Recipe videos for brands and chefs: how to film them so people cook with you

Few things get saved and shared as much as a good recipe. That's why cooking videos are such a useful tool for chefs with a personal brand, cookery schools, restaurants and food brands: they genuinely teach something and, in the meantime, put your name in the kitchen of whoever watches them.

What type of recipe video suits you

• Quick vertical recipe: 30 to 60 seconds, for Reels, TikTok and Shorts.
• Explained recipe: 3 to 8 minutes on YouTube, with tips and substitutions.
• Step by step for the website: video embedded next to the ingredients.
• Course or masterclass: several chapters for students, with good audio.
• Brand recipe: your product as the natural star of the dish.

How to write a recipe script

Before lighting the hob, break the recipe into moments. Find the most tempting final shot and use it as the opening: viewers should want that dish in the first second. Then the essential steps, in order and without repeating gestures. Have anything heavy or chopped ready, because nobody needs to watch six onions being peeled.

A trick that marks out the professional: give a reason for each step. It isn't just «sear the meatballs»; it's searing them so they don't fall apart in the sauce. That detail is what turns a recipe into authority.

The shots you can't do without

• Ingredients on the table, from above.
• Hands at work, very close.
• The key change: the sauce thickening or the browning.
• The ladle going into the pot.
• The dish served and the first cut or bite.

Light should be from the side and stable throughout, because a recipe takes hours to film and window light changes. If you speak to camera, use a microphone: the noise of extractor fans and pans drowns out the voice.

How to rank a recipe video

Recipes compete for very specific searches, and that's your opportunity. Instead of «meatballs», aim for «grandma's meatballs in sauce» or «egg-free meatballs». Put those words in the title, explain the steps in the description and publish a page on your website with ingredients, timings and the embedded video. Recipe structured data helps Google understand the page; on YouTube, chapters help people find each step.

Film in batches

On a well-organised day you can film several recipes in a row, especially if they share preparations. That gives you content for weeks and keeps up the consistency that makes a cooking channel grow.

Recipes according to each client's goal

• If you are a chef: show your judgement and your way of cooking; that's what sets you apart.
• If you run a cookery school: offer a free tip and keep the full technique for the course.
• If you have a restaurant: share a home version of a dish and give people a reason to try the original.
• If you have a brand: show new uses for your product, without turning the recipe into an ad.

How to get more out of a single recipe

One well-filmed dish yields several pieces: a Reel with the result, a longer video on technique, a clip with a typical mistake and an image for the blog. If you also transcribe what you explain, you already have the basis of the recipe text. That way, each hour of cooking becomes content for several channels.

Sound whets the appetite too

The sizzle of the pan, the knife on the board or the bubbling of a stew keep people watching. It's worth recording that sound cleanly, with no music over it for a few seconds, and using your voice only when it adds something. And always add subtitles, because many people will watch your recipe without sound.

Also read Reels for restaurants, see the kitchen examples or the video for academies service. If you have a brand or food project, tell us about it.

To show dishes, drinks or whatever you sell, there is product video. For your restaurant, here is the video for restaurants service.

Frequently asked questions

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