How to write a recipe anyone can follow (format and template)

A well-written recipe lets someone who has never seen the dish made get it right the first time. The format that does it has six parts, always in the same order: a title, a short headnote, the servings and times, the ingredients in the order they are used, numbered steps with a way to tell when each is done, and notes. Here is each part, with the small rules that matter, a full example and a template to copy.

The recipe format at a glance

• Title: what the dish is, and whose it is. "Ruth's Apple Cake" beats "Cake".
• Headnote: one to three sentences: where it comes from, when it's made, anything unusual.
• Yield and time: servings or quantity, pan size, active time and total time.
• Ingredients: quantity, unit, ingredient, preparation, listed in the order they are used.
• Method: numbered steps, one stage each, with temperatures, times and a doneness cue.
• Notes: storage, make-ahead, substitutions that were tested, and the source.

1. Title and headnote

Name the dish the way the family says it, and add a plain description if the name alone is a mystery: "Nonna's Sunday Gravy (pork and tomato sauce)". The headnote is where the story goes, kept short: who made it, for what, and the one thing a newcomer should know. "Grandma made this every first cold Sunday. Don't skip the resting time."

2. Yield, pan and time

Say how much it makes ("serves 6", "about 36 cookies", "one 9 x 13 in pan"). The pan size matters as much as any ingredient: the same batter in a bigger pan bakes thinner and faster. Give active time and total time if there is chilling, rising or resting. If someone only has a different pan, the baking pan converter gives them a multiplier.

3. Ingredients

• List them in the order they are used, so the cook works down the list and never searches for the next one.
• Quantity, unit, ingredient, preparation: "2 cups all-purpose flour", "1 onion, finely chopped".
• Mind the comma. "1 cup walnuts, chopped" means measure, then chop. "1 cup chopped walnuts" means chop, then measure, which is more nuts.
• Be specific where it changes the result: unsalted butter, large eggs, packed brown sugar, canned (not fresh) tomatoes.
• Give weights for baking if you can. NIST recommends weighing as the more accurate way to measure. Write "2 cups (250 g) flour"; the cups to grams converter gives published weights.
• Spell units out or abbreviate them consistently. A handwritten "T" and "t" (tablespoon and teaspoon) are easy to confuse; "tbsp" and "tsp" are not.
• Group ingredients under small headings when there are parts: "For the crust", "For the filling".

4. Method

• Start with what has to happen first: preheat the oven, grease the pan, soften the butter.
• Number the steps, one stage each: mix, then rest, then shape. A step longer than three sentences is usually two steps.
• Give the heat and the time, "bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 to 35 minutes", and the sign that it's done: "until a toothpick in the center comes out clean". Ovens differ; the cue is what the cook can trust. The oven temperature converter handles Fahrenheit and Celsius.
• For meat and poultry, give the internal temperature. USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service lists 165°F for all poultry, 160°F for ground meats, and 145°F with a three-minute rest for whole cuts of beef, pork, veal and lamb.
• Use the names from the ingredient list, so "the flour mixture" or "the reserved sauce" points at something the reader already knows.

5. Notes

Notes catch everything that isn't a step: how long it keeps and how to reheat it, what can be made ahead, substitutions that have actually been tried, how to double it. For a family recipe, add a source line, such as "From Ruth's card, about 1975; typed by Anna in 2026", and the margin note people repeat in the kitchen. If the dish contains one of the nine major allergens the FDA lists (milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame), it does no harm to say so for guests.

Writing down a family recipe

Old family recipes were written as reminders for someone who already knew the dish, so they skip steps. Keep the original wording and add what's missing in brackets, so readers can tell the two apart: "a moderate oven [350°F]", "butter the size of an egg [about 4 tbsp]", "[unreadable]". Cook it once from your write-up before you call it finished. The family recipe interview questions help you fill the gaps by asking the cook.

An example, written out

A made-up recipe in the format above, so you can see the parts together:

• Ruth's Apple Cake. Ruth baked this every October when the first apples came in. "Don't peel the apples, the skins are the color."
• Makes one 9 in round cake, 8 slices. Time: 20 minutes active, 1 hour 15 minutes total.
• Ingredients: 1 stick (113 g) unsalted butter, softened; ¾ cup (150 g) sugar; 2 large eggs; 1½ cups (188 g) all-purpose flour; 1½ tsp baking powder; ¼ tsp salt; ½ cup (120 ml) milk; 2 apples, cored and thinly sliced.
• 1. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter a 9 in round pan.
• 2. Beat the butter and sugar until pale, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
• 3. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir half into the butter mixture, then the milk, then the rest, just until no flour shows.
• 4. Spread the batter in the pan and press the apple slices into the top in circles.
• 5. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, until golden and a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes before turning out.
• Notes: keeps 2 days covered at room temperature. From Ruth's card, about 1975. Contains milk, eggs and wheat.

A recipe template to copy

• Title (and whose recipe it is)
• Headnote: where it comes from, when it's made, one tip
• Makes: servings or quantity, and the pan
• Time: active, and total
• Ingredients, in the order used: quantity, unit, ingredient, preparation
• Steps, numbered: one stage each, with heat, time and how to tell it's done
• Notes: storage, make-ahead, tested substitutions, source and date

Keeping it where it can be found

In forever.recipes every recipe is a sheet built on this format: title, time and servings, ingredient rows, numbered steps, a handwritten-style note and a photo. Type the time the way you would say it ("1h30" or "half an hour") and it is understood. Each sheet files behind a tab in a family binder that you can share by link and print as an A5 PDF, and cook mode shows the steps one at a time in large type on a phone. The free plan keeps 10 recipes. Start a family recipe book, or print a single card with the free recipe card maker.