Recipe videos are all the rage. Whether that’s on Instagram reels, TikTok or YouTube people love to see good food made well. Food that they tell themselves they can make one day – when they finally get around to it.
Consuming the content is easy enough, but creating the content is a different (dough) ball game. It can be a frustrating and time consuming process when you’re not sure what you’re doing. So we’ve compiled our best tips for creating recipe videos that sizzle.
Hatch Food & Beverage I Sizzle from HATCH on Vimeo.
The recipes
I’m not a chef so I can’t recommend which is the best dish you should be making for the viral engagement. However, I can tell you the best way to film the recipes you’ve decided on turning into content.
Keep things simple. Regardless of the platform you’re posting on. Unless your target audience are people training to become professional chefs. People want quick and easy recipes that taste amazing. That is the sole reason anyone will watch your content and it needs to be at the heart of what you create.
Make sure that the ingredients are accessible. You don’t want to be using ingredients that are hard to source. It’s no good if your audience can’t get their hands on the ingredients to follow along. The ingredients need to be affordable or have cheaper alternatives. Budget recipes is a content genre in itself. You want to make it as easy for the audience as possible.
Keep the list of ingredients as concise as possible without compromising the recipe. If you need the ingredients, then keep them in. Be conscious of the method for cooking. You don’t want too many steps or complicated techniques. Simple recipes are easier for the viewer to watch and follow along. As well as making the content easily repurposable across multiple platforms.
YesPeas x Rachel Green – Roasted Peas Video Recipe from HATCH on Vimeo.
The video set up
Before hiring in a video crew to film your recipes. Think about the end product. Which platform is the video going to be on? If you want to post the content on TikTok, having a high end production will work against you.
Know your platform. When creating content you need to know the platform that you’re doing to be posting on. Longer form content on YouTube has room for personality and segues. Whereas shorter form content needs to be concise, snappy and on trend.
Record video and audio separately. Having good quality audio separate from the video is essential. Believe it or not – people make mistakes. Having the audio separate gives you room to breathe in the edit and clean up mistakes. You can also do this by recording the entire voice over on top of the edit.
Film from two or more angles. This allows you to transition seamlessly between steps and cut out mishaps or errors. Unless you hire a seasoned professional, being filmed will put them on edge. They’re going to be more likely to say or do something wrong. Multiple camera angles with quality standalone audio gives you full control over the edit.
Allow the recipe to breathe. Make sure there’s pauses or breaks in-between steps. A run on or overlap of steps can complicate the simplest of recipes. It also complicates what should be a simple edit. For social media, have the host say what they’re doing as they do it. Often when recording they will say what they’re going to do or what they have done. Steps in the recipe should be as simple as ‘Add a pinch of salt’. Personality and stories shouldn’t distract from the recipe. Save them for before or after the recipe.
Hisense | Love Is On The Menu | Doug Crampton | Dessert from HATCH on Vimeo.
Adapt on what already works
Do what you know works. There’s plenty already out there on the internet. Use the content that’s already out there to develop your style and niche. Take what you like and leave what you don’t. Whether that’s recipes, content style, filming techniques or mood.
Joshua Weissman is a chef YouTuber who has a series where he takes fast food and makes it better whilst showing you how. He’s using an already existing product, repackaging it and putting his own twist on it. Don’t steal others content. Adapt it and put your own twist on it. Use it for inspiration.Jumping on trends is the easiest way to eyes on your content. You already know that what you’re creating is popular. Again, take the trend and put your mark on it. Make it unique to you and use it to build your audience. It’s almost guaranteed engagement.
There’s a lot that goes into creating recipe videos. When creating recipe content you want to keep things simple. Make it accessible to people, and keep it concise. Remember that they’re there for the recipe.
Make the edit easy for yourself by knowing the platform you’re posting on. Film from multiple angles, record audio separately and give the recipe room to breathe. This is going to give you the chance to repurpose the content for multiple platforms and smoother editing experience.
Finally, use the community to your advantage. Have a look around and see what other people are doing. Take the parts that you like and leave the rest. Build up your content with this technique and it’s a lot less scary than starting with a blank canvas. Those were our best tips for creating the best recipe videos.
