One of the things food writers struggle with most is how to promote recipes in a way that sounds authentic and not too braggy. You know your recipe is “the best,” but you can’t keep saying that for every one you write.
So what can you do to improve your blog posts, recipe headnotes, and social media blurbs? First, I went back to my most visited post: 100 Verbs for Recipes, from Julia Child. Who else could I research, I wondered, who would give me a similar list of fabulous terms?
I found inspiration on Smitten Kitchen’s Instagram feed. Deb Perelman is a master of promoting her recipes in a way that sounds effortless, fun, and full of personality.
Incredibly, there was no repetition of her phrases in the 100+ pitches I reviewed. I could probably give you 200 pitches. But I think you will get the point of how to pitch recipes with this list.
Of course, writing a salesy pitch is not all there is to getting readers excited about your cooking and baking. Deb also describes her foods sensuously in every post. You need that combo. (See caption above for an example.)
How to promote recipes? Deb Perelman shows you 100 ways:
- Always a good idea
- Resistance is futile
- You definitely don’t want to miss it
- Draws a crowd
- Easily one of my desert island foods
- One of the best dinners I’ve made this year
- Designed to be eaten on laps, sitting outside. (Hooray.)
- What I want every big weekend meal to taste like, and has become a family staple around here
- If you can resist eating them all before you leave the apartment, you’re going to make so many friends with these
- Keeps perfectly for lunches all week
- I only wish I had them around more often
- It’s basically impossible not to like
- You can totally eat them for breakfast. Or dessert. Or just because.
- Even more wildly delicious than it looks
- Ridiculously good/easy
- Will make you ridiculously welcome wherever you potluck/picnic/barbecue next
- Welcome wherever you take it; this is a potluck favorite
- Keep the recipe in your back pocket for the next time life is busy but you don’t want to compromise on dinner
- I think you’re really going to like this
- Nothing short of a dream
- Clinically proven to righten the path of any weekend morning
- Maximum weekend dinner luxury
- I have made this every summer for a decade now
- Basically every summer dessert worth eating in one place
- Trust me, we’re going to be so happy about this
- You’re going to immediately wonder why you don’t make this more often
- Keeps in the fridge — as long as you keep us away from them
- Obviously, this is exactly what we have to cook next
- We make this all the time and think you should too
- Smells heavenly
- Be the Ina Garten/Martha Stewart of your party with this
- It causes a frenzy
- A surprising win in the Weeknight Dinners For Everyone category
- These deserve to be a rest-of-summer habit
- I want to eat it every day and every weekend all summer
- Make your home smell eloquently September-ish, even if you (ahem: me) are kicking and screaming about it
- Doesn’t get much better than this
- My go-to forever favorite
- Did they break into a happy dance? If they didn’t, well, more for you
- I cannot wait to have it for dinner tonight
- So popular around here, I have all but stopped asking my family what they want for dinner because they only ever request this
- Like no other
- They’re totally unforgettable
- Everybody needs this
- It’s the only thing I want to eat
- Extremely addicting forever favorite
- Always causes a commotion
- Dinner bliss
- 100% guaranteed to improve all the days that they last
- It’s unforgettable, and it only gets better as it rests — make it today!
- If you do not fall in love, I promise to come and rid you of your leftovers
- Gets better the longer it lasts
- Have a way of not making it out of the kitchen
- I have never regretted making two
- Impossible not to make over and over again
- The indisputable champion
- Something I hope I’m never too old, smart or refined to eat
- I don’t think you’ll find an easier or prettier…
- Should any survive until the next day
- The result definitely wants to come with you this weekend
- Put it in your weekly rotation
- Everyone will demand you make it again and again
- We always wonder why we don’t make it more often
- Delicious in a totally unforgettable way
- Exactly what I want
- This version is one of the best I know
- My favorite dessert on earth
- One of the most distractingly delicious things I’ve ever made
- You don’t have to go another day without experiencing…
- The leftovers are outstanding
- It also makes glorious leftovers for lunch tomorrow; future you thanks you
- I always wish I’d double the recipe so we’d have leftovers — don’t let it happen to you
- What I want to eat all weekend for breakfast, lunch, or dinner
- Almost instant gratification
- It makes everyone happy
- I can’t stop making this dish
- Has the best of everything
- Exactly what our Friday afternoons should taste like, don’t you think
- I think you’re going to obsess over it too
- I am obsessed with how good this is
- Your friends thank you, in advance
- it’s the FIRST THING TO GO every time
- Trust me, this is the … of champions
- This is the best I’ve ever had. What sets it apart? Butter. (I can’t believe you even had to ask.)
- Ridiculously easy
- Doesn’t require a special occasion to bake
- Astoundingly easy to make
- The ingredient list couldn’t be less complicated
- This preparation converts everyone
- Looks and tastes fancy and took about 12 minutes to make
- Have it in the oven 15 minutes later
- Who likes meals you can make in 15 minutes? Me me me!
- You could be eating this in 20 minutes
- Take all of 30 minutes to make
- A cinch to throw together
- Turns out to be comically quick and easy to make
- Welcoming of adaptations
- Leaving you more time for doing other things
- What to make when you’re short on time or long on things you’d rather do than cook
- Quick to make, even more quick to disappear.
Source: diannej.com
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