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Courtney Cook Bales’ two-ingredient meal has caught the attention of millions of TikTok usersThe teacher shares videos of her workday lunch and the buzziest one now is a sweet potato stuffed with German cheeseHundreds of videos are circulating online of people recreating the meal, including one from Alex Guarnaschelli
Food trends aren’t always glamorous.
Courtney Cook Bales’ potato lunch has taken the internet by a storm despite its humble appearance and simplicity.
The Georgia-based teacher spontaneously shared her first lunch video back in May 2025 (which she saw as a “genuine way to connect” with others, she told PEOPLE) and her now-1.5 million followers took notice, along with the rest of the internet.
Many of Bales’ viral videos are a playful spin on the traditional British farmworker favorite meal known as the ploughman’s lunch, but most recently it is her sweet potato stuffed with cheese that is creating a buzz.
The 36-year-old first posted about the meal on Nov. 13 and has shared several iterations since, each garnering upwards of 7 million views.
Before starting to record, she prepares a sweet potato (either the classic orange variety or a Japanese sweet potato) by cooking it at 300° for between 60 and 90 minutes. The mother of four then lets it sit in the turned-off oven for around 3 hours so it gets “syrupy.” When the camera is rolling, Bales cuts into a slab of Butterkäse cheese (a mild, German cheese) with a spoon rather than a knife, sticks it in the middle of the potato and bites in.
The hashtag #courtneycook has over 2,600 posts while #sweetpotatoandcheese has hundreds of posts, most of which are replicating Bales’ lunch. Among those copying the trend is celebrity chef Alex Guarnaschelli.
The Food Network star stuffed a Japanese sweet potato with American cheese, crediting the meal to Bales. She gave the dish a “10/10.” “This is very comforting,” Guarnaschelli praised, taking bite after bite.
The cheese brand at the center of the two-ingredient meal has even expressed its love of Bales’ viral meal.
“Imagine you’ve been around for hundreds of years but Courtney cooks posts one video and suddenly your cheese is sold out everywhere 🥹🥹🥹🥹 pinch us moment🤏🤏,” Ammerländer commented on her Dec. 13 lunch video.
Bales recently told PEOPLE of her newfound internet popularity, “We are all figuring things out for the first time, and people will always have opinions, but I am learning to live for myself rather than shaping my choices around people who may not understand me,”
She continued, “If my videos help someone feel more confident, joyful, and free with their own food choices, then that is exactly the message I hope to share.”
Dining and Cooking