BBC Good Food API: Search recipes
Finds BBC Good Food recipes for a dish or ingredients in search order, with ratings, time, difficulty, photos and links. Excludes app-only recipes.
Unofficial. Not affiliated with or endorsed by BBC Good Food.
Inputs
Values from the run on Oct 23, 2026, shown under Output.
- Diet optional
diet Diet to filter by, for example vegetarian.
vegetarian
One of
any,vegetarian,vegan,gluten_free,dairy_free,healthy. Defaultany.- Query, required
query Dish or ingredients to search, for example vegetarian lasagne.
vegetarian lasagne
- Max Results optional
max_results Maximum number of recipes to return, for example 20.
20
Whole number from 1 to 50. Default
20.- Max Total (minutes) optional
max_total_minutes Maximum total recipe time in minutes, for example 45.
Not set
Whole number 1 or more.
Input as JSON
{ "diet": "vegetarian", "query": "vegetarian lasagne", "max_results": 20}Output
{ "recipes": [ { "title": "Vegetarian lasagne", "difficulty": "Easy", "photo_link": "https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/30/2022/02/vegetarian-lasagne-5ee6162.jpg" , "total_time": "1 hr 35 mins", "recipe_link": "https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/easy-vegetable-lasagne" , "star_rating": 4.45, "number_of_ratings": 334, "total_time_minutes": 95 }, { "title": "Microwave vegetarian mug lasagne", "difficulty": "Easy", "photo_link": "https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/30/2023/01/Vegetarian-mug-lasagne-b1fc31b.jpg" , "total_time": "10 mins", "recipe_link": "https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/microwave-vegetarian-mug-lasagne" , "star_rating": 5, "number_of_ratings": 1, "total_time_minutes": 10 }, { "title": "Creamy courgette lasagne", "difficulty": "Easy", "photo_link": "https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/30/2022/03/Creamy-courgette-lasagne-e63aa0c.jpg" , "total_time": "30 mins", "recipe_link": "https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/creamy-courgette-lasagne" , "star_rating": 4.55, "number_of_ratings": 738, "total_time_minutes": 30 } ]}Code
curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"method":"bbcgoodfood.com/search_recipes","input":{"diet":"vegetarian","query":"vegetarian lasagne","max_results":20}}' # Save as fous.py, then run: python3 fous.pyimport json, os, timefrom urllib.error import HTTPErrorfrom urllib.request import Request, urlopenAPI = "https://api.fous.com/v1/runs" KEY = os.environ["FOUS_API_KEY"]HEADERS = { "Authorization": f"Bearer {KEY}", "Content-Type": "application/json" ,}def call(url, body=None): data = json.dumps(body).encode() if body else None request = Request(url, data, HEADERS) try: with urlopen(request, timeout=120) as r: return r.status, json.load(r) except HTTPError as error: message = json.load(error)["error"]["message"] raise RuntimeError(message) from errorstatus, run = call(API, { "method": "bbcgoodfood.com/search_recipes" , "input": { "diet": "vegetarian", "query": "vegetarian lasagne", "max_results": 20 }})# 202: still going after 30 s. Ask again until it ends.while status == 202: time.sleep(2) status, run = call(f"{API}/{run['id']}")print(json.dumps(run["data"], indent=2))// Save as fous.mjs, then run: node fous.mjsconst api = "https://api.fous.com/v1/runs" ;const headers = { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.FOUS_API_KEY}`, "Content-Type": "application/json" ,};let response = await fetch(api, { method: "POST", headers, body: JSON.stringify({ "method": "bbcgoodfood.com/search_recipes" , "input": { "diet": "vegetarian", "query": "vegetarian lasagne", "max_results": 20 } }), signal: AbortSignal.timeout(120_000),});let run = await response.json();// 202: still going after 30 s. Ask again until it ends.while (response.status === 202) { await new Promise((done) => setTimeout(done, 2_000)); response = await fetch(`${api}/${run.id}`, { headers }); run = await response.json();}if (!response.ok) throw new Error(run.error.message);console.log(run.data);# Connect your agent to Fous once, over MCP (Streamable HTTP):# https://api.fous.com/mcp# Set FOUS_API_KEY first: create a key at https://app.fous.com/keys.# Claude Codeclaude mcp add \ --scope user \ --transport http fous https://api.fous.com/mcp \ --header "Authorization: Bearer ${FOUS_API_KEY:?Set FOUS_API_KEY to your Fous API key}"# Codexcodex mcp add fous \ --url https://api.fous.com/mcp \ --bearer-token-env-var FOUS_API_KEY# Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, Cline and morenpx -y add-mcp https://api.fous.com/mcp -g -n fous \ --header "Authorization: Bearer ${FOUS_API_KEY:?Set FOUS_API_KEY to your Fous API key}"# Then ask your agent:# "Use Fous to run bbcgoodfood.com/search_recipes# with {"diet":"vegetarian","query":"vegetarian lasagne","max_results":20}"Over HTTP, the answer’s data holds the output. A run still going after 30 seconds answers 202 with its id: ask GET /v1/runs/{id} until it ends.
Schema
Input schema
{ "type": "object", "required": [ "query" ], "properties": { "diet": { "enum": [ "any", "vegetarian", "vegan", "gluten_free", "dairy_free", "healthy" ], "type": "string", "default": "any", "description": "Diet to filter by, for example vegetarian." }, "query": { "type": "string", "minLength": 1, "description": "Dish or ingredients to search, for example vegetarian lasagne." }, "max_results": { "type": "integer", "default": 20, "maximum": 50, "minimum": 1, "description": "Maximum number of recipes to return, for example 20." }, "max_total_minutes": { "type": "integer", "minimum": 1, "description": "Maximum total recipe time in minutes, for example 45." } }}Output schema
{ "type": "object", "required": [ "recipes" ], "properties": { "recipes": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "object", "required": [ "recipe_link" ], "properties": { "title": { "type": [ "string", "null" ] }, "difficulty": { "type": [ "string", "null" ] }, "photo_link": { "type": [ "string", "null" ] }, "total_time": { "type": [ "string", "null" ] }, "recipe_link": { "type": "string" }, "star_rating": { "type": [ "number", "null" ] }, "number_of_ratings": { "type": [ "integer", "null" ] }, "total_time_minutes": { "type": [ "integer", "null" ] } } } } }}- Price
- 1 credit per completed run (1¢ with pay as you go); failed runs are free.
- Method
bbcgoodfood.com/search_recipes- Returns
- title, star rating, number of ratings, total time, difficulty, photo link, recipe link
Use it from your agent
Give your agent this line. It reads SKILL.md, gets a Fous API key and connects the Fous MCP server. Its run then takes the method bbcgoodfood.com/search_recipes with the inputs above.
Ask your agent
- Find me quick vegetarian lasagne recipes under 45 minutes from BBC Good Food
- I need a chicken and leek pie recipe with ratings and photos
- show gluten free banana bread recipes, top 10 please
- easy vegan chilli recipes that take under 30 minutes
- healthy salmon traybake ideas with difficulty levels and total cooking time
See more
All BBC Good Food methodsGets a full BBC Good Food recipe by dish name or recipe link, including ingredients, method and nutrition per serving. A name uses the closest matching recipe in site search; details absent from the page are null.
bbcgoodfood.com/get_recipeFinds Allrecipes recipes for a dish or ingredients, in search order, with ratings, photos and total times; optionally only recipes ready within a time limit.
allrecipes.com/search_recipesFinds Food Network recipes for a dish or ingredient, optionally filtered by chef, in site search order.
foodnetwork.com/search_recipesGets a Food Network recipe by dish name or recipe page link. It returns ingredients, directions, ratings and cooking times; page details that are missing come back as null.
foodnetwork.com/get_recipeFinds Serious Eats recipes and cooking guides for a dish or technique, in site search order. Results can also include related articles; times appear only when the site shows them.
seriouseats.com/search_recipesGets a full Allrecipes recipe by its name or page link, including ingredients, directions, times, ratings and nutrition. Names select the most-rated close match.
allrecipes.com/get_recipeGets a complete Serious Eats recipe by name or page link, with ingredients, directions, timing, nutrition and ratings when the page shows them.
seriouseats.com/get_recipeSearches Open Food Facts packaged foods by name, optionally filtered by diet, country where sold and brand, ordered by popularity (most scanned first).
openfoodfacts.org/search_products