Violet Witchel Digital Story

While studying economics at Vassar College, the COVID-19 pandemic forced her off the campus meal plan. She began filming simple dinner recipes at home, which quickly gained traction. Eventually, her content shifted toward the meal-prepping process, culminating in a “Mediterranean-inspired salad” video that served as the first iteration of the DBS movement. What sets these lettuce-free, fiber-packed salads apart from typical viral food trends is their longevity — both in the fridge and in your gut. “A lot of food trends, if you eat them every day, you don't feel good eventually,” she notes. “But dense bean salad is one of those few things that you can eat [every day],” she says. “And I think there are also enough variations of it that people don’t get food fatigue.”

Photographer: Stephanie KlotzWriter: Felicia LaLomia • Editor: Allison Piwowarski • Designer: Alice Morgan All opinions are 100% our own. © Her Campus Media 2026

iolet Witchel is a fan of foods often associated with grandmas. “I love old people foods,” the 26-year-old content creator says. “I think the grandmas know what's up. They've been eating for 80 years. They've seen food trends come and go.” From pudding to apple sauce (something she predicts could be a future trend) to prunes, Witchel takes her cues from her elders. “My grandma was always so good with food stuff. If she says prunes are great for keeping you regular, why not? It's just like a dried plum.”

But it’s neither dried plums nor pureed sauces that Witchel is most obsessed with. It’s beans — cannellini, chickpea, black, white, dried, canned. And it was beans, specifically her Dense Bean Salads (DBS), that launched her into internet fame. Witchel first uttered the words “dense bean salad" in early 2024. “I guess I’m getting known as ‘dense bean salad lady,’” she said in a subsequent video. In the two years since, Witchel has posted more than two dozen DBS recipes, each racking up millions of views across social platforms. “I had no idea it would turn into what it did,” Witchel tells Spoon University on a video call in July 2026. With a to-go coffee cup in hand, she’s walking through her San Francisco neighborhood, getting a morning stroll in before the sun burns away the fog. “If you told me bean salads would be this popular or that I would be known for it at this level, I could not have predicted it in a million years.”.

Turns out, people are obsessed with beans — especially when tossed with grilled steak, ripe tomatoes, fresh cilantro, roasted peppers, mini mozzarella balls, and a zesty dressing to make a steak chimichurri DBS, one of her most popular. Her passion for food came long before her DBS fame, starting with father-daughter cooking classes when she was four years old. As she grew older, her love for feeding people only deepened. “I really enjoyed the craftiness of it. I enjoyed the project,” she says. “I enjoyed the chemistry and the eating part. I've always been like someone who really loves food and loves to eat.”

Violet WITCHEL KNOWS COOL BEANS

Knows Cool Beans

“In culinary school, pop ups are a very cool chef-y thing to do," she recalls. “I was like, ‘Oh, I wonder if I could just, like, sell a couple salads?’” But she sold more than just a couple. When she posted a Google sign up sheet for locals to pick up salads from her home, she anticipated a few dozen responses. Instead, she was inundated with hundreds of orders and had to shut the form down almost immediately. “It was crazy,” she recalls. That was the moment she realized she should take this on the road.

In the last year, Witchel has transformed her viral food moment into a viable business. She established a regular booth at a local farmer’s market in San Francisco, and launched a DBS pop-up tour spanning Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Miami — selling out hundreds of pre-orders at every stop. She hired an all-women team to help her prep and work the pop-ups, each city getting its own DBS based on local tastes and regional produce. “San Francisco is a very health-conscious city, so our vegetarian Miso Edamame is our bestseller by far,” Witchel says. “Philly is kind of more of a meat city, so the Steak Chimichurri was the bestseller by an enormous long shot.” At her pop-ups, fans regularly line up an hour early. Witchel makes a point to walk the line, greeting customers (and fans) face-to-face. Even as the phenomenon expands, she remains grounded about her role in it.

“Some people just want the salad,” she says, noting that she didn’t invent the dish or idea. “I believe I coined it, popularized it, started the series, and some people know ‘dense bean salad’ and don't even know who I am. It has grown so far beyond me.” That doesn’t bother her though. "That’s any business owner's dream. You want [the concept] to outgrow you to the point where it's so popular [it] is exciting outside of your influence.” Looking forward, Witchel has no plans of slowing down. She has hopes to host more pop-ups in Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, and Charleston, just to name a few. Opening a restaurant isn’t outside of her aspirations, but selling her DBS directly to consumers with a store front or on grocery store shelves is her next dream. Her spring 2027 cookbook, Violet Cooks: 100+ Healthy Gluten-Free Recipes That Satisfy, reflects her take on approachable nutrition. Diagnosed with celiac disease in high school, Witchel saw through culinary school and her social media explosion that people struggle to make nourishing and exciting food for themselves. “A lot of healthy recipes are like chicken and broccoli,” she says. “I tried to create recipes that were healthy comfort food, that were delicious, that you're excited for. It feels warm and inviting and approachable but not overly healthy.”

Recognizing the staying power of the trend, Witchel decided to build something tangible beyond social media. While completing a year-long program at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa, California in March 2025, she knew she wanted to do something more beyond posting DBS recipes online.

I think the grandmas know what's up. They've been eating for 80 years.

They've seen food trends come and go.

I've always been like someone who really loves food and loves to eat.

I eNJOYED THE CHEMISTRY AND THE EATING PART.

How the viral content creator turned her signature “Dense Bean Salad” into a bestselling business.

Much like her signature bean salads, she designed the recipes in her book with staying power in mind, rather than fleeting internet buzz. Because at the end of the day, social media trends come and go, but “real food,” she says, “will always be cool and delicious.”

KNOWS

COOL BEANS

AUGUST 2026

Photographer: Stephanie Klotz