Quick Search
You can perform a simple search using any of four criteria: Ingredient or Recipe Name; Features; Course; and Cuisine. Explanations of those fields are available below. Select the search field you wish to use and, depending on your choice, either type in information, check a box or click on an entry in a pull-down menu. Then click Go. You may use one or more of the fields.
Advanced Seach
In addition to the above search fields, this function prompts you with a specific list of ingredients to search and provides a drop-down menu of holidays. Explanations of those features are available below.
Search Results
Regardless of which type of search you conduct, results will be displayed in an alphabetical list of recipes, along with the first few lines of the recipe's summary. To see a full recipe, click on the recipe name link.
To return to the list of recipes that matched your search, use your Web browser's Back button.
To conduct a new search, scroll down the recipe page. You will see a New Search field on the lower right side of the recipe, below the nutrition information.
Search Fields
Simple Search
The Ingredient or Recipe Name search field can accommodate "and," "or" and "not" as well as multiple words. The search will scan recipe names as well as ingredients. You may also type in a specific recipe title if you know it.
The Features field allows you to search for recipes that are Fast, Kid-Friendly, Meatless and Healthy. Select a Feature to see a list of all the recipes in the Recipe Finder meeting that criterion; click on multiple Features to combine them and further limit a search. Here are definitions of the four Features:
- Fast: Recipes that can be prepared in less than one hour.
- Kid-Friendly: Family fare made with ingredients that many children find palatable. These recipes generally are not spicy. They may include sauces that can be served on the side and are easy to prepare. (To keep search results simpler, most dessert and sweets are not classified as Kid-Friendly. But many of those recipes certainly may be kid-friendly.)
- Meatless: These recipes do not contain beef, veal, lamb, pork, poultry or seafood; or broths, stocks and products made with those ingredients. They may contain eggs and/or dairy products, however.
- Healthy: Guidelines are based in part on recommended intake as part of a 2,000-calorie daily diet. This designation might not be suitable for people with different nutritional needs or those who face particular dietary challenges. Any particular dish should be considered in the context of an entire meal, a whole day or even a week's worth of eating. Healthy selections meet the following criteria.
For main courses:
500 calories or less
20 grams total fat or less
6 grams saturated fat or less
600 milligrams sodium or less
80 milligrams cholesterol or less
For side dishes, salads, soups and desserts (excluding beverages):
250 calories or less
10 grams total fat or less
3 grams saturated fat or less
300 milligrams sodium or less
40 milligrams cholesterol or less
- The Course field allows you to select a specific course, category or variety of food.
- The Cuisine field allow you to select a specific national or ethnic cuisine.
Advanced Search
The Ingredients field allows you to search for specific ingredients by checking them and clicking Go. More than one ingredient may be checked.
The Holiday field has a drop-down menu of specific holidays to search. That will help when planning menus for Thanksgiving, Passover, Easter, Ramadan and other holidays.
Nutritional Information
Unless otherwise noted, Washington Post recipes are analyzed using Nutritionist Pro software from Axxya Systems of Stafford, Tex. The software accesses information on more than 27,000 foods and from USDA and international food composition databases.
Some recipes in the Recipe Finder database contain ingredients too varied for meaningful analysis. Trace amounts are listed as 0.0.
Nutritional information is calculated using the following criteria:
- Where a choice of ingredients is given (such as low-fat or nonfat yogurt), the first ingredient listed is used in the analysis.
- Where a range of an ingredient is given (such as 24 to 32 ounces of salmon fillets), the first amount is used in the analysis.
- Where a range of servings is given (such as 4 to 6 servings), the larger number of servings is used.
- Ingredients noted as "optional" are not included in the calculations.
- Unspecified amounts of salt and pepper, sometimes called for as "to taste" in recipes, are calculated as trace amounts (.120 teaspoon).
- Amounts of oil estimated to be absorbed during cooking are used, not necessarily the total amounts listed in the ingredients.
Print and E-mail Recipes
Print This Recipe and E-mail This Recipe buttons are located above the nutrition information with each recipe. The recipe is automatically reformatted to make it easier to transmit.
Questions and Comments
