Spoonacular

Overview

Spoonacular is a comprehensive food API — recipe search, nutrition analysis, meal planning, ingredient substitution, and wine pairing — with an impressive free tier (an invalid key returns 401, verified). One of the richest food-data APIs available.

Quick Start

Random recipes (replace YOUR_KEY):

curl "https://api.spoonacular.com/recipes/random?apiKey=YOUR_KEY&number=1"

Search recipes:

curl "https://api.spoonacular.com/recipes/complexSearch?apiKey=YOUR_KEY&query=pasta&number=5"

Get a recipe’s ingredients:

curl "https://api.spoonacular.com/recipes/716429/ingredientWidget.json?apiKey=YOUR_KEY"

Nutrition by text:

curl "https://api.spoonacular.com/recipes/visualizeNutrition?apiKey=YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
  -d "text=1%20cup%20rice%20with%202%20eggs"

Authentication

• Register at spoonacular.com (free) → API key on your dashboard.
• Send it as the apiKey query parameter (an invalid key returns 401 — verified).

Rate Limits & Notes

• Free tier: 150 requests/day (up to 150 points/day) — modest; paid tiers scale.
• Endpoints are grouped: recipes (search, random, instructions), ingredients (parse, substitutes), menu items, wine pairing, meal planning.
• Rich data: nutrition, ingredients, instructions, sourceUrl, image, and diets/cuisines flags.
• All responses are JSON; some visualizer endpoints return images.

FAQ

Is Spoonacular free? Free tier: 150 requests/day; more is paid.

How do I get a key? Register at spoonacular.com — the key is on your dashboard.

What can I build with it? Recipe search, nutrition analysis, meal planners, and shopping-list generators.