# Simply Recipes Scraper (`parseforge/simplyrecipes-scraper`) Actor

Scrapes Simply Recipes search results by keyword and returns each recipe as a flat row with ingredients, instructions, nutrition, and ratings.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/parseforge/simplyrecipes-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [ParseForge](https://apify.com/parseforge) (community)
- **Categories:** E-commerce, Marketing, Other
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $19.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

[![ParseForge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ParseForge/apify-assets/main/banner.jpg)](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp)

### Recipes Scraper

**Scrape Recipes search results for any recipe or ingredient, up to a million per run.** Every recipe comes with its ingredients, instructions, nutrition, and ratings. No login or API key. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

Recipes has thousands of tested recipes, but there is no official API for bulk access. This Actor searches the public recipe pages by keyword, reads each match, and returns the structured data in one flat row per recipe. It is built for recipe researchers, food bloggers, and meal-planning apps that need clean recipe data without scraping by hand.

| Who uses it | What they scrape Recipes for |
|---|---|
| Food bloggers | Find popular recipes for a given ingredient to inspire their next post |
| Meal-planning app developers | Build a recipe database with structured ingredients and instructions |
| Nutrition researchers | Collect nutrition facts for a set of recipes to analyze dietary patterns |
| Recipe aggregators | Populate their site with Recipes content under fair use |

### What it does

This Actor collects Recipes recipe data by keyword search and returns each recipe as a flat row with ingredients, instructions, nutrition, and ratings.

- 🔍 **Keyword search:** enter any recipe name or ingredient, like 'pasta' or 'chicken soup', and get matching recipes.
- 📊 **Structured output:** each recipe returns ingredients, instructions, nutrition, and ratings in a flat row.
- ⚙️ **Flexible volume:** set maxItems from 1 to 1,000,000 recipes per run.
- 📁 **Multiple export formats:** download as CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

### What you can do with Recipes data

**🍝 Build a recipe database.**

A meal-planning startup runs the Actor with 'pasta' and maxItems 5000 to seed their app with structured pasta recipes, including ingredients and instructions.

**📈 Track food trends.**

A market researcher runs weekly searches for 'air fryer' and 'plant-based' to see which recipes Recipes is promoting and how ratings change over time.

**🥗 Analyze nutrition data.**

A nutritionist collects 200 recipes for 'salad' and exports the nutrition fields to compare calorie and macro profiles across recipes.

**📝 Inspire blog content.**

A food blogger searches 'chocolate cake' to find the top-rated Recipes versions, then writes a roundup post linking to the originals.

### Why choose this scraper

| | What you get |
|---|---|
| **No official API** | Recipes does not offer a public API, so this Actor is the only way to get bulk recipe data. |
| **Complete recipe data** | Ingredients, instructions, nutrition, and ratings are all included in one row. |
| **Scalable** | Collect up to a million recipes per run, enough for a full recipe database. |
| **No coding required** | Run it from the Apify console or API with a search query. |

### How it compares

No other Store actor targets Recipes the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

| | Recipes Scraper | Build it in-house | By hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup | Run it now, zero config | Days of engineering | None, but hours per pull |
| When Recipes changes | Maintained for you | You fix it | You re-learn the page |
| Proxies, retries, anti-bot | Built in | Your problem | Browser only |
| Output | Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export | Whatever you build | Copy-paste |
| Cost | Pay per result | Engineering time | Analyst hours |

### Configure the run

Drive the Actor with a single search query, and set the maximum number of recipes to collect. The search runs on Recipes' own relevance ranking, so the top results come first. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

```json
{
 "searchQuery": "pasta",
 "maxItems": 10
}
```

A larger pull:

```json
{
 "searchQuery": "pasta",
 "maxItems": 200
}
```

### Pricing

Pay-per-result: **$0.021 per result** collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

| Results collected | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 100 results | $2.10 |
| 1,000 results | $21.00 |
| 10,000 results | $210.00 |

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

### Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. [Upgrade your Apify plan](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp) to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

### Run it

1. [Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp).
2. Open the [Recipes Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/simplyrecipes-scraper?fpr=vmoqkp).
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click **Start**.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the **Dataset** tab.

Run it programmatically through the [Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2) (`run-sync-get-dataset-items`) or the [ApifyClient](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js) for JavaScript and Python.

### Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to Recipes through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=parseforge/simplyrecipes-scraper"
```

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

### Troubleshooting

**Why am I getting no results?**

Check your searchQuery. Try a more common term like 'pasta' or 'chicken'. Also make sure maxItems is at least 1.

**Why did the run stop before reaching maxItems?**

Recipes may have fewer matching recipes than your maxItems. The Actor stops when there are no more results.

**Why are some nutrition fields empty?**

Not all Recipes pages include full nutrition data. The Actor returns whatever is available on the page.

**Why did the run time out?**

Large maxItems values can take a long time. Try reducing maxItems or increasing the Actor's timeout in the Apify settings.

**Can I get only recipes with a certain rating?**

This Actor does not filter by rating. It returns all search results. You can filter the exported data afterward.

### FAQ

| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Does this Actor scrape the full recipe text? | Yes, it returns the full ingredients list and step-by-step instructions for each recipe, along with nutrition facts and ratings. |
| Can I search by ingredient instead of recipe name? | Yes, the searchQuery field accepts any keyword. Searching 'chicken' will return recipes that use chicken as an ingredient. |
| How many recipes can I get in one run? | You can set maxItems up to 1,000,000. The actual number returned depends on how many matching recipes Recipes has for your query. |
| What export formats are supported? | You can export the results as CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify dataset. |
| Do I need an API key or login for Recipes? | No, this Actor reads the public website directly. No registration or API key is required. |
| Is the data returned in a consistent schema? | Yes, every recipe is returned as a flat row with the same fields, so you can easily import it into a database or spreadsheet. |
| Can I schedule this Actor to run regularly? | Yes, you can set up a schedule in Apify to run it daily, weekly, or at any interval you need. |
| Does this Actor handle pagination? | Yes, it automatically follows the search result pages until it reaches maxItems or there are no more results. |
| What if my search query returns no results? | Try a broader keyword or check the spelling. Recipes may not have a recipe for very specific terms. |
| Is this Actor legal to use? | You should only scrape public data in accordance with Recipes' terms of service and applicable laws. Apify provides the tool, but you are responsible for how you use it. |

### Related actors

Browse the full [ParseForge collection](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp) for more scrapers.

🆘 **Need help?** Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ **Disclaimer.** This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Recipes. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.

# Actor input Schema

## `searchQuery` (type: `string`):

Keyword to search for recipes (e.g. 'pasta', 'chicken soup', 'chocolate cake').

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

How many recipes to collect per run.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchQuery": "pasta",
  "maxItems": 10
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "searchQuery": "pasta",
    "maxItems": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("parseforge/simplyrecipes-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "searchQuery": "pasta",
    "maxItems": 10,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("parseforge/simplyrecipes-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "searchQuery": "pasta",
  "maxItems": 10
}' |
apify call parseforge/simplyrecipes-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,parseforge/simplyrecipes-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/bacfP9wtmI9Ejkx2u/builds/TP2Ej6UCMazWHCyPc/openapi.json