Recipe Rich Results Schema: Complete Guide
Recipe rich results are among the most visually rich search features Google offers, displaying the recipe image, cooking time, calorie count, and star ratings directly in search results — and even in the Google Discover feed and recipe carousels. For food and cooking sites, valid Recipe schema can dramatically increase organic traffic. This guide walks through required properties, common errors, and everything you need to qualify for recipe rich results.
What Are Recipe Rich Results?
Recipe rich results appear in Google Search as enhanced cards that show the recipe title, a featured image, total time, calorie information, and aggregate rating stars. They also appear in the Google recipe carousel — a horizontally scrollable section that appears at the top of search results for recipe-related queries and drives enormous traffic volume. On mobile, recipe cards often display above standard organic results. Recipe schema also powers Google's voice search responses for cooking queries, making it one of the highest-impact schema types for food content publishers.
Required Schema Markup (JSON-LD)
Here is a complete Recipe schema example:
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Recipe",
"name": "Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies",
"image": [
"https://example.com/photos/cookies-1x1.jpg",
"https://example.com/photos/cookies-4x3.jpg",
"https://example.com/photos/cookies-16x9.jpg"
],
"author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jane Smith" },
"datePublished": "2026-01-15",
"description": "Crispy on the outside, soft in the middle — the perfect chocolate chip cookie.",
"prepTime": "PT20M",
"cookTime": "PT12M",
"totalTime": "PT32M",
"keywords": "cookies, chocolate chip, baking",
"recipeYield": "24 cookies",
"recipeCategory": "Dessert",
"recipeCuisine": "American",
"nutrition": {
"@type": "NutritionInformation",
"calories": "148 calories"
},
"recipeIngredient": [
"2 cups all-purpose flour",
"1 cup butter",
"2 cups chocolate chips"
],
"recipeInstructions": [
{
"@type": "HowToStep",
"name": "Preheat oven",
"text": "Preheat oven to 375°F.",
"url": "https://example.com/cookies#step1"
}
],
"aggregateRating": {
"@type": "AggregateRating",
"ratingValue": "4.9",
"ratingCount": "512"
}
}Required vs Recommended Properties
Google's required Recipe properties are name and image. Without a valid image, you will not get the visual rich result card. Strongly recommended properties that significantly improve eligibility and appearance include: author, datePublished, description, prepTime/cookTime/totalTime (ISO 8601 duration format, e.g. PT30M for 30 minutes), recipeYield, recipeIngredient (array of strings), recipeInstructions (array of HowToStep), nutrition with calories, and aggregateRating. The more of these you include, the richer the carousel card Google can render for your recipe.
Image Requirements for Recipe Cards
Recipe images are critical — a recipe without a valid image will not appear in the visual carousel. Google recommends providing images in multiple aspect ratios: 1:1, 4:3, and 16:9. Each image should be at least 1200px wide. Do not use placeholder images, watermarked stock photos, or images that do not depict the actual finished dish. The image URL must be crawlable and publicly accessible. WebP format is supported. If your recipe page uses lazy-loaded images, ensure they are rendered before Googlebot renders the page by using server-side rendering or preloading.
Time Format: ISO 8601 Duration
Recipe time properties (prepTime, cookTime, totalTime) must use ISO 8601 duration format. The format is PT[n]H[n]M — for example, PT1H30M means 1 hour 30 minutes, PT20M means 20 minutes. Plain text like "30 minutes" or "1 hour" is invalid. Google's Rich Results Test will flag incorrect time formats. A common mistake is using PT30 without the M suffix, which is invalid. Always validate your duration strings — they are one of the most frequently errored properties in recipe schema audits.
Eligibility Requirements
Recipe rich results require the page to be a genuine recipe page with the full recipe content (ingredients, instructions) accessible to users. Paywalled recipes where the schema includes full ingredient/instruction data but the page only shows a teaser may have eligibility issues. The page must be indexed and not blocked by noindex or robots.txt. Thin pages with only an ingredient list and no instructions will be deprioritized. Sites that copy recipes from other publishers without adding original value may not qualify. Google also considers E-E-A-T signals — recipe content attributed to a real person with food expertise performs better.
How to Test Recipe Schema
Use Google's Rich Results Test (search.google.com/test/rich-results) with your recipe page URL. The tool will show a preview of how the recipe card may appear and flag missing required or recommended properties. Check Google Search Console under Enhancements > Recipes for a site-wide view of valid, warning, and error states. For testing recipe carousel eligibility specifically, note that the carousel is a competitive placement — valid schema is necessary but not sufficient, and Google considers page quality, authority, and engagement signals when selecting which recipes to feature.
Common Mistakes and Fixes
Most common recipe schema errors: missing or invalid image (fix: provide minimum 1200px-wide images in 1:1 and 16:9 ratios); incorrect time format (fix: use ISO 8601 PT format); recipeInstructions as a plain string instead of an array of HowToStep objects (fix: convert to array); aggregateRating with fake or missing review counts; nutrition data with non-numeric calorie values (fix: use "148 calories" format). Run SitemapFixer after any CMS plugin update — recipe plugins frequently change their schema output and can introduce regressions across hundreds of pages simultaneously.
Recipe Schema and Google Discover
Recipe rich results extend beyond Google Search — they also appear in Google Discover, which surfaces content to logged-in users based on their interests. Recipe pages with high-quality images, complete schema, and strong engagement metrics (especially saves and pins from social platforms) are more likely to surface in Discover. The traffic from Discover can rival or exceed organic search for popular recipe sites. Ensure your recipe images are vibrant, high-resolution, and food-focused, and that your schema is complete, since Discover uses both signals when selecting recipe cards to show users.