Recipe Schema

Recipe Schema

Recipe Schema is a structured format for providing detailed information about a recipe on a webpage. It includes properties like title, ingredients, cooking instructions, and more. Implementing this markup helps search engines understand and present recipe-related content in search results. 

Recipe Schema

The Recipe schema is utilized by culinary websites to provide structured information about recipes. Helps search engines understand the details of recipes presented on a website, enhancing their visibility in search results.

Implementing the Recipe schema is similar to utilizing other content-specific schemas, such as the FAQPage or NewsArticle. It involves providing search engines with specific details about the recipe. When you add a Recipe schema to a webpage, it details crucial information such as the recipe name, ingredients, cooking time, and instructions. This markup improves the appearance of recipes in search results, offering users immediate insights into the recipe content.

For recipe listings, the Recipe schema includes mandatory and optional fields, as follows:

Mandatory Fields:

name: The name of the dish.

image: Images of the prepared dish.

recipeInstructions: The step-by-step cooking instructions.

recipeIngredient: The components required to make the dish.

Recommended Fields:

author: The creator of the recipe.

datePublished: When the recipe was first published.

prepTime: The preparation time for the dish.

cookTime: The cooking time for the dish.

description: A summary or brief description of the dish.

recipeYield: The number of servings or the quantity it makes.

recipeCategory: The type of meal or cuisine.

recipeCuisine: The culinary style or origin of the recipe.

nutrition: Nutritional information of the dish.

While the mandatory fields are necessary for a valid Recipe schema, including the recommended fields can significantly enhance the user experience by providing more detailed information, which can also positively affect the recipe’s search rankings and visibility.

Here is an example of Recipe schema looks like:

How to access Recipe schema using Rich Snippets

Access it from METAs – Rich Snippet – Recipe

Clicking on the “+” symbol will open up a panel where you can start editing and customizing your Schema Template.

A pop-up will appear

Add your data, a question and its answer.
Mandatory fields will have small red starlike symbol (*) added to them:

The recommended format for dates in structured data according to ISO 8601 is YYYY-MM-DD.

For the author’s name use the “Author” property

In the description, you want to keep it engaging and informative, ideally between 50-300 characters to ensure it’s long enough to be descriptive but concise enough to be digestible at a quick glance. 

Remember that the description should accurately reflect the recipe content to meet user expectations and search engine guidelines.

The recommended format for durations in structured data is ISO 8601 duration format. In this format, you would express the preparation time in hours and minutes like “PT1H30M” for 1 hour and 30 minutes, or “PT15M” for 15 minutes.

For the recipe type, you should use a common name for the category of the dish, such as “Dessert”, “Main Course”, or “Salad”. While for Cuisine, there is no particular format, try using a simple word, such as “Italian”, as this field defines the culinary tradition or country the recipe belongs to

The “keywords” property can be used to include relevant search terms associated with the recipe. This field is essentially a list of words or phrases that someone might use to search for your recipe or related content

The “recipe yield” property specifies the quantity or number of servings that the recipe produces, such as “serves 4” or “12 cookies”

Adding the calories section provides nutritional information, specifically the caloric content.
Specify the caloric content in kilocalories (kcal), the standard unit of energy in nutrition. The format is a numerical value followed by ” kcal”.

Ensure that each ingredient is added in a different line, to add new ingredients, click on “Add RecipeIngredient” as this will list your ingredients on separate lines

Videos should be in a web-friendly format, such as MP4, that is widely supported across devices and browsers.
Keep videos concise; ideally, between 2 to 5 minutes, respecting the ISO 8601 duration standard. This length is long enough to cover essential details without losing the viewer’s attention.

when recipe instructions are provided as a single text field, all steps are included in one continuous block of text; 

this format is simpler but might be less user-friendly for complex recipes.

B) Howto Steps

using HowTo Steps offers a more structured approach. For each step you will add a new “Add IngridiesntsHowToStep” field;
Start each step with an action verb to make the instructions dynamic and easier to follow (e.g., “Mix”, “Bake”, “Chop”);

when relevant, include timing (e.g., “Bake for 20 minutes”) and quantities (e.g., “1 cup of flour”) within the steps for precision

Adding image URLs helps with visual appeal, clarity, increases click-through rates, improves user experience, and boosts SEO visibility.

Adding reviews enhances credibility and user trust by showcasing real user experiences and feedback. Reviews can influence decision-making by providing insights into the recipe’s success and taste.
The format used must be ISO 8601 format YYYY-MM-DD

The name of the “author” should be provided as a simple text string representing the full name of the author

Reviews can improve search engine optimization (SEO) by adding fresh, relevant content, which search engines favor. Similar to other rich snippets, such as Book Schema, the recommended format is “1 to 5”

Make sure to click on Save

With this you have a Recipe schema set up. All there is left to do is check it up and see if it works as expected. This is easier than you imagine, and Squirrly will help with the steps.

Verify Markup

After saving your changes, you can verify that the Recipe schema markup has been added correctly by viewing the page or post source code. Look for the JSON-LD markup representing the Recipe schema.

1. Click on JSON-LD Code – Validate JSON-LD

2. A new page / tab will open please, click on TEST CODE

3. A small pop-up appears, and you will have to wait a few moments for the data to be processed
4. Once data is processed, you will be able to see your work, test it, share it and use it to enhance your work.

For further details, we recommend referring to the following resources
Recipe Schema
Recipe (Recipe, HowTo, ItemList) structured data

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