--- title: "Search recipes — Tiny Plates recipe API" description: "Search recipes by meaning as well as wording, across names, ingredients and descriptions, and return only the fields you need." url: "https://www.tinyplates.dev/docs/api/search-recipes" --- # Search recipes Search recipes by meaning as well as wording, across names, ingredients and descriptions, and return only the fields you need. GET`/search`API key Searches names, ingredients and descriptions. Matching is on meaning as well as wording, so "creamy pasta" also finds carbonara. Results carry a \`score\` that is only meaningful relative to the others in the same response — do not read it as an absolute rating. ## Request ``` curl 'https://api.tinyplates.dev/search?query=creamy+pasta&limit=3' \ -H 'Authorization: Bearer rd_your_api_key' ``` query\* fields language limit without Sign in to run this request with your own key. Free, 50 requests a day and 300 a week. [Create an account](https://www.tinyplates.dev/sign-up)[Sign in](https://www.tinyplates.dev/sign-in) ## Parameters * `query`stringrequired What to search for. * `fields`string A comma-separated list of recipe fields to return. \`id\` and \`score\` are always included. Use it to keep responses small when you only need a few fields. * `language`stringdefaults to `en` Only return recipes written in this language, as a two-letter ISO 639-1 code. * `limit`integerdefaults to `10`1–50 How many results to return. Unlike the list endpoints this one caps at 50, and a value that is not a whole number is ignored rather than rejected. * `without`string Leave out recipes that contain any listed allergen feature (comma-separated ids from /vocabularies). Only recipes whose \`allergens\` value is \`false\` for every listed feature are returned, so a search can return fewer than \`limit\` results. Informational, not medical advice. An unknown feature returns 400. ## Response `results[]`object\[\] `allergens`objectoptional ``boolean One key per allergen identifier from GET /vocabularies, such as "milk" or "gluten-cereals": true when the recipe contains it. `disclaimer`string The required informational-use warning. Whether the recipe contains each EU and US regulated allergen: one true or false for each of the 16 allergen identifiers, keyed by identifier, beside the disclaimer. Informational only; verify product labels before serving someone with an allergy. `author`objectoptional Who wrote the recipe, and a link to them when the site published one. `categories`string\[\] Normalized category slugs from an open set, such as "pasta" or "soup". The value the \`category\` filter takes. `courses`string\[\] Course slugs from the closed list. The value the \`course\` filter takes. `createdAt`string When the recipe first entered the database. ISO 8601. `cuisines`string\[\] Cuisine slugs from the closed list. The value the \`cuisine\` filter takes. `description`stringoptional The recipe’s own summary. `dietary`objectoptional Dietary flags, declared by the site or inferred from the required ingredients. A declared flag wins; a missing flag is unknown, and false is a known no. An inferred \`glutenFree\` or \`dairyFree\` can disagree with \`allergens\` by design: the diet reads the required ingredients, so a dish is gluten-free once the optional pita is left out, while the allergen block counts every line and stays cautious. `equipment`string\[\]optional Equipment the recipe calls for, as words rather than slugs. `groups`string\[\] The section headers of the recipe: the distinct \`group\` values of the ingredients and then the steps, in the order they first appear. Empty when the recipe has no sections. `id`string The recipe id. `ingredients[]`object\[\] `display`string The line to render. Equal to the source line until the structure and the source part company — a converted unit, an amount enrichment filled in. `group`stringoptional The section header the line sat under, such as "For the sauce". `ingredientId`stringoptional The canonical ingredient id, such as "chicken-thigh". Absent until the recipe has been enriched, or when the name could not be resolved. This is the value the \`ingredient\` filter of GET /recipes takes. `localName`stringoptional The ingredient as this recipe’s own language names it, when that differs from \`name\`. `localPreparation`stringoptional How the ingredient is prepared, in the recipe’s own words, such as "finhackade" where \`preparation\` says "finely chopped". Absent on an English recipe, where \`preparation\` already is the reader’s, and on a line that says nothing of the kind. \`display\` is written with this one. `name`string The canonical English name. `note`stringoptional Anything the parser understood but could not place, such as "(400 g)". Kept as the source wrote it, in the recipe’s language, and never translated. `optional`boolean Whether the recipe marks this ingredient as optional. `original`string The source line, verbatim. Rewriting a recipe — scaling it, converting its units — leaves this alone. `preparation`stringoptional How the ingredient is prepared, in English, such as "finely chopped". Read \`localPreparation\` for the words the recipe itself uses. `quantity`objectoptional `max`numberoptional The top of a range. `unit`stringoptional One of the units listed by GET /vocabularies. `value`number The amount itself. The amount. A range such as "2-3 tomatoes" is a value of 2 with a max of 3\. A value with no unit is a count of pieces. `size`stringoptional A size qualifier, such as "large". One ingredient line, parsed. \`original\` is the line the site published; \`display\` is the same line written back from these fields, in the recipe’s own language. `instructions[]`object\[\] `duration`objectoptional `seconds`integer Seconds. A length of time. Always seconds, never a formatted string. `equipment`string\[\]optional Equipment slugs the step calls for. `group`stringoptional The section the step sat under or, where the page named no section, the heading the step carried of its own. `ingredients`string\[\]optional Canonical ingredient ids the step uses. `step`integer The step number. Steps always run 1, 2, 3… in order. `techniques`string\[\]optional Technique slugs the step uses, such as "saute". `temperature`objectoptional An oven or pan temperature, with its unit as "C" or "F". `text`string The step text. One step. The text is authoritative; everything else on a step comes from enrichment and may be absent. `language`string The language the recipe is written in, as a two-letter ISO 639-1 code. `media[]`object\[\] `alt`stringoptional Alternative text. `caption`stringoptional A caption published with the item. `id`string Unique within the recipe. `role`string Where the item sits in the recipe. `step`integeroptional For role "step", the step number the item illustrates. `type`string "image" or "video". `url`string The file itself. `variants`object\[\]optional The same photo in other sizes or crops. Images only. Images and videos. An image carries a \`role\` of hero, gallery, step or thumbnail; a video carries gallery or step. A recipe has at most one hero image. `notes`string\[\]optional What the writer added beside the method: storage, make-ahead, substitutions. One entry per note, in the order the page wrote them. `nutrition`objectoptional `basis`object What the numbers are per. \`type\` is "serving", "recipe" or "100g"; \`servings\` is the serving count the site worked the numbers out on, which is not always the serving count the recipe is written for; \`description\` is the serving size the site named, such as "1 cup". `calories`objectoptional Energy, with its unit. `carbohydrates`objectoptional Carbohydrates. `fat`objectoptional Fat. `fiber`objectoptional Fibre. `micronutrients`objectoptional Anything else the source declared, keyed by nutrient slug. `protein`objectoptional Protein. `saturatedFat`objectoptional Saturated fat. `sodium`objectoptional Sodium. `source`string "provided": the site published these numbers itself, in the structured data the recipe was read from, so they are as current as the last read of that page. `sugar`objectoptional Sugar. Nutrition as the site published it. \`basis\` says whether the numbers are per serving, per recipe or per 100 g. The API does not compute nutrition from the ingredients, so a recipe whose site publishes none has no nutrition object at all. `rating`objectoptional The rating the source published, with how many people rated it. `servings`objectoptional How much the recipe makes. "Serves 4-6" is a quantity of 4 with a max of 6; "Makes 24 cookies" is a quantity of 24 with a unit of "cookie". `tags`string\[\] The source site’s own keywords, cleaned but not mapped to any vocabulary. `techniques`string\[\]optional Techniques the recipe uses, as words rather than slugs. `text`object `ingredients`string\[\] One line per ingredient. `instructions`string\[\] One line per step. The recipe as plain lines: every ingredient’s \`display\` and every step’s \`text\`, in order. A convenience for rendering; nothing here is missing from the structured fields. `times`object `cook`objectoptional `seconds`integer Seconds. A length of time. Always seconds, never a formatted string. `inactive`objectoptional `seconds`integer Seconds. A length of time. Always seconds, never a formatted string. `prep`objectoptional `seconds`integer Seconds. A length of time. Always seconds, never a formatted string. `total`objectoptional `seconds`integer Seconds. A length of time. Always seconds, never a formatted string. Preparation, cooking, inactive and total time, each in seconds. `title`string The recipe title. `updatedAt`string When the recipe was last written. ISO 8601. `url`string The page the recipe was read from. One source URL is one recipe. `score`number A rank fusion of the meaning and the wording legs of the search, plus a bonus for a title that contains the query. Higher comes first. It is a rank, not a confidence: scores are comparable only within one response. The matching recipes, best first. When \`fields\` is set, only the requested fields plus \`id\` and \`score\` are present. Example ``` { "results": [ { "id": "6a980d75ea7517554c2894b1", "allergens": { "celery": false, "crustaceans": false, "eggs": false, "fish": false, "gluten-cereals": false, "lupin": false, "milk": true, "molluscs": false, "mustard": false, "nuts-eu": false, "peanuts": true, "sesame": false, "soy": false, "sulphites": false, "tree-nuts-us": false, "wheat": false, "disclaimer": "Informational only; not medical advice. Verify ingredients and product labels before serving someone with an allergy." }, "createdAt": "2026-09-02T11:50:13.886Z", "dietary": { "glutenFree": true, "vegetarian": true }, "instructions": [ { "equipment": [ "oven" ], "step": 1, "temperature": { "unit": "F", "value": 325 }, "text": "Preheat oven to 325°." }, { "ingredients": [ "roma-tomato" ], "step": 2, "techniques": [ "slicing" ], "text": "Slice tomatoes in half." }, { "ingredients": [ "salt", "basil", "oregano", "thyme" ], "step": 3, "techniques": [ "seasoning" ], "text": "Season with salt, basil, oregano and thyme." }, { "equipment": [ "baking-sheet" ], "ingredients": [ "olive-oil", "roma-tomato" ], "step": 4, "techniques": [ "spraying" ], "text": "Spray a cookie sheet with olive oil spray and place tomatoes cut side up." }, { "duration": { "seconds": 7200 }, "equipment": [ "oven" ], "ingredients": [ "roma-tomato" ], "step": 5, "techniques": [ "baking" ], "text": "Bake 2 hrs until skin gets wrinkled and crusty on the bottom and moist in the center." }, { "equipment": [ "food-processor" ], "ingredients": [ "roma-tomato" ], "step": 6, "techniques": [ "pureeing" ], "text": "Puree the tomatoes in a food processor." }, { "step": 7, "text": "If it is too thick, you can thin with pasta water." }, { "ingredients": [ "roma-tomato" ], "step": 8, "text": "Serve over your favorite high fiber pasta and grated cheese." } ], "language": "en", "media": [ { "id": "hero", "role": "hero", "type": "image", "url": "https://www.skinnytaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/roasted-tomatoe-sauce.jpg", "variants": [ { "url": "https://www.skinnytaste.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/roasted-tomatoe-sauce-425x270.jpg" } ] } ], "nutrition": { "basis": { "type": "serving" }, "calories": { "unit": "kcal", "value": 78.1 }, "carbohydrates": { "unit": "g", "value": 17.3 }, "fat": { "unit": "g", "value": 1.2 }, "fiber": { "unit": "g", "value": 4.1 }, "protein": { "unit": "g", "value": 3.2 }, "source": "provided" }, "rating": { "count": 1, "reviewCount": 1, "value": 5 }, "servings": { "original": "4 servings", "quantity": 4 }, "times": {}, "title": "Candied Tomato Sauce", "updatedAt": "2026-09-06T01:39:14.527Z", "categories": [], "courses": [], "cuisines": [ "italian" ], "groups": [], "ingredients": [ { "display": "12 ripe Roma tomatoes", "localName": "Roma tomatoes", "ingredientId": "roma-tomato", "name": "Roma tomato", "optional": false, "original": "12 ripe Roma tomatoes", "quantity": { "value": 12 }, "size": "ripe" }, { "display": "salt", "localName": "salt", "ingredientId": "salt", "name": "salt", "note": "to taste", "optional": false, "original": "salt to taste" }, { "display": "1 tsp thyme", "localName": "thyme", "ingredientId": "thyme", "name": "thyme", "optional": false, "original": "1 tsp thyme", "quantity": { "unit": "tsp", "value": 1 } }, { "display": "1 tsp oregano", "localName": "oregano", "ingredientId": "oregano", "name": "oregano", "optional": false, "original": "1 tsp oregano", "quantity": { "unit": "tsp", "value": 1 } }, { "display": "olive oil spray", "localName": "olive oil", "ingredientId": "olive-oil", "name": "olive oil", "optional": false, "original": "olive oil spray", "preparation": "spray" }, { "display": "2 tbsp basil, chopped", "localName": "basil", "ingredientId": "basil", "name": "basil", "optional": false, "original": "2 tbsp basil, chopped", "preparation": "chopped", "quantity": { "unit": "tbsp", "value": 2 } } ], "tags": [ "freezer meals", "gluten free", "vegetarian meals" ], "text": { "ingredients": [ "12 ripe Roma tomatoes", "salt", "1 tsp thyme", "1 tsp oregano", "olive oil spray", "2 tbsp basil, chopped" ], "instructions": [ "Preheat oven to 325°.", "Slice tomatoes in half.", "Season with salt, basil, oregano and thyme.", "Spray a cookie sheet with olive oil spray and place tomatoes cut side up.", "Bake 2 hrs until skin gets wrinkled and crusty on the bottom and moist in the center.", "Puree the tomatoes in a food processor.", "If it is too thick, you can thin with pasta water.", "Serve over your favorite high fiber pasta and grated cheese." ] }, "url": "https://www.skinnytaste.com/candied-tomato-sauce-0-ww-pts/", "equipment": [ "baking sheet", "food processor", "oven" ], "techniques": [ "baking", "pureeing", "seasoning", "slicing", "spraying" ], "score": 0.0333 } ] } ``` ## Errors * 400 The query parameter is required. The \`query\` parameter was missing or empty. * 400 The "without" parameter must be a comma-separated list of allergen features from GET /vocabularies, such as "milk,peanuts"; got "dairy". A parameter was not a value the API accepts. The message names the parameter, the value it was given and where the allowed values are listed. * 401 An API key is required. Pass it as an Authorization: Bearer header. No key was sent. Every endpoint except the root, /health, /docs and /openapi.json requires one. * 401 Invalid API key. The key does not exist. Check for a truncated copy, or create a new one on your dashboard. * 401 This API key has been disabled. The key was revoked. Create a new one on your dashboard. * 401 This API key has expired. The key was created with an expiry that has passed. Create a new one. * 429 Daily allowance of 50 requests used. It resets at midnight UTC. Paid plans include more; see https://www.tinyplates.dev/pricing. The account has used its 50 requests for the day. The allowance is per account, so another key will not help. It resets at midnight UTC. * 429 Weekly allowance of 300 requests used. It covers the last 7 days. Paid plans include more; see https://www.tinyplates.dev/pricing. The account has used its 300 requests over the last 7 days, today included. The allowance is per account, so another key will not help. Room comes back as older days drop out of the window. * 429 Daily limit of 5,000 requests on the Personal plan reached. It resets at midnight UTC. Contact us for a higher limit. The account has used its plan's limit for the day. The message names the number and the plan, which differ between accounts. The limit is per account, so another key will not help. It resets at midnight UTC. * 429 Weekly limit of 30,000 requests on the Business plan reached. It covers the last 7 days. Contact us for a higher limit. The account has used the weekly limit set on it over the last 7 days, today included. The message names the number and the plan. Only accounts with a weekly limit can see this. Room comes back as older days drop out of the window. * 500 Something went wrong. Please try again. The API could not answer. The request was not your fault; retry it, and report it if it keeps happening. See also Concepts * [The recipe object](https://www.tinyplates.dev/docs/recipe-object) * [Authentication](https://www.tinyplates.dev/docs/authentication) * [Errors](https://www.tinyplates.dev/docs/errors) * [Rate limits](https://www.tinyplates.dev/docs/rate-limits)