About 60% of home cooks feel burnt out and make the same recipes over and over. As a food blogger, you may also fall into this rut. To consistently post new content, it’s important to find recipe inspiration.
Fortunately, there are many ways you can discover new recipes. This process can involve subscribing to a food magazine, following another food blogger, or eating at restaurants. With these methods, you’ll easily find cooking ideas for your followers.
In this post, we’ll show you ten different ways by which food bloggers get their recipes. Let’s get started!
Where Do Food Bloggers Get Their Recipes?
1. Follow Other Food Blogs
By searching for similar food blogs, you can find popular recipes and join in on trends. Plus, you’ll be able to browse their recipe catalogs.
This process can help you notice any missing recipes on your blog. For example, you may have posted many dinner recipes and need some more side dishes:
If another creator’s dish inspires you, make sure not to copy the exact recipe. Although you may use the same dish, why not add a special ingredient, change the quantities, or add another personal touch?
2. Browse Social Media
One of the best places for recipe inspiration is social media. Instagram is a visual platform where users can post their successful dinners or beautiful restaurant meals. By simply scrolling through #recipes, you’ll find many unique recipes from individuals and other food bloggers:
Pinterest is another useful resource. To find interesting ideas, you can look for trending food and drinks on Pinterest Trends:
Additionally, video-based platforms like TikTok and YouTube can also provide cooking inspiration. You might follow well-known chefs or search for specific recipes:
Ultimately, the Internet is a valuable place to find new content ideas. Especially for food bloggers, there’s no end to the free recipes you can find online!
3. Use Recipe-Sharing Platforms
Although you can find recipe inspiration on social media, you’ll have to search for specific food bloggers or hashtags. Since Yummly was created with recipe-sharing in mind, it can help narrow down your options. You’ll be able to pick your favorite cuisines and receive personalized recipe recommendations:
Likewise, Foodgawker compiles recipes from various food blogs. You can search the archives, browse categories, and save your favorites:
After using these two recipe-sharing platforms, you’ll have some inspiration for new blog content!
4. Read Cookbooks and Food Magazines
As a food blogger, you’ve probably been passionate about cooking for a long time. If you’ve been collecting cookbooks, it’s time to read them! Alternatively, you could purchase new bestsellers to stay up-to-date on cooking trends:
You can also start subscribing to a food magazine. A popular option like Food & Wine can provide recipe inspiration every month:
Although sharing recipes online is becoming more popular, there are physical cookbooks and food magazines too. Whether you buy them or rent them at the library, they are often filled with valuable cooking tips.
5. Eat at New Restaurants
If you’ve ever eaten an incredible meal in a restaurant, you’ve probably wondered how to make it at home. We recommend going out to highly-rated restaurants to find new flavor combinations.
This approach can be especially helpful when you’re traveling. Instead of sticking with familiar flavors and techniques, you can start branching out.
Once you eat a meal that inspires your cooking, why not look up the restaurant’s menu online? Usually, you can find the ingredients you need in the item’s description.
6. Discover Family Recipes
Sometimes, you’ll have to go back to your roots. No matter your culture, your family probably has some cooking traditions. If you can, ask your family members for their handmade recipe books.
By making these recipes, you can add a personal touch to your blog. Although social media and recipe-sharing platforms can be useful, they won’t provide dishes that are near and dear to your heart. Along with a personalized recipe, you can even share a story about your family on your blog!
7. Join Cooking Enthusiast Communities
Another way to find recipes is by joining a cooking community. Here, you can chat with other culinary enthusiasts and learn new ways to make food.
Reddit is a great platform to talk with other cooks. In the r/AskCulinary subreddit, you can ask questions and get advice from others in the community:
Alternatively, consider registering for a cooking membership. Many membership websites, such as PREP, provide helpful culinary tips, recipes, and even meal plans.
8. Take Cooking Classes
Even if you’re an experienced cook, it can be helpful to take a cooking class. On a website like Cozymeal, you can find classes near you:
Instead of trying to make a recipe yourself, you’ll learn from professional chefs. Taking new classes can increase your experience level and provide new recipes to cook at home.
9. Experiment With New Recipes
Although it’s great to take advice from other cooks, you may have some ideas of your own. To create new recipes for your food blog, be sure to experiment with different flavor combinations.
During this process, you’ll learn what works and what doesn’t. This will enable you to discover unique recipes to share with your audience. Plus, it’ll improve your cooking skills!
10. Check Your Blog’s Search Queries
Once you’ve improved your Search Engine Optimization (SEO), you should receive more organic traffic from search engines like Google. When you want new food ideas, it’s a good idea to understand what your audience is searching for.
Using Google Search Console, you can identify your top search queries. These will tell you what users searched for to find your content:
For example, users may be looking for new breakfast recipes. Instead of covering multiple recipe categories, you can narrow your search to breakfast foods.
Conclusion
Since there are so many different recipes, you might think creating new content for your food blog is easy. However, you can quickly lose inspiration in your cooking. If you can’t think of unique recipes, you won’t have any content to post.
To ensure your audience is satisfied, it’s important to find sources of recipe inspiration. By simply taking a cooking class or making a family dish, you’ll discover new flavor combinations to share with your audience.
Do you have any questions about finding inspirational new recipes to feature in your food blog? Ask us in the comments section below!
