With a seemingly endless amount of beauty and fitness trends, as well as food content, TikTok is the gift that keeps on giving. This Ramadan is no exception given the breadth of iftar and suhoor ideas on the platform.
Professional and self-taught chefs have been swapping cookbooks for engaging TikTok accounts as they connect with Gen Zs, who spend an average of 12.4 hours a week on the platform, according to research by Measure Protocol, a data aggregating firm, released last year.
Here are a few accounts on TikTok you can check out for recipe ideas.
Abir El Saghir (@abir.sag)
@abir.sag Iraqi dolma 🇮🇶 الدولمة العراقية #عراق #iraq #dolma #abirzkitchen #ramadan2023 #tiktokcookbook
♬ original sound - Abir el saghir
The Lebanese food creator is known for her videos in which she dons a traditional outfit while preparing a dish to music associated with the featured country.
Her cooking videos are a visual treat, produced to a level that is choreographed and rhythmic. She cooks regional dishes, from Iraqi dolma (vegetables stuffed with meat and rice), to rose osmalieh (baked vermicelli pastry with cream) topped with Arabic candy floss.
El Saghir is one of the most popular regional cooks on TikTok, with more than 21.6 million followers.
Hajar Larbah (@moribyan)
@moribyan One Pan Moroccan Chicken and Potato Bake! Recipe 21 of 30 of the Ramadan Recipe Series - https://moribyan.com/one-pan-moroccan-chicken-bake/ 🍋 #recipe #iftar #chicken
♬ Lo-fi hip hop - NAO-K
The blog's name is a play on the Arab creator's Moroccan and Libyan heritage. Larbah started blogging when she was a first-year student at the University of California, Berkeley where she pursued nutrition and dietetics.
In 2020, during the height of the pandemic, she quit her job and worked full-time on her TikTok account, where she now has 4.4 million followers. She often posts cooking videos, and her style of cooking is heavily influenced by North African cuisine.
This Ramadan, she started a recipe series where she shares a dish for every day of the holy month, from chicken and cheese rolls to hummus with lamb.
Yasmine Daura (@thechefmine)
@thechefmine Episode 21 of 30 of the Ramadan series: Gurasa 🫓 Recipe below 👇🏽 Ingredients 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour ¾ cups water (room temp) ½ salt 1 tsp granulated sugar 2 tbs vegetable oil + more for laminating 1 tbs ground beans (optional) Steps: 1. To a large bowl add flour, water, salt, sugar, the 2 tbs oil and ground beans (if using) and mix until a rough dough forms. 2. Add a very light dusting of flour to your work surface and knead the dough until smooth, about 5-7 minutes. 3. Lightly oil a bowl and place the dough inside. 4. Rub some oil on top of the dough to keep from drying and cover with a damp cloth. 5. Allow to rest at room temperature for at least 1 ½ hours and up to 8 hours. The longer the better. 6. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts. 7. Brush your work surface with oil to avoid the dough sticking. You don’t want to use flour at this point. 8. Take one ball of dough and roll it out until it’s paper thin. 9. Give it a generous rubbing of oil all over and fold it down from one end to the other, with each fold about 3 inches. (See video) 10. You should have a long rectangle now. Rub more oil on it and fold it down until you get a sort of square, as seen in the video. 11. Roll it out with a rolling pin to about 6-7 inches. 12. Place on a hot pan and cook on medium-high for about 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. 13. Cut the gurasa into 4 and serve. #gurasa gurasaanigerianfoodn#ramadanrecipes #iftar
♬ original sound - Yasmine
Daura, who lives in London, started a Ramadan recipe series for her more than 240,000 followers. Her passion is developing “approachable and aesthetically pleasing” recipes, as well as sharing food and kitchen hacks.
The dishes in her Ramadan series include lamb arayes, peri peri chicken and shakshuka.
Eman Ibrahiim (@eman.ibrahiim)
@eman.ibrahiim الرد على @🥰مـ༈ۖ҉ـريـ༈ۖ҉ـمـ༈ۖ҉ـ🥰 #فاهيتا #دجاج . . المقادير : ربع كوب زيت صدور دجاج مقطعه شرائح نتبلها بثوم وعصير ليمون بصل فلفل احمر فلفل اخضر التوابل : ملعقه صغيره بابريكا - ملح - بهارات فراخ سبع بهارات - رشة فلفل - زعتر ثوم بدرة - كارى - مكعب ماجى اختيارى . . #حشوة #رمضان #رمضان_يجمعنا #ramadan #recipe #foryou #foryoupage #fypシ #funny #fyp #emanibrahiim
♬ Ramadan - Lux-Inspira
Ibrahiim posts recipes in Arabic, but her videos can easily be followed even by non-Arabic speakers. Aside from TikTok, where she has more than seven million followers, the chef also has a YouTube account for longer videos.
Her international dishes include everything from baked cannelloni pasta and chicken fajitas to sweet katayef dumplings. Other creative desserts feature chocolates such as Kinder and Ferrero Rocher as key ingredients.
Ahmad Alzahabi (@thegoldenbalance)
@thegoldenbalance Mansaf 😭🇯🇴 I love this dish so much 🤤 #thegoldenbalance #ramadanchronicles
♬ original sound - The Golden Balance
The Syrian-American cook, who lives in Michigan, produces instructional videos for dishes such as maqluba and Korean-style short ribs.
Alzahabi is also known for being vocal about his Muslim identity and he uses the platform to shed light on his religion and important cultural practices, including fasting during Ramadan. He has 6.2 million followers.
Zaynah (@zaynahsbakes)
@zaynahsbakes My family and I often open our fast with a refreshing drink and it usually involves Rooh Afza. My favourite is Rooh Afza & milk but here’s some fruit mocktail inspo for you 🍹 Ramadan doesn’t have to be boring! Experiment with different drinks and fruit. Here’s what I used per glass: 1 tsp Rooh Afza 1/3 can Fanta fruit twist 1/4 cup water Fresh mint Pomegranate seeds 1 tbsp Tukmalangay OR 1 tsp Rooh Afza 1 cup milk 1 tbsp Tukmalangay #roohafza #mocktails #mocktailrecipe #iftar #ramadanrecipes #rosesyrup #roohafzamilk #zaynahsbakes #pomegranate #basilseeds #tukmalangay
♬ Soulful Strut - The Fame Gang
The food creator from London posts videos of her “desi-fied cooking”, heavily influenced by her South Asian heritage.
She has a Ramadan recipe series, which features dishes such as crispy aloo pakoras, paneer butter masala and chicken tikka sliders, which she shares with her 272,000 followers.
Kitchen by Noonzay (@amnaarman90)
@amnaarman90 masalah fries recipe 😋 (ramadan special) please follow me on youtu.be for more ramadan recipes 😊 YouTube link in bio 😇 #cookingathometiktoktv #foryoupage #kitchenwithnoonzay #ramadan #iftarrecipe #masalahfries #friesrecipe
♬ HABIBI (MY LOVE) - Faouzia
The food creator, who also has a Ramadan special segment, has a growing community of more than 150,000 followers. She shares videos that show her preparing easy-to-cook dishes such as beef samosa, chicken fried rice and masala fries.
Majida Sofi (@mywanderinghome)
@mywanderinghome Ramadan cravings part 13: Chicken gyoza. Honestly one of our favourite foods, they’re perfect as appetisers and always a crowd pleaser, make them in advance and freeze for those last minute guests or to spice up those emergency ramen days 😋 Full recipe (makes approx 33-35) 500g chicken mince 1 tsp minced ginger 1 tbsp minced garlic Half a white onion finely minced 4-5 stems spring onion finely diced 2-3 tbsp finely diced coriander 1 tbsp (3-4) green chillies finely diced 1.5 tsp chilli flakes 3 tsp soy sauce 3/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp black pepper sesame oil for pan frying For the gyoza dough: 3 cups plain flour 1.5 cup hot tap water Dipping sauce: 1 cloves minced garlic 2 tsp chilli oil 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds 3 tsp soy sauce 1 tsp sesame oil Finely diced spring onion Mix together all of the filling ingredients and set aside To make the dough, slowly add the water to the flour and until it comes together to form a dog dough, knead until smooth, drizzle over some oil and cover with a tea towel. Rest for 20-30 minutes Roll out the dough until thin and cut out with a 88mm round cookie cutter Add in a heaped tsp of filling into the middle and seal. Cook immediately or freeze on a tray making sure none of the dumplings touch, then once frozen seal in ziplock bags and store in the freezer. To cook from frozen, sear the dumplings for 1-2 mins or until the bottoms are golden brown, add in a few tablespoons of water and close the lid, allow the dumplings to steam for 7-9 minutes. Combine all the sauce ingredients and drizzle over the dumplings or serve as a dipping sauce #dumplings #gyoza #chickendumplings #chickengyoza #ramadanrecipes
♬ original sound - Maj🫰🏼✨
The food content creator loves hosting dinners and having people around.
“The satisfaction you get from feeding others and seeing the joy it brings to their face when eating good food is unmatched,” Sofi, 24, tells The National.
Her TikTok page has close to 87,000 followers. She is a self-taught cook who posts videos of dishes she's either eaten and taken inspiration from or those she has "thrown together" with whatever she can find at home, turning them into family staples.
