3 Things to Know About Recipe Writing from former Cooking Light Copy Director Susan Roberts McWilliams

Photo by @brookelark

You’ve spent hours developing and testing recipes for your book. They’re by far the most fun and creative ones you’ve come up with yet. But when you give them to other people to test, the recipes are a mess. 

Everyone skipped the part about adding the toffee bits in at the end. The headnote, or introduction, was a little confusing about what you were making and why it mattered. Also, people wanted to know why they had to buy 6 different oils but only used 4 of them?

Recipe writing isn’t just time spent in the kitchen. It’s a service to readers, and to do it well, you need a copy editor. Like any part of writing, you need an extra set of eyes to make sure you didn’t miss anything — no matter how thorough you think you are.

So, I asked my friend and former Copy Director of Cooking Light Susan Roberts McWilliams for her tips on writing better recipes from an editor’s point of view. Here are the 3 things you need to know about recipe writing.

1.     Is there a standard template for recipe writing that writers should follow?

I wouldn’t say there’s a template. I would just say that clarity is by far the most important thing. Let clarity be your guide.

Sentence recipes are fine for short, uncomplicated recipes, but most recipes consist of an ingredient list and a “method”—the directions. 

Think carefully about the order of the recipe. Many recipes that use the oven start with the direction to preheat the oven. However, if you put together a recipe component that needs to chill or rise for a couple of hours before baking, you probably don’t need to start preheating so early. 

Additional Resources for Recipe Writing:

Recipes into Type is one I’ve never actually used very much, but I believe recipe developers often do. I think it gives a lot of tips about formatting recipes.

I use Food Lover’s Companion quite a bit. I have The Deluxe Food Lover’s Companion, but there are several versions, and they’re all really helpful. My Deluxe has things like a pasta glossary for unusual pasta names, a liqueur glossary, all kinds of cheeses, etc.

I have a couple of clients who specify “dry before wet” when it comes to measuring and adding ingredients. That way you use your measuring cups and spoons for your dry ingredients first, instead of measuring something wet and then having all the subsequent ingredients stick to it.

Another example: Let’s say your recipe calls for the zest and juice of a lemon. It will be much easier to zest the lemon before you juice it. So even if you use the juice first, you should instruct the reader to zest first and set aside, rather than having them juice the lemon and then struggle to zest the spent rind (assuming they didn’t accidentally throw it away right after juicing). 

If you are going to prepare a recipe, it’s good to read it all the way through before you start, but not everyone is going to do that. Thinking through issues like these for the reader and writing accordingly is good reader service.

If you use an ingredient that has a few different names, choose one and stick with it.

As a copy editor, I have at times wrangled with writers about consistency with terminology. I think that if you use “green onions” most of the time, you cannot then change to “scallions” in one instance because you’re cutting to fit. That will be confusing; some readers will think you’re talking about a different ingredient. 

2.     What’s the biggest mistake people make when writing recipes?

One general mistake: making recipes too complicated. I’m a fan of “teaching,” step-by-step recipes—probably because I’m not a very good cook! The more clear the instruction you give to people, the more people you bring into your circle to make your food, and the more affirming/positive experience they will have.

Probably the single biggest mistake I see in recipes is leaving out ingredients. Make sure that all the ingredients for the recipe are listed in the ingredient list, preferably in the order in which they’re used. Make sure all the ingredients in the ingredient list are used in the method, and make sure all the ingredients used in the method are included in the ingredient list. If you give an amount in the method, make sure it matches the amount in the ingredient list. Make sure divided ingredients add up to the correct amount in the list.

A more subtle mistake I have seen (and made): Sometimes the method will include a step for a mixture that is then never added to the complete recipe. For example, I once read a recipe, I think it was for Roasted Garlic Lentil Soup, and the writer included a nice step for roasting a bulb of garlic, but then she never said when to add it to the rest of the soup in the stockpot. And I did not catch that. That mistake is tricky because you can be ticking off ingredients in the list and still miss that. If you ever look at the hard copy of an edited recipe and see a bunch of weird little checkmarks and notations, it’s probably because your editor is trying to avoid things like this!

3.     How could writers improve their recipe writing?

As a copy editor I tend to be all about clarity and rules, but of course sensory descriptions can be extremely helpful. Several of my clients make a point to include both a time range and a description based on appearance or consistency, e.g., “Bake cookies for 10 minutes or until browned around the edges.” It’s good to give both a general idea of the timeframe and a description of what to look for, a color change to watch for, how to tell if a mixture has thickened enough, or even to pay attention to when a sautéed ingredient becomes fragrant.

Susan Roberts McWilliams is a freelance copy editor and writer. Her clients include Decor Maine, Savory and Coastal Living. For almost 16 years, Susan worked in the copy departments of Southern Living and then Cooking Light, where she was Copy Director. Susan lives in Lexington, Kentucky.