The Food Blogger Pro Podcast · Bjork Ostrom

Inside Crowded Kitchen's Strategy for Growing to 2.4 Million Followers on Facebook

·1 hr 1 min·4 clips

Crowded Kitchen went from about 30,000 Facebook followers to 2.3 million after changing posting volume and format.

1. The Food Blogger Pro Podcast episode focuses on Crowded Kitchen's growth on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. 2. Host Emily introduces Lexi Harrison, and Bjork leads the interview because he wants specifics on social growth and monetization. 3. The episode asks how Lexi and her mom turned an Instagram food account into a business with 5 million followers and a Facebook audience that climbed from 30,000 to 2.3 million. 4. Lexi says the account began in 2015 as Superfood Runner, with her and her mom posting while she was still in college and running track. 5. She explains that her mom joined while she was abroad, after taking online courses in nutrition and food photography. 6. Lexi says they rebranded to Crowded Kitchen in 2017 after she returned from a job at The Feed Feed. 7. She describes early monetization through branded partnerships, freelance content creation, and some social media consulting. 8. Lexi says the first website was on Wix and that they did not understand SEO when they launched it. 9. She says Instagram growth was easier before 2020, when still images and simple smoothie-bowl posts could attract large numbers of likes and followers. 10. She explains that reels initially underperformed in 2022 because they lacked lighting, editing, and a clear strategy. 11. Brent, her husband, entered the business during the pandemic and later pushed for a full social media overhaul in spring 2023. 12. He studied Instagram Explore for several days and noted patterns such as lifestyle setups, plants, close-up shots, quick transitions, and interesting recipe concepts. 13. Lexi says the first major breakout was a strawberry-infused vodka post tied to their 2018 wedding cocktails. 14. She says a strawberry lemonade sorbet served in a lemon half also performed strongly and drew controversy in the comments. 15. Lexi says the controversy helped the algorithm and that the video reached millions of views across Instagram and TikTok. 16. She describes the move into series, including infused alcohol recipes, an advent-calendar format, and the “Better Than Store Bought” concept. 17. She says the “Better Than Store Bought” posts included homemade Cheez-Its, Pop-Tarts, crackers, and goldfish, and that the series helped them reach 2 million followers on Instagram. 18. Lexi and Bjork keep the interview practical and business-focused, with a lot of back-and-forth about posting cadence, reposting, and monetization. 19. Food creators trying to turn social growth into revenue will get the most from this conversation. 20. Listeners wanting entertainment-only food chat may skip the strategy-heavy sections.

As heard by us

Simple posting, repeated well, becomes a growth strategy.

This episode stays grounded in a simple idea: Crowded Kitchen turned casual Instagram posting into a repeatable system. Lexi Harrison describes a shift toward tighter, more deliberate social work, with recipes kept stripped down, performance watched closely, and strong posts…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

See how a bare-bones recipe strategy turned into a much bigger audience engine.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from The Food Blogger Pro Podcast