This Hot Honey Ground Beef Bowl is the New Viral High-Protein Dinner You’ll Actually Crave

TikTok is back at it again with another protein-packed, flavor-loaded, internet-breaking recipe. This time, it’s all about the hot honey ground beef sweet potato bowl—a mouthful of a name, sure, but it lives up to the hype in every single bite. At first glance, it looks like something your gym-obsessed friend might recommend (lean protein, healthy fats, fiber), but somehow it also manages to taste like comfort food. We’re talking taco-seasoned beef, roasted sweet potato, creamy cottage cheese, buttery avocado and a drizzle of spicy-sweet hot honey. It’s the kind of weeknight dinner that feels a little too good to be true. Here’s how you can make your own hot honey ground beef bowl.

How the hot honey ground beef bowl became viral

Although there’s no definitive originator of the trend, the viral rise of this bowl can be traced back to creator Gracie Norton, who first posted her version in 2024. But it wasn’t until March that the “beef bowls,” as she calls them, gained serious traction. “These beef bowls are finally getting the love that they deserve,” she said in a March 8 video. “They’re easy to make, they’re high-protein, and they just hit the spot every time.”

Gracie’s take layers roasted sweet potato slices with taco-seasoned ground beef, pineapple, avocado, cottage cheese and a healthy drizzle of hot honey. Since that post, the bowl has taken on a life of its own. TikTok creators have jumped in with their own spins, and one of the most viral versions—racking up a whopping 7.7 million views—comes from Jaycee of @MyProteinPantry.

Her version skips the pineapple, dices the sweet potatoes (for crispier edges) and gives everything its own tidy quadrant in the bowl instead of layering. She adds lettuce and tomato for volume, skips the cheese in the beef and finishes it all with a scoop of cottage cheese and that signature hot honey drizzle. “Spoiler alert, they are 10 out of 10,” she says.

What’s actually in this bowl?

At its core, the hot honey ground beef bowl is made of a few basic components:

• Ground beef cooked with taco seasoning
• Roasted sweet potatoes (cubed or sliced)
• Creamy cottage cheese (unblended or blended for texture)
• Diced or sliced avocado
• A drizzle of hot honey
• Optional: lettuce, tomato, pineapple, lime or herbs for freshness

You can think of it as a burrito bowl meets sweet-and-spicy power lunch. The cottage cheese adds that unexpected creamy element while keeping the protein count high—no blending required, unless you’re going for a smooth whipped texture.

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Tips for making your bowl

Before you dive in, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Pre-cut sweet potatoes save time. But if you’ve got the time (and elbow grease as Jaycee puts it), dice your own. Season them with salt, pepper and a little cinnamon to help bring out their sweetness.
• Flip halfway through roasting. Jaycee says this helps get them crispy and caramelized instead of mushy.
• Use lean ground beef. 90/10 or 93/7 keeps it high-protein but not too greasy.
• Prep in bulk: You can batch cook the beef and sweet potatoes for meal prep-friendly lunches all week.

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How to make the viral hot honey ground beef bowl

Besides being ridiculously delicious and satisfying, this recipe has every texture and flavor you could ask for. It’s sweet, salty, spicy and creamy all at once. And thanks to the protein from the beef and cottage cheese, it’ll keep you full for hours. Plus, it’s totally customizable. Swap in ground turkey, try Greek yogurt instead of cottage cheese or toss in some roasted chickpeas for crunch. Since Jaycee’s video has so much love, we’re using her recipe from her blog, My Protein Pantry.

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Ingredients:

• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
• Salt, pepper and cinnamon to taste
• 1 lb. lean ground beef (93/7)
• 1 Tbs. tomato paste
• 1 Tbs. taco seasoning
• 2 cups low-fat cottage cheese
• 4 small avocados, diced or sliced
• 2 Tbs. hot honey
• Optional: lettuce, diced tomato, lime wedges, fresh herbs

Directions:

• Total time: 45 minutes
  Yield: 4 servings

1. Preheat oven to 425° F, then line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Add the sweet potatoes on the baking sheet, lightly spray with cooking spray and season with salt, pepper and cinnamon. Roast for 30 minutes, flipping and seasoning again halfway through.
3. Meanwhile, in a skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef. Drain excess grease if needed. Stir in tomato paste, taco seasoning and a splash of water. Cook until the beef is fully coated and slightly saucy, about eight minutes.
4. Divide the sweet potatoes, beef, avocado and cottage cheese into bowls, placing each ingredient in its own section.
5. Drizzle hot honey over everything, and add any optional toppings like lettuce or tomato. Serve immediately.

The hot honey ground beef bowl might be trending now, but with this kind of flavor? We’d say it’s here to stay. Let us know if you’ve tried it and what you think in the comments below!