Ground meat and rice has always existed as a reliable meal.Illustration by The Globe and Mail/iStock
For as long as I’ve been cooking, my go-to meal has been lean ground beef or chicken, five-minute rice and some sort of additional vegetables, usually frozen. I’ll top everything off with some hot sauce or salsa. If I’m feeling fancy, I’ll throw in some avocado or a handful of cheese. I’ve had that combo multiple times a week, every week, for the better part of 15 years. Earlier this year, TikTok started referring to the meal as “boy kibble.”
It’s a devastating experience to watch something you love co-opted into an internet trend. Boy kibble got its name partly as a response to the popular “girl dinner” meme – broadly referring to a snack-based meal of cheese, crackers, fruits and other easy-to-grab food items – and partly because ground meat and rice is the kind of food you might give to a dog.
Researching online, I found dozens of posts explaining the virtues of boy kibble as a protein-packed spread, its roots as food for competitive bodybuilders, and why the meal can be about function and convenience rather than pleasure or, you know, taste.
How did my staple dinner turn into a meme? According to David Sax, author of The Tastemakers – a book about food trends, where they come from and why they grow – the rise of boy kibble as a term speaks to the broader cultural moment.
Sax said this “dog food for humans” phenomenon seems to be a viral social media moment “mixed with the manosphere protein trend.”
In Tastemakers, the author points to the popularity of cupcakes in the mid-aughts as an example of a cultural moment tied to food. Thanks to an iconic exchange from Sex and the City, and members of the New York fashion scene who were seen eating the dessert, cupcakes went from a snack for children to a chic treat for the modern woman.
Similarly, ground meat and rice has always existed as a reliable meal. “What’s different about it is, all of a sudden, it’s associated with a particular group or an identity that has a different cachet or value,” Sax said.
While most of the content created about boy kibble is just a silly meme, there are aspects of the trend that are related to broader ideas around young men, body image and food.
Much of the rhetoric around boy kibble frames food as “purely functional, like something you just power through to hit your macros” said Abbey Sharp, a registered dietitian and author of The Hunger Crushing Combo Method. “I also think it plays into some gender norms we see around food, where men are almost expected to eat in this very detached, functional way, rather than engaging with food as something creative, cultural or pleasurable.”
Of course, just because something is viral doesn’t mean it’s all bad. There’s a reason why the combination of a protein, a vegetable and a carb is a staple in most diets. Despite the internet selling boy kibble (also referred to as a slop bowl) as an anti-cooking, anti-effort food source, these kinds of simple meals can actually be part of a balanced diet.
Sharp sees this kind of food as a decent starting point, but the dietitian recommends that anyone cooking boy kibble ensures the meal has some healthy fats and fibre in addition to the protein and carbs. If you’re looking to make things more appetizing, add some texture with pickled toppings or toasted nuts. The same ingredients could also easily be put in a wrap to mix things up.
While preparing a portion of meat, rice and veg, I found myself annoyed thinking about my dinner being compared to dog food. But after revisiting a number of the videos and trying to find some positives, I realized there is something encouraging about seeing (mostly) young men take an interest in making food, and giving some thought to their nutrition.
While it’s important not to get too rigid in how we eat, or lose context for the pleasure food can bring, I can’t see boy kibble as a bad thing. I just wish it could be called “basic cooking” or “making a quick meal.”
