Learning to write recipe titles is a skill that every food blogger and chef need to know how to do. But, it’s not necessarily the easiest. Naming your recipe “banana muffin” results in over 20 million other banana muffin search results on Google. Yikes! A generic title does not help you stand out, nor does it give your recipe the credit it deserves. You’ve worked hard on this recipe, so let’s learn writing techniques that will deliver a winning recipe title too.
There are different literary devices that you can use to make your recipe titles more memorable, engaging, and accurate, such as alliterations, metaphors, similes, and hyperboles. Say what? No worries, these are literary terms to describe different ways you can use language for special effects.
5 Writing Tips to Make Your Recipe Unique
The goal is to write a recipe title that engages your audience. Here are techniques to highlight a cooking technique or ingredient in your recipe.
1. Use Alliterations:
Alliteration describes when a series of words share the same sound. The repetition of sounds, such as the consonant “c'” in this case, draws attention to the words. The best ones mimic a quality of the ingredients such as the hard “kuh” sound representing the crispiness of the cookies (bonus points for literary-aficionados; this is called onomatopoeia).
Alliteration examples:
- Colossal Crisp Cookies
- Molten Maple Chocolate Cake
- Bursting Blueberry Buckle
- Pan-seared Noodles with Crunchy Cabbage and Crispy Tofu
2. Use Metaphors
Metaphors make hidden or implied comparisons between two different things. Metaphors in food writing can be used to evoke specific contexts about your recipes and add a story. Consider Pineapple and Macadamia Islands, for instance. These macaroons are “islands” with their round shape and consist of ingredients grown in tropical areas. Let’s consider that blueberry compote you add to pancakes. Blueberry Pie suggests thick, sweet, jammy blueberries in the filling of fruit pies. It also captures the nostalgia, warmth, and comfort that accompany eating pies.
Here are some examples:
- Pineapple and Macadamia Islands
- Blueberry Pie Pancakes
- Traffic-Light Tomato Pie
- Rosy–Cheeked Peach Preserves
- Lemon Ricotta Cloud Pancakes
3. Use Similes
Like metaphors, similes make comparisons between two different things. Metaphors make direct comparisons, but similes make the comparison more explicit through words such as “like” or “as.”
Here are some examples:
- Thick-as-Concrete Ice cream
- Light-as-a-Cloud Meringues
4. Use Hyperboles
Hyperboles are exaggerations or overstatements. Use hyperboles to show your enthusiasm and add emphasis to a particular aspect of the ingredient. Hyperboles can be particularly effective when describing the size of the dish, especially if it’s in the extremes, either super large or extra tiny. It’s always thrilling to find a recipe that stretches the boundaries in quantity and appearance.
For example, consider the following:
- Super-Sized Ginger Cookies
- Jumbo Black Bottom Coconut Macaroons
- Gingerbread Giants
- Bite-Sized Meatballs
- Puff Pastry Bites
- Baby Brussels Sprouts with Mustard Dressing
5. Portmanteau
Portmanteau describes the mashup of two or more words in order to create an entirely new word. “Brunch= breakfast + lunch” is one of the best-known examples. Here you can be creative and make up your own words. It can bring you global attention too, such as “Cronuts= “croissant-doughnut” by New York City pastry chef Dominique Ansel. Of course, some combinations go better together than others- “Linner” doesn’t quite sound as good. “Turbaconduckenriblets” also brings groans.
Here are some examples.
- Cransational Chicken Croissant
- Z’phagetti with Simple Marinara Sauce
- PB’ Nana Yogurt Parfait
Bonus Resources
Use additional resources to find more precise and effective words. Try a variety of online thesaurus like Thesaurus and Collins Dictionary. Study your favorite cookbooks and food writers. See what you like and don’t like about their recipe titles. Then, make it better with your unique voice.
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