Recipe schema incomplete: missing name or image

What it means

This page contains Recipe JSON-LD, but one or both required fields are absent: name (the dish name) or image (at least one photo of the finished dish, as a URL or ImageObject). Without both, Google generates no recipe rich result — no recipe card, no star badge, no image-search recipe entry.

Why it matters

Recipe rich results appear in two surfaces: the standard SERP card (image thumbnail, cooking time, rating, calories) and the image-search recipe filter. Both require name and image as a matched pair — name to label the result, image to display it. The image must be of the prepared dish at display resolution; a logo, an in-progress photo, or a placeholder does not qualify. Beyond the two required fields, the recommended batch drives richness: aggregateRating enables star ratings (a strong CTR driver), totalTime populates the time badge, and recipeInstructions as HowToStep objects enables the step-by-step view.

How to fix it

1. Locate the Recipe JSON-LD block.
2. Add name as a plain string.
3. Add image as a direct URL or an ImageObject with a url — use a photo of the finished dish, 1200px wide or larger.
4. Add recipeInstructions as a HowToStep array, without ordinal prefixes ('Step 1:') inside the text.
5. Use recipeCuisine and recipeCategory for cuisine and meal type rather than keywords; add nutrition.calories only alongside recipeYield.
6. Add aggregateRating to enable star ratings, and validate in the Rich Results Test.

Example

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Recipe",
  "author": {"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Cook"}
}

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Recipe",
  "name": "Weeknight Miso Ramen",
  "image": ["https://example.com/ramen-1x1.jpg","https://example.com/ramen-16x9.jpg"],
  "author": {"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Cook"},
  "recipeIngredient": ["200g ramen noodles","3 tbsp white miso"],
  "recipeInstructions": [{"@type":"HowToStep","text":"Boil noodles 4 minutes."}]
}

name and an image of the finished dish are required for the recipe rich result and the image-search recipe card.

When it's not a problem

Intentionally image-free recipe content — text-only archives, print pages, or recipes served to apps via schema without a visual component — will trigger this rule and can be suppressed per-URL if not meant to power a Google rich result. A Recipe embedded in a larger graph that inherits image from a parent node may be a false positive; verify with the Rich Results Test, which resolves the full graph. It is separate from schema.invalid.

How Crawlinx detects it

We validate every Recipe JSON-LD block against its required properties (name, image). The finding lists whichever is missing; recommended fields like recipeIngredient and recipeInstructions are nudged separately, never as a blocker.

How common is it?

3 audited sites in our corpus currently show this issue. The breakdowns below show which platforms, gatekeepers, verticals and countries are most exposed.

FAQ

What are the required Recipe schema fields?

name and image. Google recommends adding author, recipeIngredient, recipeInstructions, totalTime and aggregateRating to qualify for the fuller recipe experience and host carousel.

Can image be a single URL?

Yes, but supplying multiple aspect ratios (1:1, 4:3, 16:9) as an array lets Google pick the best crop per surface. Each image must show the finished dish and be crawlable.

Do I still need Recipe schema after the 2026 rich-result changes?

Recipe rich results are still supported. The markup is what makes you eligible for the recipe card and the image-search recipe attribution, so keep it complete.