TikTok's Viral Spaghetti Hot Dog Looks Too Weird To Taste Good

The social media platform TikTok is known for its hilariously useless cooking hacks, although it does occasionally inspire hacks that are total game-changers. One particular trend that's been gaining traction — like in this TikTok video from creator @thejoshelkin — involves skewering a hot dog with raw spaghetti before cooking it. The "spaghetti hot dog" is then finished with a garlic butter bun, red sauce, and a plethora of Italian cheeses. While we're always down to try something new, we can acknowledge that this hack certainly looks weird. But does it taste good?

We can't say for sure yet how tasty this combo is, but it does seem like the bits of pasta inside the hot dog wouldn't cook correctly. While chefs everywhere might argue over the "right" way to cook pasta, there is some basic science to it. First, dried pasta needs boiling water to cook. This is because the water helps rehydrate it, thus making it soft, and the heat helps the proteins within the pasta expand so they're ready to eat. In this hack, since the ends of the pasta are snugly inside the hot dog, they likely won't get very soft. One commenter on @thejoshelkin's video even said they tried it out, "but the part that's in the hotdog is never cooked and [is] crunchy." With uncooked pasta bits ruining the texture of this viral dog, we'll have to pass on this hack as it's posted.

While a spaghetti hot dog might seem weird (and make Nonna roll her eyes — or worse), we've seen plenty of strange food combinations that are actually delicious. There are a few ways this hack could be tweaked to make the final result tastier and ensure it's fully cooked. First, cook the spaghetti so there aren't crunchy bits buried inside the hot dog (like there reportedly are in @thejoshelkin's TikTok recipe).

@thejoshelkin

Spaghetti Hot Dogs are unmatched. INGREDIENTS + RECIPE 2 jumbo hot dogs 8oz spaghetti 1/2 cup marinara 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese 1/4 grated parm RICOTTA SPREAD 1/2 cup ricotta cheese 1/4 cup ground pecorino romano 2 tbsp chopped parsley GARLIC BUTTER SPREAD 1/2 cup melted garlic butter 1/4 cup ground parmesan cheese 2 tbsp chopped parsley for garnish

♬ original sound – Josh Elkin

If you want to go gourmet, swap the hot dog for an Italian sausage. (This hardly makes the hack "authentic," but at least it sticks to the theme.) The garlic butter bun, marinara, Italian cheeses, spaghetti, and tasty Italian sausage make this a portable, all-in-one spaghetti entree — no plates or utensils necessary. To go meatless, you could leave out the sausage and just load up a garlic butter bun with spaghetti, sauce, and various kinds of cheese — perfect for when you want spaghetti but need to eat on the go. We even recommend tossing sautéed mushrooms in there if you're a fan of the fungus.

The jury's still out on this TikTok recipe — some folks are on board while others are commenting things like "*cries in Italian*" and "this is a crime bro." We won't judge you if you want to try it, but if you want to learn how to eat spaghetti like a true Italian instead, we've got you covered.