How to Start a Food Blog (and Make Extra Income on the Side) in 2024

Food blogging is one of the most successful blogging niches. If you are passionate about cooking, meal planning, or restaurant reviews, then this might be your calling.

However, starting a new food blog can be challenging for beginners, especially when you are not tech-savvy.

All the technical jargon may discourage many passionate bloggers from starting their journey.

In this step-by-step guide, we will show you how to start a food blog and make money from your recipes without any technical skills.

We have broken the process down so it’s easy to follow whether you are 20 years old or 60 years old.

However, if you need help, our expert team will help you set up your blog for free.

→ Click Here to Get Your Free WordPress Blog Setup! ←

What Do You Need to Start a Food Blog?

There are three things you need to start a food blog using WordPress:

1. A domain name (this will be your blog’s name that people will type to find your site e.g., wpbeginner.com)
2. A web hosting account (this is where your website files are stored on the internet)
3. Your undivided attention for 30 minutes.

Yes, you can start a brand new food blog in less than 30 minutes, and we will walk you through the whole process, step by step.

In this tutorial, we will cover the following:

That being said, let’s get started.

Step 1. The Right Setup

The biggest mistake new users make is starting off with the wrong blogging platform. You will not be making this mistake since you are already here.

We recommend using WordPress.org for your own food blog because it gives you access to all powerful features, and you can make money from your blog without any limitations.

It’s important that you don’t confuse WordPress.org with WordPress.com. They are actually two different platforms.

WordPress.com, which is a hosted blogging platform and WordPress.org is a free self-hosted platform. (See our comparison of WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org for more details)

Now, you might be wondering why WordPress.org is free. What’s the catch?

The truth is that there’s no catch. It’s free because you have to do the setup and host it yourself.

In other words, you need a domain name and web hosting. See our guide on the difference between domain name and web hosting to learn more.

A domain name is what people type to get to your website. It’s your website’s address on the internet. Think google.com or wpbeginner.com.

Web hosting is where your website files are stored. It is your website’s house on the internet. Every website needs web hosting.

A domain name typically costs $14.99 / year, and web hosting normally costs $7.99 / month.

That’s a lot for beginners who are just starting out.

Thankfully, Bluehost, an official WordPress-recommended hosting provider, has agreed to offer our users a free domain name and over 50% off on web hosting.

Bluehost is one of the largest hosting companies in the world, and they host millions of WordPress websites, including some of our own.

They are committed to giving back to the WordPress community since 2005. They have promised us that if you cannot get your blog set up within 30 minutes by following this tutorial, then our expert team will complete the process for you without any cost. They will compensate us, so you don’t have to. Simply contact us for free blog setup help.

NOTE: At WPBeginner, we believe in full transparency. If you sign up with Bluehost using our referral link, then we will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you (in fact, you’ll save money and get a free domain + free SSL). We would get this commission for recommending just about any WordPress hosting company, but we only recommend products that we personally use and believe will add value to our readers.

Now that we have covered that, let’s go ahead and purchase domain + hosting for your food blog.

Open the Bluehost website in a new window and follow along.

The first thing you need to do is click on the green ‘Get Started Now’ button.

On the next screen, select the plan that you want (the Basic and Choice Plus plans are the most popular among WPBeginner users).

After that, you will be asked to enter the domain name for your website.

Tip: Make sure your domain name is brandable. It’s also a bonus if it uses keywords you think your target audience will search for. This will help you get more traffic from search engines like Google. For more details, see our guide on choosing the best domain name for your blog.

Once you have selected your domain name, click on the ‘Next’ button to continue.

Now, you’ll need to add your account information and finalize the package information to complete the process.

We recommend going with the 12-month term because it gives you more savings for your first year.

On this screen, you will see some optional extras that you can purchase. We generally don’t recommend purchasing them right away. You can always add them later if needed.

Once completed, you will receive an email with details on how to log in to your web hosting control panel (cPanel).

This is where you manage everything, like your website, domains, email, support, and more. But most importantly, this is where you install WordPress.

Step 2: Install WordPress

Upon signing up, Bluehost will automatically install WordPress for you.

You can simply log in to your hosting account control panel and then log in to your new WordPress website.

This will take you to the WordPress admin dashboard.

This is where you’ll be managing your food blog, creating recipes, and installing themes and plugins.

If your hosting control panel doesn’t have WordPress pre-installed, then you can install it yourself with a few clicks.

Simply follow our WordPress installation tutorial with detailed step-by-step instructions.

Step 3. Choosing a Theme for Your Food Blog

WordPress themes control your website’s design and appearance. There are thousands of paid and free themes that you can install on your website.

However, not all of them are made specially as a food blog theme for recipes. You will need a theme that matches the look and feel of a food blog.

Our expert team has hand-picked the best WordPress themes for recipe and food blogs that you should try.

When choosing a theme, you don’t need to look for functionality like recipe templates.

You can choose any of the free or premium themes or even choose a minimalist blog theme. Each theme has different customization options that allow you to adapt it to your own requirements.

Once you have found a theme that you like, head over to our guide on how to install a WordPress theme for step-by-step installation instructions.

Step 4. Choosing a Recipe Plugin That’s SEO-Friendly

Search engine optimization plays a huge role in bringing traffic to your website. We recommend that all websites use the All in One SEO plugin for WordPress.

Tip: Plugins are like apps for your WordPress website. You can install them to add more features to your site.

However, if you are a food blogger, then you need another plugin alongside AIOSEO to help your recipes get more traffic from search engines.

The best way to write search engine-friendly recipes is by using schema markup formatting.

Schema.org formatting allows search engines to display extra information like rating, preparation time, etc.

By using proper recipe schema markup, your articles may even appear at the top in the info/answer panel.

For example, the recipes in these search results spots have a very high organic click-through rate.

Now, we know this might sound a bit too geeky for beginners. Luckily, there are excellent WordPress plugins that make it super easy for food bloggers.

We will show you two of them, and you can pick one that works best for you.

Method 1: Writing SEO-Friendly Recipes with Tasty Recipes (Recommended)

Tasty Recipes is the best WordPress recipe plugin that allows you to easily add SEO-friendly recipes in a beautiful layout.

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the Tasty Recipes plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit the Settings » Tasty Recipes page to enter your plugin license key.

After that, you can simply create a post or page to add new recipes.

On the editor screen, add the ‘Tasty Recipe’ block to the Editor.

Adding the block will bring up a popup where you can write your recipe.

You can start by entering the recipe title, description, image, ingredients, and more.

You’ll notice there is an option to add Nutrifox. This is an online service that allows your bloggers and site owners to beautifully display nutrition labels.

You can sign up for a Nutrifox account, or you can manually enter nutrition information.

Once you are finished, click on the ‘Insert’ button, and Tasty Recipe will insert the recipe into your post or page.

Here is how it would look inside the editor.

Now, the default recipe looks quite plain. Don’t worry, Tasty Recipes comes with a bunch of options to easily create beautiful designs for your recipe.

Simply head over to the Settings » Tasty Recipes page and switch to the ‘Design’ tab.

From here, you can select a template from the preview column. After that, you can customize the design using the on-screen options.

Once you are satisfied with the design, don’t forget to click on the ‘Save Changes’ button to store your settings.

After that, you can switch to the ‘Settings’ tab to configure plugin options.

From here, you can choose which buttons to show on recipes, display check boxes next to ingredients, allow users to convert units, and scale recipes for different serving sizes.

Optionally, you can also allow users to copy the ingredients with a single click and paste it elsewhere.

Don’t forget to click on the ‘Save Changes’ button to store your changes.

You can now visit the recipe you created earlier to see your changes in action.

Note: See our detailed WP Tasty review to learn more about Tasty Recipes and their other powerful food blogging plugins.

Method 2: Write SEO-Friendly Recipes with WP Recipe Maker (Free)

This option is recommended for users looking for a free alternative. It may lack some features that are available in Tasty Recipes, but it will get the job done.

First, you need to install and activate the WP Recipe Maker plugin. For more details, see our tutorial on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit the WP Recipe Maker » Manage page and click on the ‘Create Recipe’ button.

This will bring up a popup where you can write your recipe.

You can provide a recipe title, image, ingredients, instructions, and more by simply filling out the form fields.

Once you are finished, simply click on the ‘Save & Close’ button to save your recipe.

Next, you need to edit the post or page where you want to display the recipe. You can also create a new post or page.

On the post editor screen, simply insert the ‘WPRM Recipe’ block to the editor.

This will add the WPRM Recipe block to your post editor.

You can now click on the ‘Create New Recipe’ button to start a new recipe, or you can insert an existing recipe.

Since we have already created a recipe, you can go ahead and click on the ‘Insert Existing Recipe’ link.

This will bring up a popup where you can search for existing recipes.

After selecting your recipe, click on the ‘Insert’ button.

The plugin will then insert your recipe inside the content editor with a live preview.

Want to make changes to your recipe, simply click on the ‘Edit’ button in the toolbar to edit the recipe.

Repeat the process to create more recipes and add them to your food blog.

Step 5. How to Monetize Your Food Blog

After you have put some hard work into making a successful food blog, it is time to start making money from your recipes.

There are plenty of ways to monetize your food blog and start earning from your recipes.

This allows you to run your blog as a sustainable small business or a side hustle that generates additional revenue.

Here are some of the most effective ways to monetize your food blog.

1. Selling eBooks with Your Recipes

The most effective strategy to make money blogging would be to sell your own products or digital downloads. These products can be physical goods and merchandise such as t-shirts, printed books, and mugs, or they can be digital downloads such as ebooks.

To sell digital downloads from your WordPress blog, you will need Easy Digital Downloads. It is available as a WordPress plugin and will add an online store to your existing food blog.

You can also sell memberships on your website, allowing paid members to download ebooks, videos, and secret recipes, or submit their own content.

If you want to go the subscription route, then you will need MemberPress. For detailed instructions, see our guide on how to make a membership website.

2. Display Ads Using Google AdSense

The easiest way to instantly start earning from your blog content is by using Google AdSense. It allows you to display advertisements on your food blog and earn money when your users click on those ads.

Google displays relevant ads to your audience based on their interests, which may often be related to your blog niche. These relevant ads often get more clicks than plain static ads.

Adding Google AdSense to your website is super easy and requires no coding skills at all. See our guide on how to properly add Google AdSense to your WordPress blog for step-by-step instructions.

3. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is another way to generate an income stream from your food blog.

Basically, you add links to high-quality affiliate products from your recipes and blog posts. You’ll earn a commission every time someone purchases those products using your link.

You will need to find food-related affiliate products first. Many top websites in the food industry offer affiliate programs. You can also join Amazon’s affiliate program and start recommending products from the world’s largest eCommerce store.

To make affiliate marketing easier, you can use a plugin like WP Tasty Links. It lets you quickly add affiliate links from inside recipe cards, automatically link specific keywords across your blog, and more.

See our list of the best affiliate marketing plugins for other tools that you can use on your food blog to boost your affiliate earnings.

Related: For more monetization tips, see our article on how to make money online from your WordPress blog.

Step 6. How to Get More Traffic to Your Food Blog

Your food blog’s earnings directly depend on your website’s traffic.

More users visiting your website means more earnings, brand recognition, and success for your website. You can utilize social media channels and email marketing to help you reach more users.

Consistently creating high quality content, sharing helpful tips, doing your keyword research, and brainstorming ideas will help you get started.

Here are some tips to get more visitors to your website.

Start Building an Email List

More than 75% of visitors who visit your website will not come back again. There is nothing wrong with your website. It’s just that there is so much content on the internet that your website disappears like a needle in a haystack.

Email marketing allows you to capture those users as subscribers so that you can reach them via email and bring them back to your website.

See our guide on why you should start building your email list right away. Once you set up an email marketing solution, then check out our guide on how to do lead generation in WordPress. It will help you grow your email list like a total pro.

Create a YouTube Channel

When it comes to food, videos are a lot more engaging than text and help you reach your targeted audience beyond your blog.

This is where YouTube comes in.

It is not only the largest video-sharing website in the world, but it is also the second biggest search engine and the second most active social media platform in the world.

Creating a YouTube channel allows you to add video recipes to your blog, it also helps you find new users who can become active subscribers and your most engaged fans.

To easily embed YouTube video galleries on your food blog, you’ll need Smash Balloon’s YouTube Feed. It allows you to beautifully showcase your YouTube videos on your WordPress website.

Utilize Instagram to Drive Traffic

Food photography is another way to reach a more foodie audience. Food photos are instant hits on Instagram, which is the most popular photo and video-sharing platform.

Instagram is rapidly growing and has a very active and highly engaged user base. Upload your food photos and use hashtags so that Instagram users can discover your photos.

The easiest way to grow your Instagram following is by sharing your Instagram photos in WordPress. You can easily do this by using the Smash Balloon Instagram plugin for WordPress.

There are many other ways to bring more users to your food blog. See more tips to drive traffic to your new WordPress blog.

Step 7. Learning WordPress with More Resources

As you start using WordPress, you will quickly discover new things. Some of these new things may look too technical or complicated. That’s where we can help.

WPBeginner is the largest free WordPress resource site in the world for beginners.

Our goal is to provide helpful content that is easy to understand for beginners, business owners, and bloggers.

To expand your WordPress knowledge, you should check out:

• WPBeginner Dictionary – The best place for beginners to start and familiarize themselves with the WordPress lingo
• WPBeginner Videos – New to WordPress? Watch these free videos to master WordPress.
• WPBeginner Blog – The central place for all our WordPress tutorials.
• WPBeginner Engage – Our Facebook group is a free online community of WordPress users. You can ask questions and get help from our staff and other WordPress beginners.

You can also subscribe to our YouTube Channel, where we regularly share video tutorials to help you learn WordPress.

Frequently Asked Questions About Starting a Food Blog

We often hear from our users wanting to know more about how to create a food blog to share their recipes.

Following are some of the most commonly asked questions by our users.

1. Do food bloggers make money?

Yes, food bloggers make money by running ads, selling products or services, selling merchandise, or by promoting affiliate products.

2. Is it worth starting a food blog?

Yes, it is totally worth your time and effort to start a food blog if you are passionate about it. Despite the fact that there may already be lots of food blogs, you will bring your own voice and perspective to your blog, which will make it unique for your audience.

3. How do I write a food blog?

The best way to write food blog content is by using a proper blogging platform like WordPress. You’ll also need a WordPress recipe addon, which will make it easier to write your food recipes in an SEO-friendly format.

We hope this article helped you learn how to start a food blog and make money from your recipes. You may also want to see our complete step-by-step WordPress SEO guide for beginners and our expert picks of the best landing page plugins for WordPress.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.