TheMealDB

www.themealdb.com · Food

Food No Auth Free & Open Food Recipes Cooking

Free community recipe database — search meals by name, ingredient, or category. Includes ingredients, instructions, photos, and YouTube video links. No API key for basic use.

Authentication

No authentication requiredFree to use with no key needed.

Sample Requests

GET Search meals

Search meals by name.

https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1/search.php?s=chicken

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

curl -X GET "https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1/search.php?s=chicken"

import requests
params = {
    "s": "chicken"
}
response = requests.get(
    "https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1/search.php",
    params=params,
)
print(response.json())

const url = new URL('https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1/search.php');
url.searchParams.set('s', 'chicken');

const response = await fetch(url); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
)

func main() {
	baseURL, _ := url.Parse("https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1/search.php")
	q := baseURL.Query()
	q.Set("s", "chicken")
	baseURL.RawQuery = q.Encode()
	targetURL := baseURL.String()
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1/search.php")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form({
  "s" => "chicken"
})

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)

<?php
$url = "https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1/search.php?" . http_build_query([
    "s" => "chicken"
]);
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "GET",
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

GET Get random meal

Get a random recipe.

https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1/random.php

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

curl -X GET "https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1/random.php"

import requests
response = requests.get(
    "https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1/random.php",
)
print(response.json())

const url = 'https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1/random.php';

const response = await fetch(url); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
)

func main() {
	targetURL := "https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1/random.php"
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1/random.php")

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)

<?php
$url = "https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1/random.php";
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "GET",
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

GET Filter by ingredient

Find meals containing salmon.

https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1/filter.php?i=salmon

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

curl -X GET "https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1/filter.php?i=salmon"

import requests
params = {
    "i": "salmon"
}
response = requests.get(
    "https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1/filter.php",
    params=params,
)
print(response.json())

const url = new URL('https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1/filter.php');
url.searchParams.set('i', 'salmon');

const response = await fetch(url); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
)

func main() {
	baseURL, _ := url.Parse("https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1/filter.php")
	q := baseURL.Query()
	q.Set("i", "salmon")
	baseURL.RawQuery = q.Encode()
	targetURL := baseURL.String()
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1/filter.php")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form({
  "i" => "salmon"
})

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)

<?php
$url = "https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1/filter.php?" . http_build_query([
    "i" => "salmon"
]);
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "GET",
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

Postman Setup Guide

Get Postman ↗

No API key — use "1" in the URL
Search: GET /search.php?s=pasta
Random: GET /random.php
Filter by ingredient: GET /filter.php?i=chicken
Categories: GET /categories.php

What can you build with TheMealDB?

TheMealDB is a Food API. Developers commonly use food APIs for:

surfacing recipes, nutrition, and ingredient data
building menu and restaurant discovery apps
powering diet, calorie, and meal-planning tools
accessing food safety and product information
integrating grocery ordering and delivery

No authentication required. This API is open — no signup or key needed. Ideal for quick prototypes and public-facing features. TheMealDB is free to use, making it a low-risk choice to experiment with.

New to APIs? Read our beginner's guide

Open documentation ↗