How we make recipes you can trust

01 Who writes our recipes

Recipes on My Secret Cuisine come from two places: our own team, and approved creators such as chefs, bakers, baristas, mixologists and experienced home cooks. Creators apply, and we review their background and work before they can share recipes.

Every recipe carries a byline. Click it to see the creator's page, their other recipes and where to find them online.

02 Recipe standards

A recipe is ready to publish when someone who has never made it could follow it and succeed. That means:

• It has been cooked. The author has made the recipe as written, ideally more than once.
• Every ingredient is listed with an amount and unit, in the order it's used. Optional ingredients and swaps are marked.
• Amounts are measurable. Cups, spoons, ounces or grams, not "a handful." Weights are encouraged for baking.
• Steps are clear and in order, one main action per step, with oven temperatures, pan sizes and heat levels.
• Doneness cues are included: what it should look, smell or feel like, not just how many minutes.
• Times and servings are realistic, including resting, chilling, rising or marinating time.
• It's categorized honestly by cuisine, course and diet so readers find what they're looking for.

03 Originality and credit

A list of ingredients can't be owned, but the words and photos that describe a recipe can. We ask that:

• The intro, tips and steps are written in the author's own words.
• A recipe inspired by someone else's says so, with credit and a link ("Adapted from…").
• Nothing is copied from cookbooks, magazines, other websites or videos.
• Recipes already published elsewhere by the same author are fine, as long as the author owns them.

04 Photos and video

Photos should show the dish as the recipe actually makes it.

Videos are welcome and stay hosted on YouTube, Vimeo or Cloudflare. A video should show the same recipe that's written on the page, and the written recipe must stand on its own for readers who don't watch.

05 Food safety

We review recipes with food safety in mind and follow guidance from the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. Recipes for meat, poultry, seafood and eggs should include a safe internal temperature:

Food	Cook to at least
Poultry (whole, pieces, ground)	165°F / 74°C
Ground beef, pork, lamb, veal	160°F / 71°C
Beef, pork, lamb, veal steaks, chops, roasts (then rest 3 min)	145°F / 63°C
Fish and shellfish	145°F / 63°C
Egg dishes and casseroles	160°F / 71°C
Leftovers, reheated	165°F / 74°C

• Recipes with raw or undercooked eggs, meat or fish (like tartare, aioli or ceviche) say so clearly.
• Home canning and preserving recipes must follow tested methods, such as those from the National Center for Home Food Preservation.
• Recipes with alcohol are labeled, and drinks recipes are for adults of legal drinking age.

06 Diet labels, allergens and nutrition

• Diet labels must be accurate. A recipe marked vegan, gluten-free or dairy-free must be that way as written, not only with swaps.
• Common allergens (like nuts, dairy, eggs, wheat, soy, fish and shellfish) should be easy to spot in the ingredient list. Always check labels on packaged ingredients.
• Nutrition information, when shown, is an estimate based on the ingredients. It isn’t medical or dietary advice.
• No health claims. We don't publish recipes that claim to treat, cure or prevent any condition.

07 Our approach to AI

Our editorial guidelines on AI are simple: every recipe must be developed and cooked by a person. Authors may use tools, including AI writing tools, to help with spelling, formatting or translation, but the recipe, the results and the story have to be their own, and they're responsible for every word. We don't publish recipes generated by AI or AI-generated images of food.

08 How we apply these editorial guidelines

Our team reviews every recipe a creator submits against these editorial guidelines before it's published. We check that it's complete, clear, original, safe and correctly categorized.

• If something needs work, we send it back with a note explaining what to change.
• We may make small edits for clarity, consistency, formatting and search, without changing the recipe itself.
• We may decline recipes that don't meet our editorial guidelines, or remove published recipes that turn out not to.

09 Sponsored content and affiliate links

We keep our recommendations independent. When a recipe is sponsored, made in partnership with a brand, or includes affiliate links that may earn us or the creator a commission, it's clearly disclosed on the page, in line with the FTC's Endorsement Guides. Advertisers never get to approve or change our editorial content. To work with us, see Advertise.

10 Ratings and comments

Ratings and comments are for readers who've made the recipe. We don't buy, write or fake reviews, and creators may not rate their own recipes. We remove spam, abuse and comments that share unsafe advice, but we don't remove honest feedback just because it's critical.

11 Corrections and updates

If you spot a mistake, like a wrong amount, a missing step or a temperature that looks off, please let us know. We review every report, fix confirmed errors quickly, and update the date shown on the recipe. Significant changes to a recipe are noted on the page.