TheMealDB

TheMealDB is an open, crowd-sourced database of recipes from around the world offering a free REST API with 669 meals, 927 ingredients, 300+ recipes complete with ingredients, step-by-step cooking instructions, categories, area cuisines, and meal images. The API and site will always remain free at point of access; a lifetime supporter upgrade unlocks premium V2 endpoints including multi-ingredient filtering, random sets, latest meals, and the ability to add custom meals and images.

TheMealDB publishes 11 APIs on the APIs.io network, including Categories.php API, Filter.php API, List.php API, and 8 more. Tagged areas include Food, Recipes, Meals, Cooking, and Ingredients.

The TheMealDB catalog on APIs.io includes 2 JSON-LD contexts and 1 Spectral governance ruleset.

TheMealDB’s developer surface includes documentation, pricing, and 11 more developer resources.

🌐 Visit website 📡 Source on GitHub

41.1/100 developing ▬ flat Agent 26/100 agent aware saas Full breakdown ↓
scored 2026-09-08 · rubric v0.20.0

AccessFreemiumOpen⚡ Free to try

1 APIs

Food RecipesMealsCooking IngredientsCuisineOpen Data

Kin Score

Kin Score How this is scored →
scored 2026-09-08 · rubric v0.20.0

Composite quality — 41.1/100 · developing

Contract Quality 10.2 / 21

Developer Ergonomics 2.4 / 17

Access Clarity 10.3 / 17

Operational Transparency 3.5 / 11

Contract Governance 1.0 / 10

Discoverability 5.8 / 9

Regulatory Posture 5.3 / 15

Agent readiness — 26/100 · agent aware

Machine-Readable Contract 18 / 18

Agentic Access Contract 10 / 10

Documented Reversibility 6 / 6

MCP Server 0 / 12

Machine-Readable Auth 0 / 10

Idempotency 9 / 9

Stable Error Semantics 0 / 8

Request/Response Examples 7 / 7

Rate-Limit Signaling 7 / 7

Typed Event Surface 0 / 6

Agent Skills 0 / 5

Well-Known Catalog 0 / 4

Consent & Bot Identity 0 / 3

A2A Agent Card 0 / 8

Dry-Run / Simulate Mode 4 / 4

Delegated User Identity 0 / 6

Protected Resource Metadata 0 / 5

Registration Without a Human 0 / 6

Agentic Commerce Well-Known Document 0 / 5

Regulatory Posture applies to this provider. Its tags matched the Government & Public Sector regime, so Regulatory Posture carries 15 points of the composite. If this regime is wrong for your business, say so on your provider repo — the applicability map is public and we will correct it.

Create-or-Update Ergonomics does not apply to this provider. The published contracts declare no write operations, and a read-only API cannot create-or-update. The facet is excluded from this provider's denominator entirely — not scored zero. A reference or data API is not deficient for being unable to upsert.

The six quality facets above are damped to 85 points between them, because the conditional facet above carries the other 15. That is why each facet's contribution is shown against a damped maximum: raising a quality facet moves the composite by 85% of its nominal weight, not 100%. The full arithmetic is at apis.io/rating/.

Improve this rating by publishing the missing artifacts — every area above can be raised, and the full rubric is at apis.io/rating/. Every facet and dimension name above is a link: it opens that measurement's own page — what it means, the exact checks that feed it, how the whole catalog distributes on it, and the providers at the top of it. This rating is computed from github.com/api-evangelist/mealdb: open an issue to ask a question, or submit a pull request to add artifacts. Submit an artifact on GitHub — free → Manage your own listing — the Influence plan, $499/mo →

APIs 11

Individual APIs this provider publishes, each with its own machine-readable definition.

TheMealDB Categories.php API

The Categories.php API from TheMealDB — 1 operation(s) for categories.php.

TheMealDB Filter.php API

The Filter.php API from TheMealDB — 1 operation(s) for filter.php.

TheMealDB List.php API

The List.php API from TheMealDB — 1 operation(s) for list.php.

TheMealDB Lookup.php API

The Lookup.php API from TheMealDB — 1 operation(s) for lookup.php.

TheMealDB Premium API

Premium-only endpoints requiring a paid lifetime supporter API key

TheMealDB Random.php API

The Random.php API from TheMealDB — 1 operation(s) for random.php.

TheMealDB Search.php API

The Search.php API from TheMealDB — 1 operation(s) for search.php.

TheMealDB Filter API

Filter meals by attributes

TheMealDB List API

List available categories, areas, and ingredients

TheMealDB Lookup API

Retrieve details by ID or random meal

TheMealDB Search API

Search for meals and ingredients

Scroll for all 11

Open Collections 8

Open, tool-agnostic API collections (OpenAPI-derived and Bruno).

API Collection

OPEN COLLECTION

TheMealDB Categories.php API

OPEN COLLECTION

TheMealDB Categories.php Filter.php API

OPEN COLLECTION

TheMealDB Categories.php List.php API

OPEN COLLECTION

TheMealDB Categories.php Lookup.php API

OPEN COLLECTION

TheMealDB Categories.php Premium API

OPEN COLLECTION

TheMealDB Categories.php Random.php API

OPEN COLLECTION

TheMealDB Categories.php Search.php API

OPEN COLLECTION

Scroll for all 8

Pricing Plans 1

Published pricing tiers and plan structures.

Mealdb Plans Pricing

2 plans

PLANS

Rate Limits 1

Documented rate limits and quota policies.

Mealdb Rate Limits

3 limits

RATE LIMITS

FinOps 1

Cost, billing, and metering signals for API financial operations.

Mealdb Finops

FINOPS

Semantic Vocabularies 2

JSON-LD contexts and semantic vocabularies used across these APIs.

Mealdb Context

56 classes · 2 properties

JSON-LD

Themealdb Context

6 classes · 21 properties

JSON-LD

Spectral Rules 1

Spectral governance rulesets for linting and validating these APIs.

TheMealDB API Rules

5 rules · 4 warnings 1 info

SPECTRAL

JSON Schema 4

Standalone JSON Schema definitions for this provider's data models.

MealSummary

3 properties

JSON SCHEMA

Meal

53 properties

JSON SCHEMA

Meal

16 properties

JSON SCHEMA

JSON Structure 1

JSON Structure definitions describing this provider's data shapes.

Themealdb Meal Structure

16 properties

JSON STRUCTURE

Examples 3

Example request and response payloads for these APIs.

Filter By Category

3 fields

EXAMPLE

List Categories

3 fields

EXAMPLE

Search Meal By Name

3 fields

EXAMPLE

Security Posture 1

Authentication, domain security, vulnerability disclosure, and trust-center signals.

Mealdb Domain Security

TLSv1.3 · HSTS

SECURITY

Agentic Access 1

Recommended x-agentic-access execution contracts for AI agents.

Mealdb Agentic Access

8 operations

8 operations · 0 acting

AGENTIC

Resources

Documentation 1

Reference material describing how the API behaves

Documentation

Documentation

Agent Surfaces 1

MCP servers, agent skills, and machine-readable catalogs

AgenticAccess

AgenticAccess

Access & Security 1

Authentication, authorization, and security posture

DomainSecurity

DomainSecurity

Operate 2

Status, limits, changes, and where to get help

RateLimits

RateLimits

Discord

Discord

Commercial 5

Pricing, plans, and the legal terms of use

Pricing

TermsOfService

PrivacyPolicy

Plans

FinOps

Company 2

The organization behind the API

Website

Website

Facebook

Facebook

Other 1

Properties that don't map to a standard resource type

Source (apis.yml)

aid: mealdb
name: TheMealDB
description: TheMealDB is an open, crowd-sourced database of recipes from around the world offering a free REST API with 669
  meals, 927 ingredients, 300+ recipes complete with ingredients, step-by-step cooking instructions, categories, area cuisines,
  and meal images. The API and site will always remain free at point of access; a lifetime supporter upgrade unlocks premium
  V2 endpoints including multi-ingredient filtering, random sets, latest meals, and the ability to add custom meals and images.
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/mealdb/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
deliveryModel:
  model: saas
  open_source: false
  commercial: true
  callable_host: true
  label: Hosted service · you call their endpoint
  confidence: high
  source:
  - openapi
  - pricing
  generated: '2026-08-28'
  method: derived
accessModel:
  pricing: freemium
  onboarding: open
  trial: false
  try_now: true
  public: true
  label: Freemium · Open access
  confidence: medium
  source:
  - plans
  generated: '2026-07-22'
  method: derived
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/icons/mealdb.png
specificationVersion: '0.23'
created: '2026-06-13'
modified: '2026-06-13'
x-source: public-apis/public-apis
x-category: Food & Drink
x-type: open
x-tier: 2
x-tier-reason: free-open-api-with-premium-upgrade
tags:
- Food
- Recipes
- Meals
- Cooking
- Ingredients
- Cuisine
- Open Data
apis:
- aid: mealdb:mealdb-categories-php-api
  name: TheMealDB Categories.php API
  description: The Categories.php API from TheMealDB — 1 operation(s) for categories.php.
  humanURL: https://www.themealdb.com/api.php
  baseURL: https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1
  tags:
  - Categories.php
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/mealdb-categories-php-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.themealdb.com/api.php
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.themealdb.com/docs_api_guide.php
- aid: mealdb:mealdb-filter-php-api
  name: TheMealDB Filter.php API
  description: The Filter.php API from TheMealDB — 1 operation(s) for filter.php.
  humanURL: https://www.themealdb.com/api.php
  baseURL: https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1
  tags:
  - Filter.php
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/mealdb-filter-php-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.themealdb.com/api.php
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.themealdb.com/docs_api_guide.php
- aid: mealdb:mealdb-list-php-api
  name: TheMealDB List.php API
  description: The List.php API from TheMealDB — 1 operation(s) for list.php.
  humanURL: https://www.themealdb.com/api.php
  baseURL: https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1
  tags:
  - List.php
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/mealdb-list-php-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.themealdb.com/api.php
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.themealdb.com/docs_api_guide.php
- aid: mealdb:mealdb-lookup-php-api
  name: TheMealDB Lookup.php API
  description: The Lookup.php API from TheMealDB — 1 operation(s) for lookup.php.
  humanURL: https://www.themealdb.com/api.php
  baseURL: https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1
  tags:
  - Lookup.php
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/mealdb-lookup-php-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.themealdb.com/api.php
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.themealdb.com/docs_api_guide.php
- aid: mealdb:mealdb-premium-api
  name: TheMealDB Premium API
  description: Premium-only endpoints requiring a paid lifetime supporter API key
  humanURL: https://www.themealdb.com/api.php
  baseURL: https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1
  tags:
  - Premium
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/mealdb-premium-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.themealdb.com/api.php
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.themealdb.com/docs_api_guide.php
- aid: mealdb:mealdb-random-php-api
  name: TheMealDB Random.php API
  description: The Random.php API from TheMealDB — 1 operation(s) for random.php.
  humanURL: https://www.themealdb.com/api.php
  baseURL: https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1
  tags:
  - Random.php
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/mealdb-random-php-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.themealdb.com/api.php
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.themealdb.com/docs_api_guide.php
- aid: mealdb:mealdb-search-php-api
  name: TheMealDB Search.php API
  description: The Search.php API from TheMealDB — 1 operation(s) for search.php.
  humanURL: https://www.themealdb.com/api.php
  baseURL: https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1
  tags:
  - Search.php
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/mealdb-search-php-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.themealdb.com/api.php
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.themealdb.com/docs_api_guide.php
- aid: mealdb:themealdb-filter-api
  name: TheMealDB Filter API
  description: Filter meals by attributes
  humanURL: https://www.themealdb.com/api.php
  baseURL: https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1
  tags:
  - Filter
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/themealdb-filter-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.themealdb.com/api.php
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/themealdb-meal-schema.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/themealdb-meal-structure.json
  - type: JSONLD
    url: json-ld/themealdb-context.jsonld
- aid: mealdb:themealdb-list-api
  name: TheMealDB List API
  description: List available categories, areas, and ingredients
  humanURL: https://www.themealdb.com/api.php
  baseURL: https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1
  tags:
  - List
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/themealdb-list-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.themealdb.com/api.php
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/themealdb-meal-schema.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/themealdb-meal-structure.json
  - type: JSONLD
    url: json-ld/themealdb-context.jsonld
- aid: mealdb:themealdb-lookup-api
  name: TheMealDB Lookup API
  description: Retrieve details by ID or random meal
  humanURL: https://www.themealdb.com/api.php
  baseURL: https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1
  tags:
  - Lookup
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/themealdb-lookup-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.themealdb.com/api.php
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/themealdb-meal-schema.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/themealdb-meal-structure.json
  - type: JSONLD
    url: json-ld/themealdb-context.jsonld
- aid: mealdb:themealdb-search-api
  name: TheMealDB Search API
  description: Search for meals and ingredients
  humanURL: https://www.themealdb.com/api.php
  baseURL: https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1
  tags:
  - Search
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/themealdb-search-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.themealdb.com/api.php
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/themealdb-meal-schema.json
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: json-structure/themealdb-meal-structure.json
  - type: JSONLD
    url: json-ld/themealdb-context.jsonld
common:
- type: AgenticAccess
  url: agentic-access/mealdb-agentic-access.yml
- type: DomainSecurity
  url: security/mealdb-domain-security.yml
- type: Website
  url: https://www.themealdb.com
- type: Documentation
  url: https://www.themealdb.com/api.php
- type: Pricing
  url: https://www.themealdb.com/api.php
- type: TermsOfService
  url: https://www.themealdb.com/terms_of_use.php
- type: PrivacyPolicy
  url: https://www.themealdb.com/privacy_policy.php
- type: Plans
  url: plans/mealdb-plans-pricing.yml
- type: RateLimits
  url: rate-limits/mealdb-rate-limits.yml
- type: FinOps
  url: finops/mealdb-finops.yml
- type: X
  url: https://twitter.com/TheAudioDB
- type: Facebook
  url: https://www.facebook.com/TheDataDB/
- type: Discord
  url: https://discord.com/invite/pFvgaXV
features:
- name: Meal Search by Name
  description: Search for meals by full or partial name and return full recipe details including ingredients and instructions.
- name: Browse by First Letter
  description: List all meals beginning with a specified letter for alphabetical browsing.
- name: Meal Lookup by ID
  description: Retrieve full recipe details for a specific meal using its unique numeric ID.
- name: Random Meal
  description: Fetch a single random meal with complete recipe data; useful for "surprise me" features.
- name: Category Browsing
  description: Retrieve all meal categories (Beef, Chicken, Dessert, Pasta, Seafood, etc.) with thumbnail images.
- name: Filter by Ingredient
  description: Return a list of meals containing a specified main ingredient.
- name: Filter by Category
  description: Return a list of meals belonging to a specific category.
- name: Filter by Area / Cuisine
  description: Return a list of meals from a specific geographic cuisine area (Italian, Japanese, Mexican, etc.).
- name: Ingredient Catalog
  description: List all known ingredients with descriptions and images.
- name: Meal Images
  description: Meal and ingredient thumbnails with small, medium, and large size variants appended to the base image URL.
- name: Premium Multi-Ingredient Filter
  description: Filter meals by multiple ingredients simultaneously (V2, supporter key required).
- name: Premium Random Set
  description: Fetch 10 random meals in a single call (V2, supporter key required).
- name: Premium Latest Meals
  description: Retrieve the 10 most recently added meals (V2, supporter key required).
useCases:
- name: Recipe Discovery App
  description: Power a mobile or web recipe finder that lets users search, filter, and browse meals by name, category, or
    cuisine.
- name: Meal Planning Tool
  description: Build a weekly meal planner that suggests random meals and allows filtering by dietary category or ingredient.
- name: Cooking Education Platform
  description: Provide step-by-step instructions and ingredient lists for culinary learning apps and cooking courses.
- name: Grocery List Generator
  description: Extract ingredient lists from meal lookups to automatically populate grocery shopping lists.
- name: Cuisine Explorer
  description: Let users discover meals from specific world cuisines and learn about regional cooking traditions.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com

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