- →Google requires only name and image, but recommends a full set of times, yield, ingredients and instructions.
- →Let WP Recipe Maker or WP Delicious output the schema; do not add a second hand-written Recipe block.
- →Times must be ISO 8601 durations and should add up: prep plus cook (plus rest) equals total.
- →Validate with the Rich Results Test after every template or plugin change.
Required versus recommended fields
Google's recipe documentation lists only two required properties: name and image. Everything else is recommended, but a recipe with just a name and a picture rarely earns a rich result or a place in recipe carousels. In practice you want the full set below.
| Property | Why it matters | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| name | The dish name shown in results | Stuffing keywords: "Best Easy Quick Pasta Recipe" |
| image | Thumbnail in results and carousels | Small images; provide wide, 4:3 and 1:1 crops |
| prepTime, cookTime, totalTime | Time shown in results and filters | Total that does not equal the parts |
| recipeYield | Servings in results | Missing, or text only such as "a family" |
| recipeIngredient | Ingredient list | Quantities buried in notes |
| recipeInstructions | HowToStep list for guided cooking | One giant paragraph as a single step |
| nutrition.calories | Calories per serving | Values for the whole dish labelled per serving |
| recipeCategory, recipeCuisine, keywords | Context for matching searches | Dozens of near-duplicate terms |
| aggregateRating, review | Stars in results | Faked or self-awarded ratings |
One source of schema per recipe
Recipe plugins exist largely to output correct Recipe schema. Problems start when a theme, an SEO plugin and a hand-added script each output their own Recipe block. Search engines then see two recipes with different times or yields on the same page.
Keep the recipe plugin as the only source. Yoast SEO and Rank Math both integrate with WP Recipe Maker and merge the recipe into their page graph rather than duplicating it.
Getting times right
Schema times use ISO 8601 durations: PT20M is twenty minutes, PT1H15M is an hour and fifteen. The plugin converts your numbers, so the real risk is the numbers themselves. A recipe with 20 minutes prep, 45 minutes cook and a 2 hour 5 minute total either forgot a resting or chilling step or made an error. Readers notice, and the inconsistency weakens trust in the whole card.
"prepTime": "PT20M",
"cookTime": "PT45M",
"totalTime": "PT1H5M"Instructions that work as steps
- 01One action per step, starting with a verb: "Whisk the eggs with the sugar until pale."
- 02Mention only ingredients that appear in the ingredient list, with the same names
- 03Put doneness cues in the step ("until the edges are golden, 10 to 12 minutes")
- 04Group steps only when the recipe has real components, such as a sauce and a topping
- 05Do not split a simple recipe into 15 tiny steps; four to eight is typical for a weeknight dish
Images
Provide a high-resolution featured image and let your plugin generate the crops. Alt text should describe the actual dish ("Bowl of Greek peas simmered in tomato sauce with dill"), not repeat the keyword. Every image on the page needs its own description.
Validate, then monitor
- Rich Results Test
Paste a recipe URL into Google's Rich Results Test and fix every error. Warnings for missing optional fields are worth fixing when you have the data.
- Search Console enhancements
The Recipes report shows valid items and issues across the whole site. A sudden drop usually means a theme or plugin update changed the output.
- Spot-check the page
Make sure the visible card matches the schema. Data that exists only in schema and not on the page is against Google's guidelines.
RecipeFox AI fills every recommended field the recipe plugin supports, then lets the plugin output the schema; see WP Recipe Maker and WP Delicious.
Questions readers ask
- Do I need a recipe plugin for recipe schema?
- Not strictly, but it is the simplest reliable option on WordPress. WP Recipe Maker and WP Delicious output valid Recipe schema from the card fields.
- Can I add ratings to my schema myself?
- Only ratings from real readers. Self-assigned ratings violate Google's review snippet guidelines and can lead to a manual action.
- Does FAQ schema still show in Google?
- Google limits FAQ rich results to a small set of authoritative sites, but clear question-and-answer content is still useful to readers and to AI answer engines.
The team that builds RecipeFox AI and runs its WordPress recipe publishing pipeline: recipe plugins, structured data, internal linking and quality checks.