Candy Salad is the sweetest challenge to ever hit TikTok

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To get in on the Candy Salad trend, all you need is a group of willing people, a bag of candy from each person, and a reliable container to dump in all of your sweets.

What is the Candy Salad TikTok meme?

The format of the viral Candy Salad TikTok meme — or trend or challenge, if you will — is simple, really. In a Candy Salad video, you have a line of people who take turns introducing themselves and the type of candy that they’ve brought to the occasion. Before we move further down the line, each person dumps the contents of their candy bag into a big container, typically a punch bowl.

By the end of the video, you have a massive bowl filled with an assortment of candies — in other words, a candy salad. Cue the “it’s salad so it’s healthy, right?” jokes.

The videos are pretty amusing to watch because people usually ham it up for the camera or are entirely unenthusiastic about being dragged into the video to a hilarious effect. Occasionally, you also have someone bring something completely odd or unhinged, like the person who brought sprinkles and lemon poppyseed cashews in this video.

The people involved in the challenge usually belong to a group of sorts, whether it’s a classroom, family, or office. One classroom video, since deleted, especially melted the Internet’s heart as a kindergartener named Zander introduced himself as “Anderdingus.” Of course, the chronically online have decided to protect him at all costs.

There were concerns about whether the teacher had permission to post the video. The teacher, TikTok user Tara Elizabeth (@tara_3lizbeth), responded to the backlash by claiming that she had requested permission but opted to remove the original video due to negative comments.

What is the origin of the Candy Salad TikTok meme?

The concept of a salad full of candy isn’t exactly new — it’s more or less a pick-and-mix candy assortment in a large bowl. If we had to trace the origins of the Candy Salad trend, we’d start with a 2023 video from TikTok account joshandsav (@joshandsav). Garnering 16.5 million views, the video essentially features a woman mixing together candy bags that her husband bought for her. It’s different than the group trend that’s been making the rounds on TikTok, but the idea of tossing together a bunch of candy bags is there.

The group format of the Candy Salad trend really took off in April and May 2024. It first became popular with a video that TikTok account Fusion Dance Company (@fusiondancecompany) posted on March 7, 2024. Picking up an impressive 11.9 million views since its debut, the viral video features members of a high school dance team making a candy salad for their finals.

What are the ingredients in a candy salad?

There are no hard-and-fast rules for creating a candy salad, but there are practical matters to consider. You want the candies to be at least unwrapped and bite-sized. Out of courtesy to everyone enjoying the mix, it also might be best to avoid anything too overwhelming in terms of texture or flavor, such as (according to this Reddit thread) jawbreakers and cinnamon candies. And, of course, it might make sense to coordinate with your group to avoid candy repeats.

While it’s not an official requirement, most candy salads feature sour and tart candies rather than chocolatey or creamy ones. Popular candies in a typical candy salad include Sour Patch Kids, Skittles, Nerds Gummy Clusters, Mini Starburst, Sweetarts Ropes, gummy bears, gummy worms, jelly beans, and peach rings — nothing particularly fancy.

Here are a few TikTok candy salad recipe videos to keep on your radar — these are perfect if you’re craving a candy salad but don’t necessarily want to participate in the challenge.

Candy Salad TikTok meme examples

If you want to jump in on the Candy Salad trend, you’ll find lots of inspiration out there. Here are just a few examples:

Even the Los Angeles Chargers are in on the Candy Salad trend.

If you have a small group, some people can even do double duty.

Or, if you only have yourself, why not share fun facts about yourself while dumping different candies into a bowl? (You might have to spend a pretty penny on candy, though.)