Feta Pasta Challenge Gone Viral in America

Who knew this trend started in 2019? And not in America?

—By Alexa Berman

The new social media platform TikTok became extremely popular in America during the first few months of the lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. TikTok allows people to learn dances, advertise small businesses, and share different recipes. January 2021 is when the feta baked pasta challenge seemed to go viral and the second someone opened the TikTok app, the “for you page” (FYP) would be overflowing with short videos of people’s reactions to this dish. Most of these reactions were positive, and people seemed to be overly surprised by how well the dish turned out. 

Yet, while it may have been new to Americans, this recipe was actually invented back in 2019 by Jenni Häyrinen. This Finland native posted to her Instagram account a recipe titled uunifetapasta which called for a block of feta cheese, a pack of cherry tomatoes, and the pasta of your choosing. This dish was such a hit that shortly after Häyrinen published it “[Finland’s] feta cheese sales skyrocketed by 300% and supermarkets started to run out of the ingredients needed to make it.” 

Then in 2019, Mckenzie Smith, a food blogger and owner of the Instagram account @grilledcheesesocial was sent this recipe by a Finnish friend and she translated it into English, making it accessible for Americans. She posted it to her blog and it only gained some attention. In 2020 she posted it to her Instagram and in January 2021 she created a short video which she published on TikTok and this is really when the dish took off in America. 

The hashtag “#fetapasta has more than 600 million views, not counting spillover into Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and followers of Rachel Ray.”  Some people say that the hardest part about making this recipe is finding the ingredients in the supermarket. In Charlotte, North Carolina, they are currently experiencing feta shortages and it has been said that finding a block of feta is like finding a “golden ticket.” Tyler Young tweeted “sold out of feta AND basil at my local grocery store. I HATE TIK TOK!” By mid-February the number one search on Instacart was feta. In fact, Narragansett Creamery which supplies different markets with feta have increased their weekly production to 10,000 pounds from 6,000. 

As a college student, many do not have the time to make a three-course gourmet meal plus the prep time and the cleanup. Therefore, with a simple premise this is an ideal dish for college students. The steps are as follows: put cherry tomatoes and a block of feta cheese in a casserole dish and drizzle with olive oil. Then place it in the oven at 400 degrees and cook until the cheese is melty and tomatoes are cooked through (typically around 40 minutes, but can vary). Next, add the pasta. If you want you can add basil, garlic, red pepper flakes and whatever else may be desired. Finally, just mix it all together and voila—the pasta dish is ready to be eaten and hopefully enjoyed. 

This dish is not only popular among college students due to the timely manner, but also because of the taste and outcome. Isser, a current junior at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, decided to make this dish after she saw it on TikTok, “I kept scrolling through TikTok and everyone was just posting about this feta pasta challenge and I do not think I saw one bad rating so I knew I had to try it.” Finally, Isser and her three roommates decided on a night that they would have the big reveal. Two of her roommates did not like the main ingredients; one does not like tomatoes and one does not like feta. Yet, both decided they would give it a try and after one bite one of them said they were “obsessed” with this meal. The other commented on how “the texture made the dish.” All three noted that the sauce was a perfect consistency and “did not leave [you] feeling grossly full, but satisfied.” 

While it is not hard to recognize why this is such a prevalent dish amongst college students, there are still people who hesitate to try this new trend. Grabell, a junior from Tulane University, did not try this challenge because “[she] does not like tomatoes, and it is not something that [she] would take the time to make.” Grabell did admit, though, that if she was ever in a place where it was already made she would give it a try. Guelpen, a junior at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, says she “refuse[s]” to try this pasta challenge because she hates feta. “The texture and taste is just horrifying, there is nothing else to it” she commented. And there are a few who still have a desire to try this recipe, but have not gotten around to it. Collins, a junior at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, texted in one of her group chats the other night, “can we make the feta pasta one night I wanna try it.” 

While the recipe calls for feta, people have constructed their own pasta dish due to a few modifications. There have been several accounts that have tried different cheeses. For example, @cookingwithsaraht added a twist by using burrata cheese in place of the feta. At the end of the video, she commented that she had also tried the original feta pasta challenge and could not decide which she liked better. Furthermore, @cooklikeamother followed the recipe except she used cream cheese in place of the feta. She thought that the cream cheese made the pasta “creamier and more delicious” and did not give it a “separation consistency” the way feta does. Guelpen was open to the idea of trying this dish with a feta substitution, specifically with mozzarella. “I think it will sort of taste like a penne alla vodka without the heaviness of the cream,” noted Guelpen. 

In 2019 the uunifetapasta recipe was named the phenomenon of the year in Finland. In fact, it is so sacred that February 4th is “International Uunifetapasta day in Finland.” While it definitely is making its rounds in America, becoming a holiday may be too much. Ofsink, a junior at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, made this dish twice and said, “it’s not that great, it is okay.” Blicht, a junior at the University of Ann-Arbor then responded, “but it is something that everyone needs to try.” With the craziness of the pandemic and all the stressors life comes with, this dish is a simple, yummy option for lunch or dinner. Younger kids watching millions of users try this feta pasta has only encouraged them to want to try it. So while some may not like the ingredients, it is so easy for them to use a substitute or have them try the original recipe because Isser’s roommates did not like the ingredients, but both ended up loving this dish. 

While I am unsure what the next recipe craze will be, I am confident that it will be something so easy and so delicious, but something Americans never thought of before. At the end of the day, it is so fascinating to think that one person posting a TikTok started this whirlwind of a trend that was basically unknown to the ordinary American. As Isser noted, “this is a perfect dish, it can be the main meal or just an accompaniment, can be eaten hot or cold, and is a great leftover!” 

Featured image: finished product of feta pasta challenge. Photo credit: Andie Ofsink