The Krabby Patty is the most important food in SpongeBob SquarePants, and the series already gave it an origin story, but the prequel series Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years just gave it a different one – and in the process, it also gave the secret formula and the chum another origin. Since its debut on Nickelodeon in 1999, SpongeBob SquarePants has been unstoppable, becoming one of the longest-running American animated series as well as the most successful Nicktoon. SpongeBob and company have also expanded to other media, most notably film, and they are now branching out to the realm of streaming.
SpongeBob SquarePants follows the adventures of the title character in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom alongside his best friends Patrick Star and Sandy Cheeks, his neighbor Squidward Tentacles, his boss Mr. Krabs, and the latter’s enemy, Plankton. Now, SpongeBob has taken viewers a few years back in the prequel series Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years, which follows the famous sponge when he was 10-years-old and attending the summer sleepaway camp Kamp Koral. Through this new series, viewers have seen some of SpongeBob’s earlier adventures alongside Patrick, but it has also expanded and/or changed a couple of elements from the main show, such as the origin of the Krabby Patty.
The Krabby Patty is the signature food item of the Krusty Krab, owned by Mr. Krabs and where SpongeBob works as a fry cook (and more). It’s the underwater equivalent of a burger and it’s insanely popular in Bikini Bottom, so much that Plankton has been trying to steal its secret formula for years. Now, the main show has already given the Krabby Patty and the formula an origin in the episode “Friend or Foe”, but Kamp Koral gave it another one, which doesn’t really fit with the main timeline of SpongeBob SquarePants.
The first origin story of the Krabby Patty said that many, many years ago, childhood friends Plankton and Mr. Krabs decided to go into the burger business after Stinky’s Burgers closed, but their burgers weren’t good. Of course, these two had a fight over the recipe, resulting in them tearing it in two, with Plankton only getting the bottom half of it that said “and a pinch of chum”. Mr. Krabs found his “secret formula” when a bunch of ingredients fell into the patty batter, making way for the now-famous Krabby Patty. Kamp Koral, on the other hand, credits SpongeBob as the creator of the Krabby Patty and the secret formula, but also as the one who gave Plankton the terrible idea of serving chum.
In the second segment of Kamp Koral’s fourth episode, “Kitchen Sponge”, Plankton (who serves as the camp’s cook) needs help in the kitchen, but Mr. Krabs (the one in charge of camp) refuses to pay another person to help him, so he asks his campers for help. SpongeBob is the only one who offers to help, and so he joins Plankton in the kitchen. Plankton tries really hard to teach SpongeBob to cook but he fails, until he suddenly prepares a soufflé. After that, realizing that SpongeBob has a natural talent as a cook, Plankton comes up with a fancy menu for the camp, but that’s was too expensive, so Mr. Krabs asked SpongeBob to prepare something simple. SpongeBob presents him with a burger, which Mr. Krabs tries and loves, immediately calling it a “Krabby Patty”. Plankton takes a bite too and is hooked, so he wants SpongeBob’s recipe, which he wrote down. In the end, the recipe is burned and thus lost, leaving them with no more Krabby Patties, and when Plankton asks what he can serve now, SpongeBob replies that he can serve chum, something Plankton takes seriously years later.
The recipe burning is revealed to be part of a plan between present Sandy and Sandy from the future, though it doesn’t really justify the double origin of the Krabby Patty. It’s important to remember that in SpongeBob SquarePants, Mr. Krabs and Plankton were young when they came up with their recipe, and in Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years they are already adults, and Mr. Krabs already has his daughter, Pearl, so the origin of the Krabby Patty doesn’t make sense. Surely, this is not a detail that completely changes the main series, but it’s yet another inconsistency in it.