# TheMealDB Recipe Scraper (`crawlerbros/themealdb-scraper`) Actor Scrape recipes from TheMealDB - search by name, filter by category, cuisine area or main ingredient, or look up by ID. Returns full recipe details with ingredients, measurements, instructions, thumbnail images, and YouTube links. - **URL**: https://apify.com/crawlerbros/themealdb-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Crawler Bros](https://apify.com/crawlerbros) (community) - **Categories:** Automation, Developer tools, Integrations - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $3.00 / 1,000 results This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage. Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## TheMealDB Recipe Scraper Extract recipes from [TheMealDB](https://www.themealdb.com) — a free, open-source meal and recipe database. Search by name, browse by cuisine category or area, filter by main ingredient, or look up specific recipes by ID. ### Features - **6 scraping modes** — search, category browse, area browse, ingredient filter, ID lookup, random - **Full recipe details** — ingredients with measurements, instructions, thumbnail images, YouTube links - **195+ cuisine areas** — from Italian to Japanese to Indian - **14 categories** — Beef, Chicken, Seafood, Vegetarian, Dessert, and more - **No authentication required** — uses the free public TheMealDB API ### Input | Field | Type | Description | Default | |-------|------|-------------|---------| | `mode` | Select | Scraping mode | `search` | | `searchQuery` | String | Recipe name to search (mode=search) | `pasta` | | `category` | Select | Meal category (mode=byCategory) | `Seafood` | | `area` | String | Cuisine area (mode=byArea) | `Italian` | | `ingredient` | String | Main ingredient (mode=byIngredient) | `chicken` | | `mealIds` | Array | TheMealDB meal IDs (mode=byIds) | `[]` | | `randomCount` | Integer | Random meals count 1–50 (mode=random) | `5` | | `maxItems` | Integer | Max recipes to return | `50` | #### Modes | Mode | Description | |------|-------------| | `search` | Search by recipe name keyword | | `byCategory` | Browse all recipes in a category (e.g. Seafood, Dessert) | | `byArea` | Browse all recipes from a cuisine area (e.g. Italian, Japanese) | | `byIngredient` | Browse all recipes using a main ingredient (e.g. chicken, salmon) | | `byIds` | Look up specific recipes by their TheMealDB ID | | `random` | Fetch random recipes from the database | #### Example Input ```json { "mode": "byArea", "area": "Japanese", "maxItems": 20 } ```` ### Output | Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | `mealId` | String | TheMealDB unique meal ID | | `name` | String | Recipe name | | `category` | String | Meal category | | `area` | String | Cuisine area/origin | | `instructions` | String | Full cooking instructions | | `thumbnailUrl` | String | Recipe image URL | | `youtubeUrl` | String | YouTube tutorial link | | `sourceUrl` | String | Original recipe source | | `tags` | Array | Recipe tags | | `ingredients` | Array | Ingredients with measurements `[{name, measure}]` | | `mealUrl` | String | Link to meal on TheMealDB | | `recordType` | String | Always `"meal"` | | `scrapedAt` | String | ISO timestamp | #### Example Output ```json { "mealId": "52772", "name": "Teriyaki Chicken Casserole", "category": "Chicken", "area": "Japanese", "thumbnailUrl": "https://www.themealdb.com/images/media/meals/wvpsxx1468256321.jpg", "youtubeUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aZr5hZXP_s", "ingredients": [ {"name": "soy sauce", "measure": "3/4 cup"}, {"name": "water", "measure": "1/2 cup"}, {"name": "brown sugar", "measure": "1/4 cup"} ], "recordType": "meal", "scrapedAt": "2026-06-04T12:00:00+00:00" } ``` ### FAQ **Is there a rate limit?** TheMealDB is a free public API with generous rate limits suitable for normal scraping. **How many recipes are available?** TheMealDB contains hundreds of recipes across 14 categories and 195+ cuisine areas. **Can I get recipes by a specific ingredient?** Yes, use `mode=byIngredient` with `ingredient=chicken` (or any ingredient name). **Are ingredient measurements included?** Yes, each recipe includes up to 20 ingredients with their corresponding measurements. **What cuisine areas are available?** American, British, Canadian, Chinese, Dutch, Egyptian, Filipino, French, Greek, Indian, Irish, Italian, Jamaican, Japanese, Kenyan, Malaysian, Mexican, Moroccan, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Tunisian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, and more. # Actor input Schema ## `mode` (type: `string`): How to find recipes. ## `searchQuery` (type: `string`): Recipe name to search for. ## `category` (type: `string`): Meal category to browse. ## `area` (type: `string`): Cuisine area to browse (e.g. Italian, Japanese, American). ## `ingredient` (type: `string`): Main ingredient to search by (e.g. chicken, salmon). ## `mealIds` (type: `array`): List of TheMealDB meal IDs to look up. ## `randomCount` (type: `integer`): Number of random meals to fetch (1–50). ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of recipes to return. ## Actor input object example ```json { "mode": "search", "searchQuery": "pasta", "category": "Seafood", "area": "Italian", "ingredient": "chicken", "mealIds": [], "randomCount": 5, "maxItems": 50 } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `recipes` (type: `string`): Dataset containing all scraped recipes. # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "mode": "search", "searchQuery": "pasta", "category": "Seafood", "area": "Italian", "ingredient": "chicken", "mealIds": [], "randomCount": 5, "maxItems": 50 }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("crawlerbros/themealdb-scraper").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "mode": "search", "searchQuery": "pasta", "category": "Seafood", "area": "Italian", "ingredient": "chicken", "mealIds": [], "randomCount": 5, "maxItems": 50, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("crawlerbros/themealdb-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "mode": "search", "searchQuery": "pasta", "category": "Seafood", "area": "Italian", "ingredient": "chicken", "mealIds": [], "randomCount": 5, "maxItems": 50 }' | apify call crawlerbros/themealdb-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=crawlerbros/themealdb-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "TheMealDB Recipe Scraper", "description": "Scrape recipes from TheMealDB - search by name, filter by category, cuisine area or main ingredient, or look up by ID. Returns full recipe details with ingredients, measurements, instructions, thumbnail images, and YouTube links.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "XfKSFELlOoGzFnIqx" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/crawlerbros~themealdb-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-crawlerbros-themealdb-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/crawlerbros~themealdb-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-crawlerbros-themealdb-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/crawlerbros~themealdb-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-crawlerbros-themealdb-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "mode": { "title": "Mode", "enum": [ "search", "byCategory", "byArea", "byIngredient", "byIds", "random" ], "type": "string", "description": "How to find recipes.", "default": "search" }, "searchQuery": { "title": "Search query (mode=search)", "type": "string", "description": "Recipe name to search for.", "default": "pasta" }, "category": { "title": "Category (mode=byCategory)", "enum": [ "Beef", "Breakfast", "Chicken", "Dessert", "Goat", "Lamb", "Miscellaneous", "Pasta", "Pork", "Seafood", "Side", "Starter", "Vegan", "Vegetarian" ], "type": "string", "description": "Meal category to browse.", "default": "Seafood" }, "area": { "title": "Cuisine area (mode=byArea)", "type": "string", "description": "Cuisine area to browse (e.g. Italian, Japanese, American).", "default": "Italian" }, "ingredient": { "title": "Main ingredient (mode=byIngredient)", "type": "string", "description": "Main ingredient to search by (e.g. chicken, salmon).", "default": "chicken" }, "mealIds": { "title": "Meal IDs (mode=byIds)", "type": "array", "description": "List of TheMealDB meal IDs to look up.", "default": [], "items": { "type": "string" } }, "randomCount": { "title": "Random meal count (mode=random)", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 50, "type": "integer", "description": "Number of random meals to fetch (1–50).", "default": 5 }, "maxItems": { "title": "Max results", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 500, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of recipes to return.", "default": 50 } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```