‘You know what time it is’: A bizarre new meme about men’s eating habits is taking over the internet

A strange new trend on social media has people talking about how single men cook their dinners. The “ground beef o’clock” meme shows guys making basic meals that always start with ground beef. These videos are blowing up on TikTok and getting millions of views.

According to Daily Dot, this meme is basically the next version of “boy slop,” which was another popular term for how men cook when they live alone. The idea is simple. You take a pound of ground beef, add whatever food you have in your kitchen, and cook it all in one pan. It’s fast, cheap, and has lots of protein.

One video that went viral on TikTok shows a guy cooking beef in his kitchen while someone records him from outside his window. The person who posted it wrote “It’s ground beef o’clock” as the caption. More than 7.7 million people have watched it. Another clip shows a man rushing home down Fifth Avenue in New York City while carrying a package of ground beef in his hand. That one got almost 500,000 views and tons of comments joking about how finance guys live.

This meme is actually kind of wholesome

People seem to connect with this trend because it shows what life looks like when you’re living on your own. A lot of these videos show apartments that don’t have much furniture, really bright ceiling lights, and beds with plain sheets. It’s the kind of setup where getting things done matters more than making everything look nice.

Some guys actually like being part of this trend. They talk online about which spices work best and stand up for their cooking choices. These self-described “beef guys” don’t see any problem with keeping meals simple and easy, much like how Trader Joe’s customers recently debated food production methods.

Other people just think the whole thing is funny. The main joke is that men will basically eat anything if it involves a pound of beef. One person made a really dramatic video by playing classical music from Mozart while showing two people eating plain ground beef out of bowls. The serious music made the simple meal look even more ridiculous.

The comment sections on these posts show just how many people get it. One person wrote, “Meal prep with me for the week!!!” Another said, “LAUGHED OUT LOUD AND SHOWED EVERY MAN I KNOW.” Someone else asked, “So we hating on men for cooking dinner now?!” One commenter compared the weird vibe of these videos to a TV show: “This is like the twilight zone.”

One comment really captured what this meme is about: “Times are tough. Sometimes you just have to surrender to ground beef o’clock.” The truth is that lots of people make simple meals at home when they’re trying to save money or don’t have much time. Similar to viral discussions about service industry experiences, this trend shows the real problems people deal with every day.

This whole thing fits into a bigger online conversation about “boy dinner.” These posts mix jokes with honest moments about how young guys feed themselves when nobody else is around. What you end up with is content that makes you laugh but also feels a bit sweet at the same time.