7 Best Recipe Card Plugins for Food Bloggers (2024 Comparison)
Quick Pick: WP Recipe Maker (free) for beginners, Tasty Recipes ($79/year) for professionals who want the best design, and WP Recipe Maker Premium ($89) for advanced features like unit conversion and meal planning.
Why You Need a Recipe Card Plugin
Recipe card plugins do three critical things for your food blog:
- Automatic Schema Markup: Generate Google-friendly JSON-LD schema to qualify for rich results
- Beautiful Recipe Cards: Display recipes in mobile-optimized, printable formats that users love
- Better User Experience: Features like ingredient checkboxes, timer functions, and nutrition labels keep readers engaged
Let's compare the top 7 recipe plugins based on features, pricing, ease of use, and schema quality.
1. WP Recipe Maker
The most popular recipe plugin with 300,000+ installations. The free version includes full schema support, making it perfect for beginners.
Key Features:
- ✅ Free version includes complete JSON-LD recipe schema
- ✅ Customizable recipe card templates
- ✅ Nutrition label calculator (free!)
- ✅ Video recipe support
- ✅ Print-friendly recipe cards
- ✅ Ingredient and equipment linking (Premium)
- ✅ Unit conversion and recipe scaling (Premium)
Best for: Beginners who want a free solution and bloggers who need advanced features.
2. Tasty Recipes
Premium plugin created by WP Tasty (formerly Ziplist). Beautiful, Pinterest-ready recipe cards trusted by top food bloggers.
Key Features:
- ✅ Stunning recipe card design out of the box
- ✅ Google-friendly recipe schema included
- ✅ Jump-to-recipe button
- ✅ Adjustable servings with automatic scaling
- ✅ Nutrition labels powered by USDA database
- ✅ Equipment and ingredient affiliate linking
- ✅ Pinterest-optimized images
Best for: Professional food bloggers who want gorgeous recipe cards without customization hassle.
3. Mediavine Create (formerly Create by Mediavine)
Built by the Mediavine ad network specifically for monetized food blogs. Optimized for ad viewability and revenue.
Key Features:
- ✅ Completely free (no premium version)
- ✅ Optimized for ad placement and revenue
- ✅ Recipe, how-to, and list post cards
- ✅ Full schema markup for all card types
- ✅ Video recipe support
- ✅ Mobile-first responsive design
Best for: Bloggers focused on ad revenue optimization (works with any ad network, not just Mediavine).
4. Cooked
Unique recipe plugin with built-in user submission features and recipe collections. Great for community-driven food sites.
Key Features:
- ✅ Front-end recipe submission forms
- ✅ Recipe collections and user favorites
- ✅ Full recipe schema support
- ✅ Timer and difficulty level
- ✅ One-time payment (no annual fees)
- ❌ Limited customization options
Best for: Community recipe sites where users can submit and save recipes.
5. Yoast SEO + Recipe Schema
If you're already using Yoast SEO, you can add recipe schema through their built-in structured data blocks. Basic but functional.
Key Features:
- ✅ Free and built into Yoast SEO
- ✅ Recipe schema block for Gutenberg
- ✅ Basic recipe card display
- ❌ Limited design customization
- ❌ No nutrition calculator
- ❌ No recipe scaling or unit conversion
Best for: Casual bloggers who already use Yoast and don't need advanced features.
6. Zip Recipes
Simple, lightweight recipe plugin focused on speed and essential features.
Key Features:
- ✅ Lightweight and fast-loading
- ✅ Recipe schema markup included
- ✅ Print-friendly recipes
- ❌ Basic design (less polished than competitors)
- ❌ Limited features compared to WP Recipe Maker
Best for: Bloggers prioritizing site speed and minimal features.
7. Nutrition Recipe Card
Focused on health and nutrition bloggers with detailed nutrition fact labels.
Key Features:
- ✅ Detailed nutrition labels (FDA compliant)
- ✅ Recipe schema support
- ✅ Calorie and macro tracking
- ❌ Not actively updated (last update 2+ years ago)
- ❌ Dated design
Best for: Not recommended due to lack of updates. Use WP Recipe Maker's nutrition feature instead.
Feature Comparison Table
| Feature | WP Recipe Maker | Tasty Recipes | Create |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free/$89 | $79/year | Free |
| Schema Markup | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Nutrition Labels | ✅ Free | ✅ | ❌ |
| Unit Conversion | ✅ Premium | ✅ | ❌ |
| Design Quality | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
Our Recommendation
Choose based on your needs:
- 🏆 For most bloggers: WP Recipe Maker (free version) – Best balance of features and cost
- 💎 For professionals: Tasty Recipes – Gorgeous design worth the investment
- 📊 For ad revenue focus: Mediavine Create – Free and optimized for monetization
- 💰 Best value premium: WP Recipe Maker Premium – More features than Tasty Recipes at $10 less
Regardless of which plugin you choose, the most important factor is implementing proper recipe schema markup. All the plugins above handle this automatically, but you can also use our free Recipe Schema Generator to create custom schema for any WordPress setup.
Need Recipe Schema Without a Plugin?
Generate perfect JSON-LD schema markup for any recipe in seconds.
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