If you’re anything like my roommates and I, your TikTok FYP is flooded with the latest viral snacks, salads, and sandwiches. Last week, my suite’s topic of conversation became the Rachael Kirkconnell TikTok salad. The Bachelor star's recipe went viral for its simple ingredients of sweet pepper and cucumber. But we had an important question: does Rachael’s salad taste as good as it looks?
To figure out if the salad lived up to the TikTok hype, we set out to the grocery store to buy the ingredients, and I made the salad in our dorm.
Getting the ingredients
I could not find an exact recipe with measurements, but I tried my best based on Rachael’s TikTok video. First, Rachael chops thin rounds of mini cucumbers and sweet peppers into a bowl. She then mixes in Trader Joe’s Everything but the Bagel Seasoning, Momofuku’s Chili Onion Crunch Oil, Trader Joe's Carrot Ginger Dressing, lime juice, cilantro, and salt into a bowl. I found all of the ingredients but the chili oil and the dressing at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. As a substitute, I used red chili flakes and a bit of dark-soy sauce for the oil and the Acid League Sushi Shop Carrot Ginger Dressing for the Trader Joe's brand dressing.
Making the salad
The salad only took 15 minutes to make (it would have been quicker if not for my slow-cutting and dull kitchen knife). Despite the limitations, I was able to make the salad with only a small serrated knife, a mini cutting board, and a large bowl. As for the measurements, I eye-balled the ingredients while making the salad and tasted as I seasoned it.
The result
Overall, I would recommend this salad to anyone looking to get their veggies in who might be short on time. It was easy to make, required no cooking and few utensils, and tasted great. My roommates thought the salad tasted amazing with tortilla chips.
Despite the great reviews, we concluded it did not quite live up to the hype of its stellar TikTok reviews. It lacked enough spice to balance out the sweet and crunchy flavors, and the peppers and cucumbers did not absorb enough of the dressing and seasoning.
The salad’s few shortcomings could have stemmed from our deviation from the original recipe. In the future, we want to re-make the salad using Rachael’s exact ingredients and measurements. Chopping the vegetables thinner or letting the salad marinate for more time could also improve the dish’s taste and enhance the dish’s flavor profile.