Recession Recipes Are Taking Over TikTok This Summer

All indicators are that the U.S. economy is at high risk for a recession sometime this year, with forecasters estimating the chances at anywhere from 40% to 90% due to tariffs and trade wars. You may want to recession-proof your pantry by purchasing cheap non-perishables in bulk, but it'll also help to have a source of wallet-friendly recipes on tap. Naturally, TikTok has stepped in to supply them. Since successful content creators need to read the room, they've figured out that audiences no longer want indulgent recipes calling for two sticks of butter and half a dozen eggs. Instead, we're all out here trying to figure out what to do with dried beans and bologna, and savvy TikTokers have increased their output of videos with the #budgetmeals hashtag. (Its usage increased by 20% between March and April of 2025.)

Many budget meals on TikTok are bean-centric — now that eggs are so pricey, they're the ultimate low-cost protein. One such recipe calls for flavoring beans with smoked pork neck bones, while another mixes them with creamy sauce and cornmeal so they can be formed into a loaf. As for that bologna, there's a Mexican-inspired sandwich where the lunch meat is fried alongside jalapenos and onions. Of course, there's also Dollar Tree Delight, a take on pizza made with the chain's Texas toast, pasta sauce, cheese, and frozen meatballs, as well as a simple meal of nothing more than boxed mac and cheese mixed with ground beef. One of the bigger and cheaper dinners, however, is an extravaganza of chicken legs, macaroni and cheese, and assorted frozen vegetables that apparently feeds two adults and six children for about two bucks apiece.

During the 2020 pandemic, it wasn't so much food prices as food shortages that had people worried, although more than nine million people also lost their jobs that year. Combine these concerns with the fact that students and anyone not employed in healthcare or other essential services suddenly had a lot more time on their hands, and what do you get? A bunch of newly-fledged TikTok creators sharing recipes for such Great Depression-era classics as prune pie and slumgullion, a stew made with ground beef, canned vegetables, and potatoes or pasta. (Fun fact: This dish features in the 1947 movie "It Happened on 5th Avenue.") Other recipes that hit big at the time included wacky cake, a chocolate dessert made without eggs or dairy, and water pie, which "magically" transforms a rather wet flour and sugar paste into something more or less edible.

The obvious reason why so many Great Depression recipes were popular during the pandemic is that they tended to be made with limited ingredients that weren't too costly. Another, subtler reason might have been that making recipes passed down from your grandmother — or even some total stranger's grandmother — can be comforting because it's a reminder that others have lived through hard times before. It can be said to foster a sense of community, even with people who may have long since passed on. It's good to know our Depression-era ancestors (or somebody's) will have our backs in the coming recession, too, with recipes that can carry us through until we once again have fully-stocked store shelves filled with affordable groceries. (Or so we hope.)