# TheMealDB Recipe Finder (Free) (`fit_melon/themealdb-recipe-finder`) Actor Search recipes by name, ingredient, category or country from the free TheMealDB. Parsed ingredient lists, instructions, images, YouTube links. No API key. Clean JSON for food apps. - **URL**: https://apify.com/fit\_melon/themealdb-recipe-finder.md - **Developed by:** [D N](https://apify.com/fit_melon) (community) - **Categories:** E-commerce, Other - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing Pay per usage This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-usage ## 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 Finder (Free) **What it does.** Search thousands of recipes from the open **TheMealDB** database and get clean, structured JSON: recipe name, category, area/country, full instructions, a parsed **ingredient + measure list**, image, tags, YouTube link and source. Search **by meal name, main ingredient, category, or country**. No API key. Perfect for building recipe apps, meal planners, food datasets, or chatbots (recettes de cuisine, ingrรฉdients). You only pay your Apify platform usage. ### Input | Field | Type | Description | |---|---|---| | `searchType` | string | `name`, `ingredient`, `category`, or `area`. | | `queries` | array of strings | Terms to search, interpreted per `searchType`. | | `maxResults` | integer | Max recipes per query (default 10). | | `hydrate` | boolean | For ingredient/category/area, fetch full details per match (default true). | ### Output (example) ```json { "status": "found", "query": "Arrabiata", "name": "Spicy Arrabiata Penne", "category": "Vegetarian", "area": "Italian", "ingredientCount": 12, "ingredients": [ { "ingredient": "penne rigate", "measure": "1 pound" } ], "instructions": "Bring a large pot of water to a boil...", "thumbnail": "https://www.themealdb.com/images/media/meals/....jpg", "youtube": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=..." } ```` Each result carries a `status`: `found`, `not_found`, or `error`. The actor never crashes on an unknown term. ### Use cases - Build a recipe app, meal planner or "what's for dinner" bot. - Create a food/recipe dataset with structured ingredients. - Find recipes by an ingredient you have on hand. - Enrich a menu with images and cooking instructions. ### Limitations & fair use Data from [TheMealDB](https://www.themealdb.com/) (community, free tier / test key). Coverage is broad but not exhaustive. Ingredient/category/area searches return a lite list that the actor optionally hydrates to full detail. Polite delays are applied between requests. ### More actors by this developer See other free, no-key data actors on the [developer profile](https://apify.com/fit_melon). # Actor input Schema ## `searchType` (type: `string`): How to interpret each query term. ## `queries` (type: `array`): Terms to search (meal names, ingredients, categories or countries depending on Search type). ## `maxResults` (type: `integer`): Maximum recipes returned per query term. ## `hydrate` (type: `boolean`): For ingredient/category/area searches, fetch full recipe details (ingredients, instructions) for each match. Slower. ## Actor input object example ```json { "searchType": "name", "queries": [ "Arrabiata", "Chicken" ], "maxResults": 10, "hydrate": true } ``` # 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 = { "queries": [ "Arrabiata", "Chicken" ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("fit_melon/themealdb-recipe-finder").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`๐Ÿ’พ 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); }); // ๐Ÿ“š Want to learn more ๐Ÿ“–? Go to โ†’ 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 = { "queries": [ "Arrabiata", "Chicken", ] } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("fit_melon/themealdb-recipe-finder").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("๐Ÿ’พ Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # ๐Ÿ“š Want to learn more ๐Ÿ“–? Go to โ†’ https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "queries": [ "Arrabiata", "Chicken" ] }' | apify call fit_melon/themealdb-recipe-finder --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fit_melon/themealdb-recipe-finder", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "TheMealDB Recipe Finder (Free)", "description": "Search recipes by name, ingredient, category or country from the free TheMealDB. Parsed ingredient lists, instructions, images, YouTube links. No API key. Clean JSON for food apps.", "version": "0.0", "x-build-id": "DklXq71KbcS7hGH7R" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/fit_melon~themealdb-recipe-finder/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-fit_melon-themealdb-recipe-finder", "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/fit_melon~themealdb-recipe-finder/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-fit_melon-themealdb-recipe-finder", "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/fit_melon~themealdb-recipe-finder/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-fit_melon-themealdb-recipe-finder", "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", "required": [ "queries" ], "properties": { "searchType": { "title": "Search type", "enum": [ "name", "ingredient", "category", "area" ], "type": "string", "description": "How to interpret each query term.", "default": "name" }, "queries": { "title": "Queries", "type": "array", "description": "Terms to search (meal names, ingredients, categories or countries depending on Search type).", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "maxResults": { "title": "Max results per query", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 100, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum recipes returned per query term.", "default": 10 }, "hydrate": { "title": "Fetch full details", "type": "boolean", "description": "For ingredient/category/area searches, fetch full recipe details (ingredients, instructions) for each match. Slower.", "default": true } } }, "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 } } } } } } } } } } ```