TheMealDB

by themealdb.com

Food and drink Added on October 31st, 2026 Checked and working on November 2nd, 2026

What it does

TheMealDB is an open, crowd-sourced database of recipes from around the world. Search meals by name or first letter, filter by main ingredient, category or area, get a random meal, and get full recipes with ingredients, measures, instructions, photos and YouTube links. Responses are JSON. The test key '1' is free for development and education; public apps are asked to become a supporter for a small fee.

API
HTTP-GET
JSON
REST

At a glance

API key: Not needed · More APIs with no key
Pricing: The test key '1' is free for development and education; public apps are asked to become a supporter for a small fee.
From the browser: Yes (CORS)
Formats: JSON
Interface: REST, HTTP-GET
Provider: themealdb.com
Last checked: Working on November 2nd, 2026

More information: https://www.themealdb.com/api.php

Is this your service? Show that it is listed

Put this badge on your website or in your README; it links to this page. About the badge

HTML

<a href="https://free-web-services.com/web-services/other/food/themealdb.html"><img src="https://free-web-services.com/badge.svg" width="208" height="44" alt="Listed on Free Web Services" /></a>

Markdown

[![Listed on Free Web Services](https://free-web-services.com/badge.svg)](https://free-web-services.com/web-services/other/food/themealdb.html)

Example request

curl

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

JavaScript

const response = await fetch("https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1/search.php?s=Arrabiata");
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

Python

import requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1/search.php?s=Arrabiata",
    timeout=30,
)
print(response.json())

The JavaScript works in a web page as well as in Node.js 18 or newer.