girl dinner

What is girl dinner?

The informal term girl dinner is used to refer to a meal typically consisting of snacks, side dishes, and small portions of (often randomly assembled) foods.

Regardless of its components, girl dinner is typically characterized by its small portions.

The term girl dinner is usually applied to meals resembling what would commonly be considered to be a snack tray, snack platter, or small charcuterie board. Some examples of foods that may be included in a meal called a girl dinner include pieces of bread, cheese slices, sliced cold meats, fruits, vegetables, chips, and popcorn. Often, the term is used in reference to a meal made using whatever a person has available, including leftovers.

The use of girl in the term makes reference to the stereotypical association of small portions with some women’s eating habits. The term is most commonly used in the context of women and what they’re eating, but it is also used regardless of gender.

The phrase girl dinner trended on TikTok in the summer of 2023 after a video introducing the term and concept went viral. TikTok users shared videos featuring their own versions of girl dinner, typically ones that combined various snacks into a meal. As part of the trend, girl dinner was also used humorously to refer to “meals” consisting of a single snack food, inedible objects, or nothing at all.

The term is more often used without the article a, as in I’m having girl dinner (as opposed to I’m having a girl dinner), but it’s used in both ways.

Example: My go-to girl dinner is a handful of almonds, cheese, crackers, and carrots that I have decided constitutes a meal because I’m a woman in her 30s who gets to adult however the heck she wants.