Recipe API - TheMealDB, AllRecipes Scraper & Spoonacular

Search and retrieve recipes from multiple sources: TheMealDB (free API), AllRecipes (scraper), and Spoonacular (BYOK). Get ingredients, instructions, nutrition info, meal planning, and more.

BYOK (Bring Your Own Key) -- you provide your own API credentials.

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Before You Start

This actor requires your own API credentials to fetch real data.

Where to get your key: Your Spoonacular API key for enhanced features. Get one at https://spoonacular.com/food-api

You can test with Demo Mode first (free, no key needed) to see the output format before committing.

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Quick Start

Test with Demo Mode (free, no API key needed)

{
  "demoMode": true,
  "query": "chicken"
}

Run with real data

{
  "demoMode": false,
  "task": "search_recipes",
  "source": "themealdb",
  "query": "chicken",
  "maxResults": 10,
  "includeNutrition": false,
  "spoonacularApiKey": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE",
  "mealPlanDays": 7,
  "targetCalories": 2000,
  "diet": "",
  "webhookPlatform": "custom"
}

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Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Required	Description
task	string	"search_recipes"	No	What would you like to do?
source	string	"themealdb"	No	Which recipe source to use
query	string	-	No	Recipe name, ingredient, or keyword to search for
recipeId	string	-	No	Specific recipe ID (TheMealDB/Spoonacular) or AllRecipes URL
category	string	-	No	Recipe category (e.g., Beef, Chicken, Dessert, Pasta, Seafood, Vegetarian)
cuisine	string	-	No	Cuisine type (e.g., Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Indian, American)
maxResults	integer	10	No	Maximum number of recipes to return
includeNutrition	boolean	false	No	Fetch nutrition data when available (Spoonacular only)
spoonacularApiKey	string	-	Yes*	Your Spoonacular API key for enhanced features. Get one at https://spoonacular.com/food-api
mealPlanDays	integer	7	No	Number of days for meal plan (Spoonacular only)
targetCalories	integer	2000	No	Target calories per day for meal planning
diet	string	""	No	Dietary restriction for filtering
demoMode	boolean	true	No	Run with sample data to test without making real API calls
webhookUrl	string	-	No	Send results to this webhook URL (Zapier, Make, n8n, or custom)
webhookPlatform	string	"custom"	No	Which platform is receiving the webhook
webhookHeaders	object	-	No	Optional custom headers for webhook requests

*Required when Demo Mode is off.

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Pricing

This actor uses pay-per-event billing:

Event	Description	Price
Recipe Found	Each recipe retrieved from any source	$0.01

Demo mode is free -- no charges for sample data.

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Troubleshooting

"API key is required"

You have Demo Mode turned off but didn't provide an API key. Either:

• Turn Demo Mode on to test with sample data
• Add your API key in the input

"API error 403" or "Unauthorized"

Your API key is invalid, expired, or doesn't have access to this specific API endpoint. Double-check your key and account permissions.

"API error 429" or "Rate limit"

Too many requests. Wait a minute and try again, or reduce the number of items per run.

No results or empty dataset

Check the run log for error messages. Common causes:

• Invalid input format (check the examples above)
• API key without proper permissions
• The target data doesn't exist or is too small to track

How do I test without an API key?

Enable Demo Mode in the input. This returns realistic sample data so you can verify the output format works for your workflow.

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Built by John Rippy | Actor Arsenal