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If you’ve spent any time on TikTok or Instagram recently, there’s a solid chance you’ve seen the salad that’s said to have been eaten by Jennifer Aniston every day while on the set of Friends.
The viral salad recipe, which has been viewed more than 60 million times on TikTok, consists of chickpeas, bulgur, cucumbers, parsley, mint, red onion, feta cheese, and pistachio nuts. According to thousands of rave reviews, it tastes just as good as it looks.
@the_bottomlesspit Will this make my arms look like hers? #jenniferanistonsalad #quinoasalad #mediterraneansalad #saladrecipes #easylunchideas #ByeByeSundayBlues
But how did our collective obsession with this simple salad begin? Well, it all traces back to Jennifer Aniston‘s Friends co-star Courteney Cox who, way back in 2010, told the Los Angeles Times about the salad.
“Jennifer and Lisa [Kudrow] and I ate lunch together every single day for 10 years. And we always had the same thing—a Cobb salad. But it wasn’t really a Cobb salad. It was a Cobb salad that Jennifer doctored up with turkey bacon and garbanzo beans and I don’t know what,” said Cox. “She just has a way with food, which really helps. Because if you’re going to eat the same salad every day for 10 years, it’d better be a good salad, right?”
Somehow, the salad went viral earlier this year, as we all assumed Cox has recalled the recipe correctly. But now, Aniston is setting the record straight, explaining to Shape that the salad recipe is all wrong.
“I’m sorry, I feel like I’m disappointing everybody, but that’s not my salad,” Aniston told Shape. “It looks delicious, but it’s not the salad that I had on Friends.”
Lucky for us, Aniston was kind enough to share the recipe she actually ate on set, which consisted of shredded lettuce, chicken, egg whites, chickpeas, bacon, and vinaigrette. According to Shape, Aniston would also top the salad off with pecorino cheese from a nearby Italian restaurant. And while this salad isn’t viral (yet) it sounds just as delicious as the imposter.
