recipe

American  

[res-uh-pee] / ˈrɛs ə pi /

noun

• recipes
  plural

1. a set of instructions for making or preparing something, especially a food dish.

   a recipe for a cake.

2. a medical prescription.

3. a method to attain a desired end.

   a recipe for success.

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recipe British  

/ ˈrɛsɪpɪ /

noun

1. a list of ingredients and directions for making something, esp a food preparation

2. med (formerly) a medical prescription

3. a method for achieving some desired objective

   a recipe for success

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• recipes
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of recipe

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin: take, imperative singular of recipere to receive

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Explanation

A recipe is directions for making a dish or dessert, like your mother's award-winning recipe for chocolate chip cookies. The word recipe is most often used when talking about cooking. It includes two things: a list of ingredients that you'll need and the steps to take in order to make it. You can find recipes in cookbooks, on Web sites, in newspapers and magazines — or handed down in your family. Other than cooking, a recipe can also be a formula: the recipe for success is hard work, good timing and a little luck.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

recipe recipes

Or add all the ingredients from mom’s pumpkin pie recipe that someone, at some point, texted to you, to your shopping list.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

"Granting rights and moral protections to a technological entity, one that looks to be on a path to be seismically more capable and intelligent than us, is a recipe for disaster," he wrote.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

Brian had written down the recipe, and, in his back shed, Michael, with the eventual assistance of Kasey, sets about following it into strange and disturbing territory.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

I went into the recipe expecting exactly that, was delighted to find it delivered and started experimenting with the same trick in soups of my own.

From Salon ● Oct. 5, 2026

It was a pity, too, as Mrs. Clarke’s gooseberry-pie recipe was beyond compare.

From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood

The decorated vessels were constructed using the Mississippian technique of coiling clay and followed more consistent clay recipes, suggesting a higher degree of specialized knowledge.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026

Restaurants in the island’s six towns, from the Sweet Life Cafe in Oak Bluffs to the Fish House in Edgartown, tweaked menus, recipes and how they cook.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026

But younger generations cook fewer traditional Hungarian recipes, and they prefer food "that is faster and easier to prepare," according to specialist Braj.

From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026

I love a party, but lately the trick has been to spend time with loved ones and feed them well with easy recipes like chicken piccata, flan, spaghetti al limone and this caramelized-corn salad.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

I didn’t know any recipes that Kazi made with them, but we could fry them with the onions and the beans.

From "The Night Diary" by Veera Hiranandani

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Related Words

• method
• prescription
• program
• technique

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