Whether you’re a professional or a novice who feels they have the next greatest recipe, you may be able to sell that recipe for cash.  I emphasize may only because it’s much harder than you think.

In today’s guide, I did some research, as I was genuinely curious, and found a few ways you may be able to sell a recipe.  Keep in mind that your success could be dependent on how you approach these companies as well as what kind of recipe you have.

And, how much you make will greatly depend on who you’re approaching as well as what kind of recipe you have.  Even if you find someone willing to purchase it, it’s not much at all.  I’m talking up to $75 for a recipe with high-quality pictures.  However, this is just an estimate, and it can be much more (or less) than this.

As always, I’m 100% honest, so everything I mention won’t lead you to any scam or program you have to purchase.

Let’s begin!

How to Sell a Recipe

Reach out to Magazines

Some magazines will pay you for a recipe, usually up to $50.  In some cases, you can even submit a “tip” and receive the cash as well.

From my research, the following magazines will offer you a cash reward only if they accept what you submit:

• Cooking Light
• Cuisine at Home ($50 for a cooking tip)
• EatingWell
• Healthy Living 
• Family Fun
• Taste of Home (mainly competitions)

Be sure to read the guidelines to know what’s expected of you as they all vary.

Enter a Contest

Did you know there are a lot of recipe contest websites where you win prizes, often including cash?

Since there are so many sweepstakes occurring at one time, what I recommend is simply Googling “recipe sweepstakes” and make sure you filter your results so that you’re only looking at the past month or so.  This can often yield many results.  You can also check out the many legitimate sweepstakes websites I have researched in the past.  Trust me, there are a lot of them.

For instance, when I was writing this, Driscoll’s, a very popular berry brand, was giving away a picnic package or berries for a year if you were to make something noted on the list.

I know, it’s isn’t cash, but it’s a way to make recipes and win something.  In some cases, a brand will ask for your recipe.

Yes, you have to win, but if you want to have fun, it’s one to consider.

Reach Out to Food Bloggers

Like the magazines, consider reaching out to other food bloggers.  I don’t have a particular list, but if you find any popular options, just reach out to the owner and just see if they pay for contributions.  Just be prepared to see a lot of “no” responses.

This option can take some time, sure, but if you do find one that accepts your proposal, again, don’t expect much, maybe $5 to $15 at most, depending on the recipe you have to sell.

To find these bloggers, a few search terms such as “recipe blog” or using a niche, such as “Italian food blog,” etc should bring about some nice results.  In some cases, the website may have a submission page such as the Cooking for Engineers.

Start a Blog

This isn’t a way to make money fast, but it could yield some passive income in the future.  Blogging takes a lot of patience, but I promise you it can pay off huge dividends if you stick at it.  I have been doing it for years and make a decent chunk of cash doing so.

The key here is to create a post for every recipe you have.  You can also research more in the future, of course.  This will include taking pictures, writing a bit about it and then talking about the recipe.  Then, as people start coming, you can add advertisements, such as Google Adsense, and work with affiliate marketing companies.

There’s a lot to learn, but it isn’t as hard as you think.  Just study up and the rest is history.  And, best of all, there are so many great resources out there that don’t cost you a penny.  Some of these include Income School, Authority Hacker, Backlinko, Quick Sprout and the Ahrefs Blog.  These websites have paid programs, but I don’t see the need for 99% of them.

Consider a YouTube Channel

Much like a blog, a YouTube channel can be something to consider as well, where you can actually show people how to make your recipes.  This option, of course, will be much more visual than a blog would be.

Just like a blog, this option will take a lot of time to create as well to build an audience, but it can yield great income as well through affiliate marketing and Google ads built into your videos.

Like blogging, there are so many YouTube professionals just on YouTube alone.  Just type in “how to start a YouTube channel” and go from there.  You could be busy for days.  There are a lot of informative videos that won’t cost you a penny.

Sell a Cookbook via the Kindle Platform

I would consider this option only if you have more than 50 to 100 recipes you would like to sell.

The great thing about today’s technological era is that anyone can publish a book using the Amazon Kindle platform.  You just need to format it as an eBook file and then promote it via the Amazon platform.

No, it won’t be easy as uploading the book and waiting.  It’s going to be just like blogging and YouTube, where you will have to put in a lot of work promoting it.

As in terms of promoting it, again, there are a lot of great free resources out there.  I don’t have a favorite, but searching for “how to promote on Kindle” can yield some decent results.  Start reading and see if selling a cookbook on Kindle may be worth your time.

Consider Fiverr

If you’re the creative type and love thinking of creating recipes, then you may want to consider starting your own service on Fiverr.  If you’re unfamiliar with it, you can create a service on almost anything and charge what you please.  While the site focused on $5 jobs in the past, it’s now much more than this.

From creating recipes for others to taking pictures of food, there are a lot of ideas. Just search Fiverr to see what other popular sellers are doing and try to mimic it, but of course, make it better.

This is one that will take some time, but I promise it can yield some nice results as well.

Final Thoughts

You won’t make much selling your recipes, but you could take the love of cooking and turn it into a rather lucrative side hustle.  Who knows?  Maybe even something that’s full-time.

For now, I’m not sure what your goals are.  If you’re happy with $50, try some of those magazine options.  If you want much more than that, then I would recommend consider starting your own blog or YouTube channel.  It will take some time, but it will yield the most in rewards.

That’s going to do it for now.

As always, check out the many guides already written here, from saving to making money.  There’s a lot to keep you busy.  Also, don’t forget to check out the YouTube channel as I cover a bunch of topics there as well.