Recipe and nutrition data, ready for your app
Search and generate recipes with typed ingredients, step-by-step instructions and 32 nutrients per serving, backed by USDA ingredient data. One JSON shape, commercial use, no attribution.
Free to try: 50 full recipes, no card.
Or try it now, without a key:
curl https://recipe-api.com/api/v1/dinnerSkip the parsing
Most recipe data arrives as text. Before you build a single feature, you write parsers, unit tables and nutrition lookups. Recipe API sends every ingredient already split into quantity, unit and preparation, linked to an ingredient record and its nutrition source.
Typical recipe text
What Recipe API returns
{
"name": "red chilies",
"quantity": 6,
"unit": null,
"preparation": "dried",
"notes": "about 30g",
"substitutions": [],
"ingredient_id": "3c3f97d4-c951-43fd-865c-88fa8b445739",
"nutrition_source": "USDA FoodData Central"
}Start from what you are building
The same data supports each of these. Pick yours to see the features and the request you would start with.
Plan meals around real constraints
Filter recipes by diet, cuisine and calories on the server, then build shopping lists from grouped ingredients with quantities and units.
- Dietary flags and allergen warnings on every recipe
- Active, passive and total time for scheduling
- Quantities and units you can scale and add up
Start with
GET /api/v1/recipes?dietary=Vegan&max_calories=600
Your first request in about a minute
- Step 1
Enter your email
We send you a sign-in link. No card and no password.
- Step 2
Run your first request
Your first sign-in creates an API key and opens the playground with a recipe request ready to run.
- Step 3
Build or connect
Call the API from any language, start from a TypeScript, Python or Go starter kit, or connect Claude through MCP.
Nutrition you can explain
Every ingredient is matched to a USDA FoodData Central record or a cited source, and the 32 nutrients per serving are added up from those records. No AI model estimates a number.
- Matched at the ingredient level, not guessed per recipe
- Calculated the same way every time
- Every ingredient in the response says where its data came from
Texas Chili con Carne
per serving
- Calories
- 569 kcal
- Protein
- 44.1 g
- Fiber
- 2.0 g
- Sodium
- 351 mg
- Iron
- 7.2 mg
- Vitamin B12
- 6.1 mcg
Showing 6 of 32 nutrients from the sample response. nutrition_source: USDA FoodData Central
Yours to ship
No attribution, on every plan
Show recipes under your own brand. No logo, link or credit line is required.
Commercial use from $29
Personal is for non-commercial projects. Developer and above cover apps you sell or earn money from.
Caching that grows with you
24 hours on Developer, 7 days on Production, and a persistent application cache on Scale.
Weighing other recipe APIs? Compare with Spoonacular or Edamam.
Pick the plan for where you are
Searching and browsing are free on every plan. Opening a full recipe uses one request, and opening it again does not use another unique recipe.
Exploring
Evaluation
$0
Try the full schema and build your first integration.
- 50 full recipe requests
- 1 generated recipe
- Free search and browsing
- No card
Side project
Personal
$9 a month
For personal projects and your own Claude setup.
- 200 requests a day
- 100 unique recipes a month
- Non-commercial use
- Email support
Launching
RecommendedDeveloper
$29 a month
For your first commercial app.
- 500 requests a day
- 250 unique recipes a month
- Commercial use
- 24-hour caching
Growing
Production
$99 a month
More volume, longer caching and email support.
- 2,000 requests a day
- 1,000 unique recipes a month
- 7-day caching
- Email support
Need more volume or a persistent cache? See Scale, Enterprise and every plan feature.
Questions developers ask
How is the nutrition calculated?
Each ingredient is matched to a USDA FoodData Central record or, where USDA has no match, a cited source. The 32 nutrients per serving are added up from those records, not estimated by an AI model, and every ingredient in the response includes its nutrition_source.
Can I show recipes in my app under my own brand?
Yes. No attribution is required on any plan. Commercial use starts on the Developer plan; Personal is for non-commercial projects.
Can I cache or store recipes?
It depends on your plan: no caching on Evaluation or Personal, 24-hour caching on Developer, 7-day caching on Production, and a persistent application cache on Scale and Enterprise.
What counts as a request?
Searching, filtering and browsing are free. Opening a full recipe uses one request. Each plan also includes a number of unique recipes per month, and opening a recipe you have already fetched does not use another one.
What happens when I reach a limit?
We email you at 80% and again at 100% of your allowance. At the limit, the API returns a 429 response that names the limit and links to upgrade. Paid allowances reset each day and month, and if you reach your unique-recipe allowance, recipes you have already opened stay available.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel from Manage Billing in your dashboard, and you keep access until the end of the period you have paid for.
Do generated recipes use the same format?
Yes. POST /api/v1/generate returns the same recipe shape as the catalog, so your app handles one format.
Which languages and tools can I use?
Any language that can make an HTTPS request. There are starter kits and SDK source for TypeScript, Python and Go, and an MCP server for Claude and other MCP clients.
Try it with your own app idea
50 full recipes free, no card. If you get stuck, email paul@recipe-api.com and the person who built Recipe API will reply.