What Is Candy Salad? Everything You Need To Know About The TikTok Viral Recipe

TikTok’s latest “recipe” trend, a.k.a Candy Salad, is an easy-to-make snack that can be customized with your favorite sweet treats, like Nerd Gummies and Skittles.

For as long as it’s been around, TikTok has been a destination for viral recipes. During the height of the pandemic, we took solace in frog bread and whipped coffee. In 2021, I ate baked feta pasta at least once a week (at minimum) and by late 2022, we had all adopted cottage cheese cookie dough/muffins/pancakes.

Now, however, there’s a new viral recipe making the waves on the video platform—and it’s even less effort than feta fried eggs. Enter: Candy Salad.

What Is Candy Salad?

Candy salad has been making the rounds on TikTok for months. It basically just entails tossing your favorite sweet treats into a bowl together. “My signature dish,” user Hunter Kailey wrote alongside a video of her own concoction, which included Starburst, Sour Patch Kids, gummy worms, Twizzlers, and more. The video generated 994k+ likes, and fans flooded the comment section with their own thoughts on the trend.

“It’s healthy because it’s a salad tho,” one person joked. “Me when I tell my mom I’m eating a sala[d],” another chimed in.

Fellow creator Tessa Peay showed off her St. Patrick’s Day-themed candy salad last month, writing, “Doc told me to eat more greens.”

It’s even become a trend in classrooms. One school racked up 1.2 million likes (and over 9 million views) for their own attempt at the candy salad challenge. “Candy salad for finals,” they wrote in the post. Each student introduced themself and added their candy of choice.

How Do You Make Candy Salad?

Now this is the part that differs from other TikTok recipes. Candy salad allows you a lot more freedom because you don’t have to stick to one formula. Of course, while you should prioritize flavors that might mesh well together (for example, Snickers and Skittles are probably not a vibe), you can get rather creative with the process. Some folks have gone down the sour route and mixed up candies like Warheads, sour gummy worms, Sour Patch Kids, and Airheads, while others opted for a chocolate take on the trend with Reeses, Trix, and M&Ms.