TheMealDB

TheMealDB MCP Connector for Claude

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Access a global database of recipes, ingredients, and meal categories to find culinary inspiration and detailed cooking instructions.

13 tools Official Updated Jun 28, 2026 Official Vinkius Partner

Connect TheMealDB to your AI agent to transform it into a professional sous-chef. Access thousands of recipes with detailed instructions, measurements, and cultural origins.

What you can do

  • Search & Discovery — Find recipes by name, first letter, or browse through extensive lists of categories and geographic areas.
  • Ingredient Analysis — Filter meals by their main components or list all available ingredients to see what you can cook.
  • Detailed Recipes — Retrieve full cooking instructions, precise ingredient measurements, and high-quality image previews using unique meal IDs.
  • Global Cuisine — Explore dishes by region, from Japanese and Italian to Mexican and Moroccan.
  • Premium Insights — Access the latest database additions and bulk random selections (requires a V2 API key).

How it works

  1. Subscribe to this server
  2. Enter your TheMealDB API Key (use '1' for the free tier)
  3. Start asking for recipes or meal ideas in Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client

Who is this for?

  • Home Cooks — quickly find what to cook with the ingredients you have on hand
  • App Developers — integrate rich culinary data into food-related applications
  • Content Creators — gather recipe data and inspiration for food blogs or social media
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13 tools expose this connector's capabilities to your AI agent.

filter_by_area

g., Canadian). Filter meals by area

filter_by_category

g., Seafood). Filter meals by category

filter_by_ingredient

For V2 premium users, multiple ingredients can be comma-separated. Filter meals by main ingredient(s)

get_latest_meals

Requires a premium API key and V2 API version. Retrieve the most recently added meals (Premium V2 Only)

get_meal_by_id

Lookup full meal details by ID

get_random_meal

Lookup a single random meal

get_random_meals_selection

Requires a premium API key and V2 API version. Lookup a selection of 10 random meals (Premium V2 Only)

list_all_categories

List all meal categories with descriptions

list_areas

List simple browseable areas (countries/regions)

list_categories

List simple browseable categories

list_ingredients

List simple browseable ingredients

list_meals_by_first_letter

List all meals starting with a specific letter

search_meals_by_name

Search for meals by their full or partial name

See how to talk to your AI agent using TheMealDB.

Search for a recipe named 'Teriyaki Chicken'.

I found a recipe for Teriyaki Chicken (ID: 52773). It's a Japanese dish. Would you like the full instructions and ingredients?

List all available meal categories.

I've retrieved the categories. You can choose from Beef, Chicken, Dessert, Lamb, Miscellaneous, Pasta, Pork, Seafood, Side, Starter, Vegan, Vegetarian, Breakfast, and Goat.

Show me some recipes from the 'Canadian' area.

I found several Canadian dishes, including BeaverTails, Poutine, Nanaimo Bars, and Tourtiere. Which one would you like to explore?

Use the `get_meal_by_id` tool with the unique Meal ID. The agent will return the full recipe, including step-by-step instructions and a complete list of ingredients with measurements.

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