When you came home from school as a kid, did you run to the pantry to grab the nearest box of goodies? Or are you forced to make makeshift snacks from ingredients you have on hand? If you know the latter at all, you probably grew up in a family of ingredients.
According to TikTok, there are two types of families in this world: snack families and food families. Those of you who live in a “snack household” probably have pre-made or packaged snacks available—Little Debbie candies, Oreo cookies, Cheez-It cookies, you name it. But if you live in an “ingredient household,” the only way you can enjoy snacks at home is to make snacks using different ingredients. Nothing is prepared in advance, and let's face it: the end result is never the snack you actually want.
According to Know Your Meme, the term "ingredient family" began circulating on FYP in late 2022. One of the first TikToks to highlight this phenomenon came from @enbyybabyy on September 17, 2022, when the user wrote: "I live in a 'we have the ingredients' household" and a series of creators were preparing to look Like a video of homemade pizza rolls. "I just want a snack," the user wrote in the video. This is just one viral example of the creativity required to thrive in a home like this.
View on TikTok
Apparently, TikToker's struggles are something many people can relate to, because as of June 21, the #ingredienthousehold hashtag has been viewed nearly 184 million times, while the #snackhousehold hashtag has only been viewed 82,700 times. It looks like the ingredient owner wins this round.
According to this video from @druzy_witch, some common toppings found in the topping family might include pickles, shredded cheese, pepperoni, and more. Sure, some of these foods can be enjoyed on their own, but what kid wants to eat croutons after school? Ingredients are just that—edible puzzle pieces that need to fit together with other puzzle pieces to create a satisfying texture.
View on TikTok
To explain what it was like growing up in a household of ingredients, @mckenzieisom details some of their favorite "snacks" growing up, which include sweet treats like chocolate chips and a scoop of peanut butter, as well as improvised treats like crushed ice. and “Tortillas straight from the package.” Basically, anything that looks like it's missing a key aspect (a cookie with chocolate chips, an apple dipped in peanut butter, or the filling inside a tortilla) is a valid snack in the ingredient family.
View on TikTok
User @cloudycastle0, on the other hand, got creative with the toppings and created snacks like "melted/charred cheese on the plate," lemon juice, and "giant charred microwave marshmallows." Sure, these don't sound like the kind of stuff that would normally cause a stir on #FoodTok, but their comments section was packed with people confirming that these are ingredient house staples. Someone even asked how long the marshmallows should be cooked for...so it's clear that the Ingredients Family kids' creation is a work of genius.
View on TikTok
While kids from an ingredient family may dream of living in a snack family, Olivia Williams (aka @oliviagracewilliams_ on TikTok) reveals that the grass isn't always greener on the other side. Williams explained that because their parents couldn't cook, the creators spent their "life" munching on things like ramen noodles, goldfish, and fast food, and the snack-family mentality stayed with them into adulthood.
"Now, as an adult, I don't cook, one, two: I snack all the time," the TikToker admitted. "If I don't go out to eat, I have to survive on snacks." But in a world where rat snacks dominate, there may be some benefits to that.
View on TikTok
No matter what kind of household you grew up in, there's no denying that there are definitely some benefits that come with either lifestyle. If you think about it, though, most of #FoodTok's best snack trends were created by mixing random ingredients, like fruit roll-up ice cream and cheese pickles, so maybe the ingredient family had it right all along.
