TheMealDB

Meal Recipes

Food & DrinkAuth: API KeyHTTPS: YesCORS: yesStatus: alive

Last verified: April 1, 2026

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Getting Started

This API requires an API key for authentication. Here's how to get started:

Sign up — Visit the API's website and create a free account.
Get your key — After signing up, you'll receive a unique API key (usually found in your dashboard or account settings).
Include it in requests — Add your API key to each request, typically as a query parameter (?api_key=YOUR_KEY) or in the request header (Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY). Check the API's documentation for the exact format.

API keys are free for most public APIs. They're used to identify your application and enforce rate limits — not to charge you.

CORS Support

This API supports CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing), meaning you can call it directly from browser-based JavaScript applications without running into cross-origin errors.

Quick Example

// Using cURL
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" https://www.themealdb.com/api.php

// Using JavaScript fetch()
const response = await fetch(apiUrl, {
  headers: { 'Authorization': 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' }
});
const data = await response.json();

About TheMealDB

TheMealDB is a free API in the Food & Drink category. It requires a free API key, which you can obtain by signing up on their website. This API supports HTTPS for secure connections and supports CORS, making it suitable for direct browser-based requests.

Frequently Asked Questions

What food data does TheMealDB provide?

TheMealDB is a food and drink API that may offer recipes, nutritional information, ingredient databases, restaurant data, or beverage information. The scope depends on the API's focus — some are recipe-centric while others focus on nutritional analysis or food product databases.

Can I search recipes by ingredients with TheMealDB?

Recipe search by ingredient is a common feature in food APIs. TheMealDB may support ingredient-based search, dietary filters (vegan, gluten-free, keto), cuisine type, or calorie ranges. Check the API documentation for available search parameters and filtering options.

Does TheMealDB include nutritional information?

Nutritional data (calories, macronutrients, vitamins, minerals) is available from some food APIs but not all. TheMealDB may provide nutrition facts per serving or per ingredient. Check the response schema for nutritional fields. Browse our Food & Drink APIs for APIs that specialize in nutrition tracking.

Is TheMealDB free to use?

Yes, TheMealDB is listed as a free public API. You will need to create a free account to get an API key, but the key itself is free. Some APIs have rate limits on their free tier, so check the official documentation for current limits.

Is TheMealDB still working in 2026?

Yes! According to our most recent health check (TheMealDB's last ping: 2026-04-01 13:40:26), this API is responding normally. We periodically verify all listed APIs to ensure they are still online and functioning.