.This isn’t one to treat like bread flour.

2. Let your dough rest for 5-10 minutes. This allows the raising agent in the flour to do its work.

3. Let the bagels cool after cooking. A hot bagel is not a happy bagel! Give it time to cool slightly before slicing. You’ll avoid a claggy and uncooked results.

Of course, there’s the argument to be made that these are in no way actually even bagels. But in their own right, they’re a decent, legitimately quick and easy (looking at you, wrap kebabs) alternative.

Dubai chocolate trifle

Dubai-style chocolate really hit the mainstream in 2025. Now influencers are coming up with novel recipes to put that same creamy and crunchy pistachio-pastry-chocolate combo in to work in different ways.

Behold the Dubai chocolate trifle.

While this is a simple recipe, one big problem quickly made itself known after my first attempt. The pistachio cream and pastry layer solidifies and gets devastatingly stodgy when the trifle’s left in the fridge.

There’s an easy – if not super convenient – solution to that though. Don’t pre-make it. The success and enjoyment of this dish hinges on a last-minute construction.

But, given that the recipe is reasonably straightforward, that’s not the end of the world. And if you’re thinking the result is overwhelmingly sweet and heavy, you might just be pleasantly surprised.

Tiramisu cookies

This was my absolute favourite of the recipes, and that’s because I was able to make it into something unique. But let’s go back a step.

In 2025, USA cookie brand Crumbl went viral for its aesthetically pleasing (albeit pricy) bakes.

Across the pond we watched the many video reviews with curiosity.

So, I set out to make my own version that was as tasty as it was pretty, using another social media trend – tiramisu – for flavour inspiration.

Because the coffee is punchy, I offset that with a creamy mascarpone and vanilla topping which I piped over soft and chewy cookies.

Why not crunchy biscuits? These need to be refrigerated (cause creamy topping), and soft cookies keep a great texture even in the fridge. Just get them out to let them come to room temperature before serving.

It took lots (and lots) of attempts and tweaks to nail a solid recipe for this one, but the result is perfection in a biscuit (if I do say so myself).

That’s the important thing to remember about social media recipes – they can be risky. There’s nothing more annoying than spending time and money on recipes that were never going to work anyway.

So, before giving an impossibly simple looking, drool-worthy must-try recipe a go from a social media video, stop and do a quick check to see if any trustworthy sources have had success with it first. Then you might just end up with something really rewarding.

Originally published December 2025

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