TikTok Makes Me Do Crazy Sh*t Like Eating Pickles Dipped In Spicy Cheeto Dust

The other day I was helping my daughter do her nails and couldn’t help but notice her nails were dirtier than they were that time she was two years old and played in her sandbox for four straight days. When I asked her what the hell was going on with the funk in her nails, she explained it was Hot Cheeto dust. Because she’s fifteen, and of course it was. The dust was due to her experimentation with a new TikTok trend.

As her mother, I needed more of an explanation, since this could go in so many directions what with all the bonkers challenges out in viral land. But also, she had me at Hot Cheeto. I’m a sucker for crunchy cheese with a snap to it. Is it just me, or is biting into a Cheeto incredibly satisfying? I don’t even care about being an adult with orange fingers. There are certain things in life I will never give up, and Cheetos is at the top of my list.

Upon further discussion with my daughter, I learned that this latest TikTok craze involved Cheetos and pickles. It sounded like a work of art, really.

First, you get your Hot Cheetos and make a very valuable dust out of them by putting them in a sandwich bag and slapping it with a rolling pin. You can make it as fine or as chunky as you want.

Next, you take a dill pickle and put it into the bag and shake it all up. Think making Shake-N-Bake pork chops, only instead of meat and bread crumbs you are using pickles and crushed Cheetos.

Now you enjoy your hard work. That’s all there is to it. Who knew something this easy could sweep the nation, go viral, and make everyone so curious they had to try it?

After my kids told me how amazing they were, I had to try it. Even my youngest, who is such a picky eater that if a restaurant doesn’t serve a grilled cheese sandwich he gives it the middle finger, loved this strange combination.

Fortunately, a picky eater I am not. But even though I love both pickles and Cheetos, I had my doubts. Honestly, I was a little grossed out at the thought of it. I want to stay adventurous as I age, though, so I gave these odd snacks a try and here are my thoughts:

Wow, this isn’t bad. Oh damn, these are so good. I must have more. Why do I like this? What is wrong with me? Everyone needs to take the time to try these just to prove themselves wrong, I demand it. I can’t stop.

I’m not sure who thought of this or why, but I can tell you I could have eaten a whole jar of pickles shaken around in this hot dust if I didn’t think I’d have heartburn for a month afterwards. These were absolutely delicious.

There is no doubt in my mind restaurants will be serving these little suckers as an appetizer in no time. They are almost like fried pickles but have a little more crunch to them. I figured they’d be overly spicy with the acid from the pickle but they weren’t. For some reason, the pickle seemed to tone down the hotness of the Cheetos.

However, I will warn you to have a drink close by — I recommend a nice cold, bubbly soda — because the dust may get caught in the back of your throat if you eat them as fast as I did. I’m not sure if I was consuming them at such a fast speed because I was in disbelief about how good they were and had to keep eating them to make sure I wasn’t wrong, or because I had raging PMS and it was taking care of so many cravings.

It really doesn’t matter. All I know is you cannot judge something you have not tried, and you must try these because they are a delight. And yeah, your nails will be full of orange junk but we aren’t going many places these days so you’ll have plenty of time to clean them out.

It’s worth it. Trust me.