recipe search results

Dairy-free

Recipes in this category try to avoid cheese, milk, butter, yoghurt, cream, ghee, cottage cheese, crème fraÎche and other dairy products. Recipes included here may contain eggs.

Egg-free

Recipes in this category try to avoid eggs, either cooked or raw, and aim to be free from ingredients that contain eggs (such as mayonnaise) or prepared/cooked biscuits and cakes, many of which contain egg products. Recipes may contain egg noodles, for which egg-free noodles can easily be substituted.

Gluten-free

Recipes in this category try to avoid products made from or including wheat, rye, barley and oats, all of which contain varying amounts of gluten.

ADVISORY:

Be aware that ingredients such as mustard powder, stock cubes, icing sugar and many other ingredients, particularly processed foods, may contain small amounts of gluten, so read labels carefully, particularly if you suffer from coeliac disease. These ingredients may be included in recipes in this section. Recipes included here may contain soy sauce, which is made with wheat. Tamari, which is wheat-free, can be substituted for soy sauce.

Nut-free

The aim of this section is to exclude recipes that contain peanuts and tree nuts (such as brazil nuts, cashews, chestnuts, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pistachios, walnuts, etc) as well as nut oils (such as peanut oil, walnut oil, etc). This section also aims to exclude recipes made with pine nuts and coconuts.

Pregnancy-friendly

These recipes do not contain any of the following foods, which the Food Standards Agency recommends against pregnant women eating, or advises pregnant women to eat in moderate amounts:

Raw or partially cooked eggs; soft mould-ripened cheese, such as camembert, brie, vacherin, etc; blue-veined cheese, such as stilton, gorgonzola, etc; pâté (including vegetable pâté); oily fish such as fresh tuna (canned tuna does not count as oily fish), mackerel, sardines and trout; shark, swordfish and marlin; raw shellfish; rare-cooked or raw meat; raw or lightly cooked fish.

Recipes in this category may contain peanuts, which some pregnant women may choose to avoid.

Shellfish-free

Recipes in this category try to avoid shellfish such as clams, cockles, winkles, langoustines, Dublin Bay prawns, lobster, abalone, prawns, shrimp, oysters, mussels, crayfish, etc. The recipes may contain fish other than shellfish. Recipes may contain oyster sauce, for which vegetarian or vegan oyster-flavoured sauce may be substituted.

Quick option

Recipes are categorised as 'quick' if the preparation time is 30 minutes or less and the recipe requires no cooking, or has a cooking time of 30 minutes or less.

Party food

Recipes in this category may be useful for feeding large, stand-up groups of people. Canapés, nibbles, dips, drinks and sweets maybe included here, as may recipes that serve large numbers of people. Many recipes in this category can be eaten as finger foods or as part of a casual buffet.

Cooking with a child

This category includes recipes that school-age children are likely to be able to cook under adult supervision. They have relatively few ingredients and rely on straightforward cooking techniques.

ADVISORY:

Recipes in this section may contain honey. The Food Standards Agency recommends that honey is not suitable for infants under the age of one year.

Food for children

The recipes in this category are for foods that school-age children may be particularly fond of. Some of the recipes contained here are written by specialist recipe writers with experience of cooking for children. These recipes aim to be nutritious as well as good-tasting to youngsters.

ADVISORY:

Recipes in this section may contain honey. The Food Standards Agency recommends that honey is not suitable for infants under the age of one year.

Healthier option

Specific information about the number or amount of calories, fats, carbohydrates, fibre, etc, in recipes is not available on the BBC Food site. Recipes included in this category contain relatively high proportions of vegetables, fibre and/or protein and are made with a minimal amount of saturated fats and/or sugar.

Vegan

Recipes in this category try to avoid fish, meat, meat-derived products, dairy products, eggs, honey, Quorn (or mycoproteins).

Vegetarian

Recipes in this category try to avoid ingredients such as meat, meat-derived products, fish or poultry. Recipes containing eggs may be classed as 'vegetarian' on this site. Recipes containing cheese, including Parmesan, are included here, as suitable alternatives are readily available. Recipes containing wine, including port, are included here, although users may wish to check that their wines are vegetarian before purchase.