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EnglishWhat is Public Domain Recipes?
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Public Domain Recipes (publicdomainrecipes.com) is an online collection of recipes presented as public domain material, meaning the site frames its recipes as free to use rather than as content you license or purchase. It suits anyone who wants everyday cooking ideas — from baked goods and soups to full meals — and prefers browsing a plain, category-based recipe list over a feed-driven cooking site. The site's own headings describe three ways in: a search box ("What do you want to cook?"), a "Newest Recipes" list, and an "Or Browse by Category..." section.
What the site offers
The homepage is essentially a recipe index. Its visible content includes:
- A search field labeled "What do you want to cook?" with Backspace and Random controls alongside it.
- A "Newest Recipes" list showing recently added items.
- Category browsing under "Or Browse by Category..."
- Two informational sections: "About this site" and "How to add a recipe."
The recipe names span many cuisines and dish types, which tells you the scope is broad rather than focused on one tradition. Examples drawn from the listing include:
| Type | Examples from the site |
|---|---|
| Baked goods & desserts | Tiramisù, Pavlova, Crème brûlée, Butter Cake, Oatmeal Cookies, Castagnole, Tarta de Santiago |
| Soups & stews | Clam Chowder, Finnish Salmon Soup, Turkish Red Lentil Soup, Modern Borscht, Ham and Lentil Soup |
| Main dishes | Valencian Paella, Eggs Benedict, Beef and Broccoli, Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce, Teriyaki Beef Wok |
| Vegetarian & plant-based | Hoisin Tofu and Broccoli, Fall Vegetable and Chickpea Curry, Red Lentil Dahl, Ratatouille |
| Breads & doughs | Wholemeal Pizza, Turmeric Flatbread, Pretzels, Wholemeal Wheat Flour Pizza Dough |
The mix of European, Latin American, Middle Eastern, and Asian dishes suggests you can use the site as a general-purpose recipe reference rather than a single-cuisine source.
How to find a recipe
- Search directly if you know what you want. Type a dish or ingredient into the "What do you want to cook?" field. The Backspace control clears the field; Random surfaces a recipe without a query.
- Check "Newest Recipes" if you want to see what has been added recently, or you have no specific dish in mind.
- Browse by category when you want to narrow by type of dish rather than by name.
The expected result in each case is a recipe page reached from the index. The site does not present a login wall or account requirement in the material available, but nothing here confirms whether any part of it is gated, so treat access as something to verify on the page itself.
What "public domain" means here
The site's name and framing indicate it intends the recipes to be freely usable — the point of a public-domain recipe collection is that you can cook from, copy, and adapt the material without a licensing arrangement. That is a claim about the site's own content, not a guarantee about every recipe's origin, and recipe text and instructions can carry their own copyright even when a dish itself is traditional. If you plan to republish a recipe rather than just cook it, check the individual page.
Adding your own recipe
The homepage includes a "How to add a recipe" section, so the site accepts contributions. If you want to submit one, start there rather than guessing at a form — the section is the site's own instructions for the process.
Who it's for
- Home cooks who want a browsable list of dishes across many cuisines.
- Anyone avoiding paywalled or account-based recipe sites, given the public-domain framing.
- Contributors who want to add recipes to a shared, freely usable collection.
It is less suited to you if you need tested nutritional data, step-by-step photos, or a curated editorial voice — the homepage evidence shows a recipe index, not a tested-and-rated cooking platform.