Is there a way to search the site by ingredients? - Food52

Is there a way to search the site by ingredients?

I saw a spinach pie recipe that I want to try but now can't find it since the recipe has neither spinach nor pie in the title.

Tarra
  • Posted by: Tarra
  • April 28, 2014
  • 1557 views
  • 15 Comments

15 Comments

Greenstuff
Greenstuff April 30, 2014
I just tried "veal onion pepper" and got no recipes on the site. The same search on eatyourbooks gave me several Food52 recipes, and the google search "food52: veal onion pepper" gave me a different Food52 recipe and a bunch from Yummly.
 
AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames April 30, 2014
HK, I just did a quick test search, the only term being "spinach," and yes, it seems that ingredients listed but not included in the title now are included in the search results. Interestingly, the search also yielded a kale recipe, in which spinach is not even listed as an alternate ingredient. Hallelujah! Many thanks to Karl and the engineering team! ;o)
 
healthierkitchen
healthierkitchen April 30, 2014
that's great news Karl. Will we also be able to search by ingredients that are not in the title of a recipe?
 
Karl R.
Karl R. April 30, 2014
The search improvements are live, that Batsaria recipe will be easier to find next time someone searches for spinach pie! http://food52.com/recipes/search?q=spinach+pie
 
Karl R.
Karl R. April 28, 2014
Hey all, I know we're not google when it comes to search - but it helps to hear these examples - we actually have an enhancement ready to launch soon that should improve this specific example (e.g searching for 'spinach pie' will find http://food52.com/recipes/25622-batsaria-phyllo-less-spanakopita) - will let you know once it's live!
 
Tarra
Tarra April 28, 2014
Both great tips. Thanks so much for these.
 
Greenstuff
Greenstuff April 28, 2014
Good trick, AJ! For people who use eatyourbooks.com (you pay for it, but I love it), I searched for "spinach," limiting my search to my websites and asking for the results to be sourced alphabetically. I went to the "B"s and found the recipe right away.
 
AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames April 28, 2014
Thank you, Greenstuff. Most people don't realize that for sites that don't have their own robust search functionality (or have not incorporated Google's within their site), the best tool available is a Google search whose terms are simply the site's URL immediately followed by a colon and then the search terms. The maddening lack of search functionality within the recipe database on Food52 would have driven me away years ago, for good, had this workaround not been available. ;o)
 

Voted the Best Reply!

AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames April 28, 2014
Here you go: http://food52.com/recipes/25622-batsaria-phyllo-less-spanakopita

I did a Google search, overriding the full site fill in when I typed in "food52". The other search terms were "spinach," "filling," "calzone" and "community pick." You were lucky because you remembered the note in the community pick review. The inability to search by any ingredient other than those specifically included in a recipe's title long ago led to my figuring out of this workaround. ;o)
 
Tarra
Tarra April 28, 2014
YES! I even tried looking up spanakopita, but I was spelling it wrong. Thank you. I have the spinach at home, ready to go.
 
Lindsay-Jean H.
Lindsay-Jean H. April 28, 2014
Hi Tarra - I think this might be the recipe you were thinking of: http://food52.com/recipes/25622-batsaria-phyllo-less-spanakopita
 
AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames April 28, 2014
Wondering if LJ used another method for finding the recipe . . . . you can give us a fish, and we'll eat tonight, or you can teach us how to fish, and we'll eat for the rest of our lives. ;o)
 
Lindsay-Jean H.
Lindsay-Jean H. April 28, 2014
Hey AJ - I was looking at the recipe recently, so I was pretty sure I knew which one she was thinking of, and I remembered that the recipe has spanakopita in the title, so that's what I searched for under recipes, it's the first result.
 
Tarra
Tarra April 28, 2014
No, it started with a "B" and there was no phyllo involved - and the reviewer thought it might also make an excellent calzone filling.
 
plainhomecook
plainhomecook April 28, 2014
This bugs me too, Tarra. Was it a spanakopita, by any chance?
 
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