Do I need an API key?

No. TheMealDB provides free open access for development and personal projects. No registration or API key required.

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Use TheMealDB with your AI.

Connect your account once and let the AI you already use work with it, without building another integration. Search international recipes by name, category, cuisine, or ingredient. with full cooking instructions, measurements, and video tutorials.

Included with plan

Ask AI about this Connector

Developed, maintained, and hosted by Vinkius.

MCP VERIFIED · PRODUCTION READY · VINKIUS GUARANTEED

Waiting for input…

Works with modern AI clients that support MCP, including ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, and more.

Complete set · 5 capabilities

The complete TheMealDB capability set.

These are the exact actions your AI can choose when you ask it to work with TheMealDB.

Capability set01 / 02

01-03

3 capabilities in this set.

Part of 5 available through TheMealDB.

01
Get random meal
Great for inspiration or "what should I cook tonight?" scenarios. Get a random recipe from TheMealDB
02
Search meals
Returns full recipe details including ingredients, measures, instructions, and YouTube tutorials. Try queries like "Arrabiata", "Chicken", "Sushi", "Pad Thai". Search TheMealDB for recipes by name
03
Get meal details
Get complete details of a specific meal by its TheMealDB ID

Capability set02 / 02

04-05

2 capabilities in this set.

Part of 5 available through TheMealDB.

04
Get meals by category
Available categories: Beef, Chicken, Dessert, Lamb, Miscellaneous, Pasta, Pork, Seafood, Side, Starter, Vegan, Vegetarian, Breakfast, Goat. Browse meals by category such as Beef, Chicken, Dessert, Pasta, Seafood, or Vegetarian
05
Get meals by cuisine
Available areas: American, British, Canadian, Chinese, Croatian, Dutch, Egyptian, Filipino, French, Greek, Indian, Irish, Italian, Jamaican, Japanese, Kenyan, Malaysian, Mexican, Moroccan, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Tunisian, Turkish, Vietnamese. Browse meals by cuisine/country of origin

Observed, not estimated

835ms average. Fast in production.

TheMealDB is checked daily against the live service.

Daily averagePeak 1015ms

Aug 20Today

Fastest day: 693ms
Slowest day: 1015ms
14-day trend: Slowing+7%

Connect your client

One URL. Every client.

Activate the Connector, copy your link, and paste it into the client you already use. 5 capabilities arrive ready to run.

Preview access · not provider authentication

The vk_preview_* token belongs to Vinkius preview infrastructure. It lets Claude discover and display the capabilities of TheMealDB, so you can see the experience inside your AI.

It does not authenticate your account with TheMealDB. Actions requiring credentials or live account data may not run until you activate the Connector and authorize the service.

TheMealDB Connector

You're all set. Choose your MCP client and follow the setup instructions.

Connector linkhttps://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_XatQFlCvsJKi0rAMn46oESfjKOkg0fOCAN4kwgn6/mcp

Claude Desktop

Follow the steps below to connect in seconds.

1In Claude Desktop, open Settings → Connectors.
2Click “Add custom connector” and paste the connector link above as the remote MCP server URL.
3Click Add and start a new chat — TheMealDB capabilities are ready to use.

Configuration · claude_desktop_config.jsonCopy

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "themealdb-mcp": {
      "url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_XatQFlCvsJKi0rAMn46oESfjKOkg0fOCAN4kwgn6/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Claude
ChatGPT
Cursor
VS Code
Windsurf
Claude Code
JetBrains
Cline

Step-by-step instructions for each client are in the guide. How to connect

FAQ

Questions TheMealDB owners ask.

01
Do I need an API key?
No. TheMealDB provides free open access for development and personal projects. No registration or API key required.

Explore

Use TheMealDB with your AI.

The complete TheMealDB capability set.

01-03

Get random meal

Search meals

Get meal details