Structured Data

Starlight Recipes automatically generates structured data for each recipe route to enhance discoverability on Google and other supported services. Specifying the site property in your Astro config is required for this feature to generate canonical URLs for your assets, making them accessible to web crawlers.

This guide explains the benefits of this convention and which properties will be generated from your frontmatter.

What is structured data?

Structured data for recipes enables machines to better understand your content and display it in various ways. Here is an example of how a recipe could look with this convention:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org/",
  "@type": "Recipe",
  "name": "Non-Alcoholic Piña Colada",
  "image": [
    "https://example.com/photos/1x1/photo.jpg",
    "https://example.com/photos/4x3/photo.jpg",
    "https://example.com/photos/16x9/photo.jpg"
  ],
  "author": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "Mary Stone"
  },
  "datePublished": "2024-03-10",
  "description": "This non-alcoholic piña colada is everyone's favorite!",
  "recipeCuisine": "American",
  "prepTime": "PT1M",
  "cookTime": "PT2M",
  "totalTime": "PT3M",
  "keywords": "non-alcoholic",
  "recipeYield": "4 servings",
  "recipeCategory": "Drink",
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  "nutrition": {
    "@type": "NutritionInformation",
    "calories": "120 calories"
  },
  "aggregateRating": {
    "@type": "AggregateRating",
    "ratingValue": 5,
    "ratingCount": 18
  },
  "recipeIngredient": [
    "400ml of pineapple juice",
    "100ml cream of coconut",
    "ice"
  ],
  "recipeInstructions": [
    {
      "@type": "HowToStep",
      "name": "Blend",
      "text": "Blend 400ml of pineapple juice and 100ml cream of coconut until smooth.",
      "url": "https://example.com/non-alcoholic-pina-colada#step1",
      "image": "https://example.com/photos/non-alcoholic-pina-colada/step1.jpg"
    },
    {
      "@type": "HowToStep",
      "name": "Fill",
      "text": "Fill a glass with ice.",
      "url": "https://example.com/non-alcoholic-pina-colada#step2",
      "image": "https://example.com/photos/non-alcoholic-pina-colada/step2.jpg"
    },
    {
      "@type": "HowToStep",
      "name": "Pour",
      "text": "Pour the pineapple juice and coconut mixture over ice.",
      "url": "https://example.com/non-alcoholic-pina-colada#step3",
      "image": "https://example.com/photos/non-alcoholic-pina-colada/step3.jpg"
    }
  ],
  "video": {
    "@type": "VideoObject",
    "name": "How to Make a Non-Alcoholic Piña Colada",
    "description": "This is how you make a non-alcoholic piña colada.",
    "thumbnailUrl": [
      "https://example.com/photos/1x1/photo.jpg",
      "https://example.com/photos/4x3/photo.jpg",
      "https://example.com/photos/16x9/photo.jpg"
    ],
    "contentUrl": "https://www.example.com/video123.mp4",
    "embedUrl": "https://www.example.com/videoplayer?video=123",
    "uploadDate": "2024-02-05T08:00:00+08:00",
    "duration": "PT1M33S",
    "interactionStatistic": {
      "@type": "InteractionCounter",
      "interactionType": { "@type": "WatchAction" },
      "userInteractionCount": 2347
    },
    "expires": "2024-02-05T08:00:00+08:00"
  }
}

For example, Google can use such JSON to feature your recipes on Google Search results and Google Images. Find out more technical details about Recipe structured data on Recipe Schema Markup.

Structured data is widely used among different services. Some further examples include Apple, Bing and Pinterest.

Supported properties

Starlight Recipes focuses on Google-supported and -recommended properties as Google’s convention is the most influential — though this is likely a mix of market dominance, citogenesis and a “Reiteration Loop”.

Each supported structured data property maps back to a specific frontmatter field in your Markdown or MDX files. Here are all the properties that can get generated with examples:

`name`

The name of the dish. — Generated from title.

{
  "name": "Virgin Colada"
}

`image`

Image of the completed dish. — Generated from cover.

Starlight Recipes will use the cover image to generate three images with the following aspect ratios for best results: 16x9, 4x3, and 1x1.

{
  "image": [
    "https://starlight-recipes.trueberryless.org/.netlify/images?url=%40fs%2FUsers%2Ftrueberryless%2Frepos%2Ftrueberryless-org%2Fstarlight-recipes%2Fdocs%2Fsrc%2Fassets%2Frecipes%2Fvirgin-colada.jpg%3ForigWidth%3D4494%26origHeight%3D3000%26origFormat%3Djpg&fm=webp&w=1000&h=1000",
    "https://starlight-recipes.trueberryless.org/.netlify/images?url=%40fs%2FUsers%2Ftrueberryless%2Frepos%2Ftrueberryless-org%2Fstarlight-recipes%2Fdocs%2Fsrc%2Fassets%2Frecipes%2Fvirgin-colada.jpg%3ForigWidth%3D4494%26origHeight%3D3000%26origFormat%3Djpg&fm=webp&w=1152&h=864",
    "https://starlight-recipes.trueberryless.org/.netlify/images?url=%40fs%2FUsers%2Ftrueberryless%2Frepos%2Ftrueberryless-org%2Fstarlight-recipes%2Fdocs%2Fsrc%2Fassets%2Frecipes%2Fvirgin-colada.jpg%3ForigWidth%3D4494%26origHeight%3D3000%26origFormat%3Djpg&fm=webp&w=1328&h=747"
  ]
}

`datePublished`

The date the recipe was published. — Generated from date.

This will be converted to an ISO 8601 format.

{
  "datePublished": "2026-01-11"
}

`description`

A short summary describing the dish. — Generated from description.

{
  "description": "This non-alcoholic piña colada is everyone's favorite summer refresher!"
}

`author`

The name of the person or organization that wrote the recipe. — Generated from authors.

Supports single or multiple authors (though too many may spoil the broth).

{
  "author": [
    {
      "@type": "Person",
      "name": "Felix Schneider",
      "url": "https://trueberryless.org"
    },
    {
      "@type": "Person",
      "name": "Chef Hiro"
    }
  ]
}

`recipeCategory`

The type of meal or course your recipe is about. — Generated from category.

{
  "recipeCategory": "Drink"
}

`recipeCuisine`

The region associated with your recipe. — Generated from cuisine.

{
  "recipeCuisine": "Puerto Rico"
}

`keywords`

Other terms for your recipe. — Generated from tags.

For example: the season ("Summer"), the holiday ("Halloween"), or other descriptors ("Quick", "Easy", "Authentic").

Don’t use a tag that’s actually a recipeCategory or recipeCuisine.

{
  "keywords": "Sweet"
}

`averageRating`

The average user rating and total number of ratings for the recipe.

This is automatically calculated if the rating system is enabled.

{
  "aggregateRating": {
    "@type": "AggregateRating",
    "ratingValue": 4.7,
    "ratingCount": 3
  }
}

`prepTime`

The length of time it takes to prepare the recipe. — Generated from time.preparation.

Minutes will be converted into the ISO 8601 duration format.

{
  "prepTime": "PT5M"
}

`cookTime`

The length of time it takes to cook the recipe. — Generated from time.cooking.

Minutes will be converted into the ISO 8601 duration format.

{
  "cookTime": "PT0S"
}

`totalTime`

The total time it takes to finish making the dish. — Generated from time.total.

Minutes will be converted into the ISO 8601 duration format.

{
  "totalTime": "PT5M"
}

`recipeIngredient`

A list of ingredients required for the recipe. — Generated from ingredients.

Structured IngredientObject entries are flattened into a single string following the format: "{quantity} {unit} {name}".

{
  "recipeIngredient": [
    "400 ml Pineapple juice",
    "100 ml Cream of coconut",
    "2 cups Crushed ice",
    "Pineapple wedges for garnish"
  ]
}

`recipeInstructions`

A step-by-step guide to making the recipe. — Generated from instructions.

Maps to an array of HowToStep objects. name, text, and image from InstructionStep are included in the structured step.

{
  "recipeInstructions": [
    {
      "@type": "HowToStep",
      "text": "Combine pineapple juice, cream of coconut, and ice in a blender.",
      "name": "Blend",
      "image": "https://starlight-recipes.trueberryless.org/.netlify/images?url=%40fs%2FUsers%2Ftrueberryless%2Frepos%2Ftrueberryless-org%2Fstarlight-recipes%2Fdocs%2Fsrc%2Fassets%2Frecipes%2Fsteps%2Fvirgin-colada-blend.webp%3ForigWidth%3D1024%26origHeight%3D1024%26origFormat%3Dwebp&fm=webp&w=1024&h=1024"
    },
    {
      "@type": "HowToStep",
      "text": "Pulse until the mixture is smooth and frothy.",
      "name": "Smooth"
    },
    {
      "@type": "HowToStep",
      "text": "Pour into chilled glasses and serve immediately.",
      "name": "Pour"
    }
  ]
}

`recipeYield`

The quantity or number of servings produced by the recipe. — Generated from yield.

This property includes both the primary servings count and any strings generated from the additional yields array.

{
  "recipeYield": ["2", "2 glasses"]
}

`nutrition`

Nutritional information about the recipe, specifically calories. — Generated from yield.

Maps to the nutrition.calories property.

{
  "nutrition": {
    "@type": "NutritionInformation",
    "calories": "120 calories"
  }
}

`video`

A video object representing the recipe's video content. — Generated from video.

"video": {
  "@type": "VideoObject",
  "name": "The Perfect Pina Colada 🌴🥥 #pinacolada #bar #bartender #cocktails #pineapple #cocktail art",
  "thumbnailUrl": [
    "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jYf3nheLZfE/maxresdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEoCIAKENAF8quKqQMcGADwAQH4AbYIgAKAD4oCDAgAEAEYZSBgKFYwDw==&rs=AOn4CLB-7d9Wh2MOnwzfdr4BEnj4FX5e1w",
    "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jYf3nheLZfE/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwE2CNACELwBSFXyq4qpAygIARUAAIhCGABwAcABBvABAfgBtgiAAoAPigIMCAAQARhlIGAoVjAP&rs=AOn4CLA3LQSFQ9OvLlFFx6DQ_tIK34p7Yg",
    "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jYf3nheLZfE/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwE2CPYBEIoBSFXyq4qpAygIARUAAIhCGABwAcABBvABAfgBtgiAAoAPigIMCAAQARhlIGAoVjAP&rs=AOn4CLBAMQ3AQvVzR9rGNrdv4iCSWDq1bA"
  ],
  "embedUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/jYf3nheLZfE",
  "uploadDate": "2024-05-28T13:06:43-07:00",
  "duration": "PT11S",
  "interactionStatistic": {
    "@type": "InteractionCounter",
    "interactionType": { "@type": "WatchAction" },
    "userInteractionCount": 1623035
  }
}