What are the basics of recipe development?

4 steps to recipe development Idea generation. Ingredient selection and sourcing. Testing and adjusting. Documentation and organization.

How are food recipes developed?

At a high level, recipe development requires two distinct processes: Exploration: The process wherein a chef explores varying techniques, food genres, ingredients, and influences. ... Exploitation: The process wherein a chef hones the particular techniques, ingredients, and flavor profiles that define a final dish. Feb 18, 2021

How do chefs create recipes?

Every chef has their own creative process and preferred method for documenting their ideas — ideas which eventually morph into recipes. This can range from notebooks, scrap paper and post-it notes, to note apps like Evernote and Apple Note, Google Docs and countless other ways .

How do food bloggers come up with recipes?

There are many good sources out there, including cookbooks, magazines, and friends and family who are willing to share their secrets . One thing is sure: if you want to be a successful food blogger, you need to have a reliable source of recipes you can use as inspiration to create your own dishes.

What are the 3 components of a good recipe?

At a minimum most recipes have a title, ingredients list, and preparation method . If you need a more robust look at recipe writing we highly recommend The Recipe Writer's Handbook.

What are the 5 elements in a standard recipe?

Yield. The yield tells the number and size of servings the recipe will make. List of Ingredients & Amounts. Step By Step Directions for Mixing & Handling. Equipment (Container Size & Type) Temperature & Time.

What is the first step to every recipe?

At its most basic, mise en place means to set out all of your ingredients before you start to cook. Measure out what you will need, chop the vegetables that will need to be chopped, and have everything ready on the counter or in small bowls on a tray.

Why do we need to develop recipe?

Recipes are important because they contain the information necessary to make a dish properly . As with any set of instructions, you rely on them to give you all of the information you need. There isn't always someone nearby who has that knowledge. Recipes also ensure standardization.

What is the origin of recipes?

Early examples. Apicius, De re culinaria, an early collection of recipes. The earliest known written recipes date to 1730 BC and were recorded on cuneiform tablets found in Mesopotamia . Other early written recipes date from approximately 1600 BC and come from an Akkadian tablet from southern Babylonia.

Is there an app for collecting recipes?

Recipe Keeper is the easy to use, all-in-one recipe organizer, shopping list and meal planner available across all of your devices.

Do cookbook recipes have to be original?

Without simply copying a recipe from another cookbook, authors can choose to include someone else's recipe if they adapt it, create a recipe inspired by it, or they can totally reimagine the recipe to use it in their book.

How much do you have to change a recipe to claim it as your own?

The general rule [...] is that three major [emphasis added] changes are required to make a recipe "yours." However, even if you make such changes, it is a professional courtesy to acknowledge the source of or inspiration for the recipe.

How to Develop Original Recipes (2024)

If you have a food blog, chances are you’ve developed countless recipes over the years.

Whether an idea for a recipe has come to you in the middle of the night, during a dinner at your favorite restaurant, or from another recipe, you know that this is just the beginning of creating a recipe that is uniquely yours.

With this process comes many different questions. When is a recipe completely your own? What if you run out of recipe inspiration? What is considered plagiarism? How do you come up with a brand new recipe? Can recipes be copyrighted? Where do you even begin?!

Let’s start with the basics.

Find Your Inspiration

The first step in developing a recipe is finding a source of inspiration. This part of the process will vary widely depending on your own personal preference and workflow.

Inspiration can strike in many different ways! Many recipe developers find ideas:

Do Your Research

Once you’ve come up with an idea for a recipe you’d like to create, it is time to do some research! First off, it is a good idea to make sure that someone else hasn’t already shared that exact recipe. Search on Google or Pinterest to determine that your recipe idea is, in fact, unique.

If you find similar recipes that already exist, ask yourself if your recipe is still worth developing. Do you have a helpful technique that makes the recipe easier? Are you adding a creative or local ingredient that takes the recipe to the next level? Can you adapt the recipe to be vegan or nut-free? What makes your recipe idea distinct and you?

Make It Your Own

The U.S. Copyright Office states that “a mere listing of ingredients or contents, or a simple set of directions, is uncopyrightable.” Despite this, the language used to describe a recipe, the headnote, your explanation of a process in the recipe, or the photographs or illustrations that accompany the recipe may be copyrighted.

Regardless of copyright law, it is ethically and creatively advisable to write original recipes.

What does this really mean? Even if you’ve found inspiration in other recipes, when it comes time to test your own recipe, it can be helpful to put everything else away and cook drawing from your research, with the flavors and textures you enjoy in mind.

A recipe can usually be considered “original” if you have changed three or more major ingredients, or three or more steps in the recipe process, and have written everything in your own words.

Your readers come to your blog because they enjoy making your delicious recipes, but also in part because they like YOU. Always make sure to write a recipe in your own individual voice, with your tried-and-true techniques, and following your standardized recipe formatting.

Credit Where Credit is Due

As we discussed at the beginning of this post, inspiration for recipes can come from many different sources. If you’ve adapted or found inspiration from a recipe on a website, food blog or cookbook, it is important that you clearly share this with your readers.

David Lebovitz, a cook, food blogger and author, has a really thorough post on recipe attribution that we recommend reading.

He breaks down recipe attribution into two categories:

If you’ve modified someone else’s recipe, but it resembles the original recipe, include “Adapted from _____ ,” along with a link to the original source (i.e. blog post or cookbook) in the recipe card.
If you’ve been strongly influenced by and/or modified someone else’s recipe, but you have changed several aspects of it, include “Inspired by _____” in your recipe card, along with a link to the original recipe source.

If you’re not sure if a recipe requires attribution, err on the side of caution. Your readers might even enjoy reading what inspired you to create a certain recipe!

Interested to learn more about recipe attribution? Food Blogger Pro members have access to our full course on How to Write Recipes, including a lesson on Recipe Attribution! Become a member and get instant access today!

We’d love to hear from you! Where do you find inspiration for recipes? Do you find it difficult to know when to provide recipe attribution?

How to Develop Original Recipes (2024)

Find Your Inspiration

Do Your Research

Make It Your Own

Credit Where Credit is Due

FAQs

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Do cookbook recipes have to be original? ›