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Recipe API

The Recipe API provides access to over 125,000 recipes from all cuisines, each with structured ingredients, step-by-step instructions and full nutrition data. Premium plans add ingredient (pantry) search, automatic recipe scaling and macro-based filtering.

Online
(4.8)

From 6,055 users

4,300+

Applications using this API

API Status

Online - All Systems Operational

API Response Times

Average
P50
P75
P90
P95
391ms433ms482ms887ms1315ms

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https://api.api-ninjas.com/v3/recipe

Get a list of recipes for a given recipe name or ingredient(s). Returns a list of recipes. To access more results, use the limit parameter to limit the number of results and the offset parameter to offset results for pagination in multiple API calls.

Parameters

Either title or ingredients parameter must be provided.

  • title  optional

    Recipe title to search for.

  • ingredients  optionalPremium only

    Comma-separated list of ingredients to search for (up to 5). Results are ranked by how many of your ingredients they use, then by how few additional ingredients they need, and each recipe gains a pantry_match object listing what you are missing.

  • limit  optional

    Number of results to return. Must be between 1 and 5 on the free tier, or 1 and 10 for premium subscribers. If not set, a default value of 1 will be used.

  • servings  optionalPremium only

    Rescale each recipe to this number of servings. Every ingredient quantity and the whole nutrition block are recomputed, and the response gains original_servings and scale_factor. Must be between 1 and 1000.

  • min_calories, max_calories, min_protein, max_protein, min_carbs, max_carbs, min_fat, max_fat, max_sugars, max_sodium  optionalPremium only

    Macro filters. Restrict results to recipes whose nutrition falls within the given bounds — for example min_protein=30&max_calories=500 for high-protein, lower-calorie meals. Values are per recipe, in the same units as the nutrition response object. Macro filters may be used on their own, without title or ingredients.

  • offset  optionalPremium only

    Number of results to offset for pagination.

Headers

  • X-Api-Key  required

    API Key associated with your account.

Response

A JSON array of recipe objects matching the query, each containing the following fields, or an error if the request is unsuccessful.

  • title

    Recipe title.

  • ingredients

    Array of ingredient objects. Each object contains a name (string), quantity (number), and unit (string).

  • servings

    Serving information / yield description.

  • instructions

    Array of instruction step strings describing how to prepare the recipe.

  • nutrition

    Nutrition information object containing calories, fat, saturated fat, protein, sodium, potassium, dietary fiber, cholesterol, sugars, and total carbohydrates. Included on every tier.

  • pantry_match  Premium only

    Returned when ingredients is set. Contains matched_ingredients, matched_count, requested_count, missing_ingredients (the recipe ingredients your search did not cover) and missing_count.

  • original_servings, scale_factor  Premium only

    Returned when servings is set. The recipe's original yield, and the multiplier applied to every ingredient quantity and nutrition value.

Live Demo

Live demo · no API key required
Query parameters
title
ingredients

Get a free API key to get started — no credit card required.

Headers
X-Api-KeyLog in or sign up to get your API key
GET
https://api.api-ninjas.com/v3/recipe?title=lentil%20soup
Sample response
[
{
"title": "Gramma's Lentil Soup with Garlic Bread",
"servings": "6 servings",
"instructions": [
"Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions until soft (about 5 minutes).",
"Add the garlic, leeks, carrots and celery and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.",
"Add the paprika, herbs, pepper sauce, vinegar, lentils, tomatoes and stock. Stir well.",
"Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 40-50 minutes, stirring occasionally.",
"Remove from heat, leave to cool slightly, then liquidise in a food processor or blender, or pass through a large sieve.",
"Pour back into pan and reheat.",
"Serve with hot toasted garlic bread."
],
"nutrition": {
"calories": 731.715113,
"total_fat": 34.061013,
"saturated_fat": 2.755683,
"protein": 20.78461,
"sodium": 3507.669017,
"potassium": 488.858444,
"dietary_fiber": 27.606772,
"cholesterol": 0,
"sugars": 38.105134,
"total_carbohydrate": 96.210082
},
"ingredients": [
{
"name": "Oil",
"quantity": 2,
"unit": "tablespoon"
},
{
"name": "Onion; chopped",
"quantity": 1,
"unit": "unit"
},
{
"name": "Garlic cloves; finely grated or pureed",
"quantity": 3,
"unit": "clove"
},
{
"name": "Leek; finely chopped",
"quantity": 1,
"unit": "unit"
},
{
"name": "Carrots; diced",
"quantity": 3,
"unit": "unit"
},
{
"name": "Celery stalks; finely chopped",
"quantity": 3,
"unit": "stalk"
},
{
"name": "Paprika",
"quantity": 1,
"unit": "teaspoon"
},
{
"name": "Died mixed herbs",
"quantity": 1,
"unit": "teaspoon"
},
{
"name": "Gramma's Mild Pepper Sauce",
"quantity": 1,
"unit": "teaspoon"
},
{
"name": "Wine vinegar",
"quantity": 2,
"unit": "teaspoon"
},
{
"name": "Red lentils; rinsed",
"quantity": 3,
"unit": "ounce"
},
{
"name": "4 oz can tomatoes",
"quantity": 1,
"unit": "can"
},
{
"name": "Vegetable stock",
"quantity": 2,
"unit": "pint"
}
]
}
]

Code Examples

curl -X GET "https://api.api-ninjas.com/v3/recipe?title=lentil%20soup" \ -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

If your programming language is not listed in the Code Example above, you can still make API calls by using a HTTP request library written in your programming language and following the above documentation.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Yes, but you must have a premium subscription. Commercial use of the Recipe API is not permitted on the free tier. See our pricing page to choose a plan that fits your needs.
  • Sign up for a free account to instantly get your API key, then pass it in the X-Api-Key header on every request. The documentation above includes ready-to-run examples in cURL, Python, JavaScript, Node.js, and more.
  • Your API requests will simply be denied once you hit your monthly quota — you will never be charged more than the plan you signed up for. To increase your quota, you can upgrade your plan any time on our pricing page.
  • The API responds with a standard HTTP status code and a JSON error message describing the problem. See our error codes reference for the full list of codes and how to resolve each one, or contact support if you need help.
  • Call the /v3/recipe endpoint with either a title parameter (for example title=lentil soup) or a comma-separated ingredients parameter to find recipes that use those items; one of the two is required. Get a key on the registration page to start querying over 125,000 recipes.
  • Each result is a JSON object with the recipe title, an ingredients array of names and quantities, a servings yield description, and full-text instructions, plus a nutrition object covering calories, fat, protein, sodium, fiber, sugars, and more — included on every tier. Premium requests can also return pantry_match (for ingredient searches) and original_servings/scale_factor (when rescaling with servings). If you need standalone nutrition lookups, pair it with the Nutrition API.
  • By default a single recipe is returned, but with a premium plan you can set the limit parameter to any value between 1 and 10 and use the offset parameter to paginate through additional results across multiple calls. See the pricing page for plan details.
  • You can power meal-planning and cooking apps, build 'what can I make with these ingredients' search tools using the ingredients parameter, or surface nutrition facts for dishes. It pairs well with the Calories Burned API and Cocktail API to round out a complete food and fitness experience.

Explore API integration use cases for recommended APIs and workflow examples.