Why Is the Internet So Obsessed With “Girl Dinner”?

The concept of “girl dinner” first surfaced on TikTok in June, and within weeks, it had exploded in the way that only a TikTok trend can. The sound “This is my meal. I call this girl dinner” (originally attached to a video of a creator brandishing an ice cream pop, but not the first person to post about girl dinner) has been used to create nearly 80K posts, and the #girldinner hashtag has almost 200 million views. Even The New York Times reported on the trend. But why are we all so obsessed?

The short answer: it’s refreshing to know that we’re not the only ones who eat like a latchkey kid scrounging up an after-school snack when we’re left alone for dinner. Whether you call girl dinners “picky tea” like they do in the UK or you have your own private name — lazy charcuterie boards, snack dinner, feral girl mealtime, adult Lunchables — you likely can relate and probably have at least one or two “recipes” in rotation that you pull out when you are home alone and want something that tastes good but doesn’t need to impress anyone.

That’s another big part of the draw of girl dinner. We’re admitting that even though we Instagram, TikTok, and Pin our beautifully aesthetic meals, when we’re flying solo, we’re just as likely to throw a block of cheese on a plate with a couple pickles, some slices of salami, and a knife and call it dinner. Is it post-worthy? No (not until #girldinner began trending, anyway). But it’s satisfying — both to our hunger and to our inner children, who would have loved to eat exactly what they wanted for dinner without worrying about making it a “balanced” meal, whatever that means.

Of course, the beauty of girl dinner is that you can eat exactly what you want and nothing more, whether that’s your current hyperfixation meal (it’s Tomato Girl Summer at my house) or a favorite you return to over and over for years. But it can be interesting to see what other people are eating for girl dinner — and kind of thrilling to realize that someone out there eats the same secret snack dinner that you do. So swipe through for some popular girl dinner posts to relate to and maybe even take inspiration from.