TikTok’s Tini Younger just told us about the easy high-protein dinner she loves to make

Whether you know her Next Level Chef, her viral baked mac and cheese, or making her fiance’s meals from scratch in front of her millions of followers on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram, Tineke Younger is nothing short of stunning. At 22, Younger (known as Tini to those who know her) is a successful chef, internet sensation, host of her own YouTube series. From scratch with Tini, and now he’s partnered with Ferry-Morse, a seed company, to share his craft through fresh ingredients.

In this exclusive interview, we chatted with Younger about Ferry-Morse and the launch of the brand’s colossal seed collection, which promises to grow twice the average size or double the yield, and the chef shares the vegetables and herbs he loves to use. Plus, find out her favorite easy dinner for the week, her favorite juice to make at home, her go-to hot meal, and more below.

Eat well: Could you talk more about your association with Ferry-Morse?

Younger: I love working with fresh ingredients. I just feel like it elevates the dish and you really know the difference when you use fresh produce. That’s why I’m so excited to partner with Ferry-Morse and help launch their new colossal collection because the vegetables grow twice their normal size, so you get more out of them. I can have more ingredients to use with other dishes.

Eat well: What is your favorite vegetable and how do you prepare it?

Younger: I might have a different favorite vegetable every season, but since it’s spring, I’m going with cucumber because you can do so many things with it. You can add it to dips, or you can marinate it and then put it on top of sandwiches and it’s nice and fresh.

Eat well: Is there an easy dinner you love to make because you always have all the ingredients on hand?

Younger: I call it my lazy dinner. It’s basically chicken stuffed with whatever I have on hand. I like to fill it with fresh produce: spinach, broccoli, garlic. I love broccoli, and you can add whatever cheese you want and whatever fresh herbs you want. Just cut up a chicken, stuff it, put it in the oven and cook it up.

Eat well: Favorite herb?

Younger: The herb I find myself using the most would be basil. I feel like basil goes really well with anything, and I love pasta and Italian food.

Eat well: Any food you always make from scratch instead of buying?

Younger: I love making ricotta cheese from scratch and bread from scratch. I make a lot of things from scratch, but these are the main things I like to make because you can really taste the difference between store-bought and when you make it at home.

Eat well: What is your usual breakfast like?

Younger: I love making fresh juice. My favorite juice lately has been pineapple, carrot and apple with a little mint and lemon. I like to make some juice, and then I make french toast, pancakes or waffles to start the day with more fresh fruit on the side.

Eat well: Any hot food?

Younger: I really hate olives. If there are olives in any dish I eat, I can taste them right away and it just ruins the dish. And I hate white pepper. I don’t like to use white pepper in anything.

Eat well: What’s an underrated ingredient that you love to use?

Younger: Using sesame oil in baking adds a nice nutty flavor and enhances the vanilla flavor, so that comes to mind. I want more people to know about this. I love to put a little sesame oil, maybe 1/8 teaspoon, on my chocolate chip cookies and sometimes on my banana bread.

Eat well: What does “eating well” mean to you?

Younger: When I think of eating well, I think of eating fresh produce, fresh meat, getting food at a local farmer’s market or growing it from the garden. That’s what eating well is to me, and at the end of the day, it’s also about eating what makes you happy.

Editors Note: This interview has been edited for clarity and length.