100 Ways to Turn Your Recipes and Writing Into Revenue
Maggie Green Cookbook Author and Writing Coach
By jerome amosNovember 15, 2025
Maggie Green Cookbook Author and Writing Coach
Every meal begins with ingredients — vegetables, meat, spices, herbs, and grains. Then a cook mixes, measures, and transforms those ingredients into dishes and meals that feed people. We can sell our food and meal experiences. This creates income for our business. But why stop there? Did you know your words have the same income-generating power? Nouns, verbs, adverbs, contractions, and adjectives. You mix, measure, and transform them into different types of creations that feed your business as well: a class, a book, a product, or a post.
The purpose of this guide is to spark your creativity. Maybe you love to cook or bake. You're a master at meals. But now it's time to use your words to generate revenue. Any of these 100 ideas will help you use words to build a business that nourishes both you and your readers. Pick one idea that excites you. Choose something that feels doable, not distant. Add your own flavor. Then create it and offer it to your people. When you embrace your identity as a writer, you'll see how many options you have — but the secret is to pick a few and do them well. Soon, you'll be feeding a business that thrives, creates income for you, and helps others live better lives in their kitchens. With this list the sky's the limit. With your cooking skills and your words, you can generate revenue from your recipes!
Maggie Green Cookbook Author and Writing Coach
Cookbook Writers AcademyDigital & Downloadable Products
- Recipe PDFs (single or themed sets)
- Digital cookbooks or eBooks
- Meal planning guides
- Weekly or seasonal menu plans
- Grocery shopping checklists
- Pantry or ingredient guides
- Recipe cards or stationery bundles
- Baking conversion charts
- Ingredient substitution guides
- Kitchen organization printables
- "How to Start Baking Bread" digital mini-course workbook
- Holiday recipe bundles (cookies, casseroles, cocktails)
- Nutrition-focused meal prep guides
- Kids' cooking activity books
- "Recipe Starter Kit" for beginners (templates + tips)
Physical Products
- Printed cookbooks (self- or traditionally published)
- Recipe journals or notebooks
- Branded recipe cards or stationery
- Custom kitchen labels or pantry tags
- Meal planner notebooks
- Seasonal recipe zines
- Holiday baking planners
- Branded aprons or tea towels with recipes printed on them
- Recipe boxes with dividers and blank cards
- Kitchen wall art featuring handwritten recipes
Email, Substack, and Newsletter Products
- Paid Substack newsletter
- Recipe-of-the-week subscription
- Behind-the-scenes bakery stories (paid tier)
- Seasonal ingredient spotlights
- "Dinner Letter" or "Friday Bake Notes" newsletter sponsorships
- Exclusive subscriber-only recipes or discounts Teaching & Learning Products
- Virtual cooking classes
- In-person workshops
- Group cooking experiences (corporate or private)
- 1:1 coaching (baking business, meal planning, recipe writing)
- Cooking/baking challenges (e.g., "Sourdough Week")
- Monthly membership or subscription community
- Paid email series ("30 Days to Better Biscuits")
- Curriculum for kids or homeschool programs
- Seasonal cooking clubs
- Recipe testing workshops
- "Cookbook Writing 101" for other food lovers
- Paid culinary retreats
- Recipe photography and styling tutorials
Brand Collaborations & Licensing
- Sponsored recipe development for brands
- Affiliate marketing (kitchen tools, ingredients)
- Licensed recipes for meal kits or magazines
- Recipe ghostwriting for other creators
- Co-branded recipe guides with local farms or markets
- Branded content creation for kitchenware companies
- Local collaborations (coffee shops, bed & breakfasts, boutiques)
Publishing & Writing Opportunities
- Cookbook proposals for traditional publishing
- Recipe columns or essays for magazines/blogs
- Freelance food writing (articles, profiles, reviews)
- Food memoirs or culinary essays
- "Behind the Recipe" story collections
- Ghostwriting cookbooks for other chefs
- Writing for culinary schools or organizations
- Recipe newsletter anthologies
- Co-authored community cookbooks
Community & Experience-Based Offers
- Pop-Up Dinners with Story Cards
- Cookbook Club Gatherings
- Seasonal Subscription Boxes with Recipes & Reflections
- "Dinner + Dialogue" Events
- Patreon or membership with exclusive recipes, videos, and Q&As
- Virtual kitchen office hours or Q&A sessions
- Fundraising cookbooks for causes or communities
Courses & Educational Offers
- "How to Write Recipes That Work" course
- "Bake Your Way to a Cookbook" group program
- "From Oven to Online" course for bakers starting a digital business
- Certification/training program (eg, sourdough, pastry, gluten-free)
- "Email Marketing for Food Businesses" course
- "Recipe Development Bootcamp"
- "Start Your Baking Blog" workshop
- "Teaching Through Taste" course for cooking instructors
Consulting, Coaching, & Professional Services
- Recipe editing or testing for other authors
- Cookbook coaching
- Menu development for restaurants or cafes
- Culinary business consulting
- Baking business mentorships
- Kitchen efficiency or prep coaching
- Ghostwriting newsletters for other chefs
- Copywriting for food brands or blogs
- Culinary storytelling services
Legacy & Keepsake Projects
- Family recipe collections for others
- Personalized cookbooks for weddings or gifts
- Memorial or heritage recipe books
- Church or community cookbook editing services
- "Write Your Family Cookbook" workshops
- Heirloom kitchen journals for clients' families
Bonus: Hybrid Creative Ideas
- Audio recipes or "Kitchen Stories" podcasts
- Recipe videos or reels packaged as tutorials
- QR-linked recipe cards with video walkthroughs
- Online tasting events (pair food + story)
- Interactive cook-along kits
- Culinary writing retreats (in-person or virtual)
- Subscription recipe boxes with storytelling components
- Digital magazine issues ("The Winter Kitchen," "Summer at the Table")
- Local "Food + Writing" community meetups
- Cooking + journaling guided experience ("Write Your Way Through the Seasons")
jerome amos
Jerome Amos is a native New Yorker, foodie, and chef who learned to cook as a young child. His older relatives, boy scout training, and desire to help prep the Sunday church potluck meals profoundly influenced Jerome's early love of preparing and sharing delicious recipes and creating a connected community.
Jerome of BFAM Cooking By the age of 10, Jerome was making his meals and operating the grill at family BBQs. He continued to learn and expand his culinary experience by trying new techniques and observing his grandmother preparing her family recipes. Jerome began working in restaurants in high school, moving his way up from dishwasher to kitchen prep. Jerome got married, joined the military, and didn't level up his cooking until a few years after the USAF when he and his wife watched The Food Network. Their shared passion for cooking led them to take cooking classes and attend significant food events where celebrity chefs would appear and do cooking demos.
Understanding basic cooking techniques paired with the curiosity of making an idea work inspired Jerome and his wife to attend as many food events and cooking adventures as possible. This exploration has taken them worldwide, including Italy, where they learned about their surroundings through the local ingredients, recipes, and traditions. A turning point for Jerome took place in a Costco when he was doing his weekly grocery shopping and noticed a couple who was purchasing almost a dozen containers of BBQ sauce. Jerome had just taken a BBQ class and knew this guy had to be cooking up to something delicious.
After a brief conversation, Jerome and his wife were invited to this couple's BBQ, and a foodie friendship was born. Jerome and his new friend, Ellis, couldn't get enough chow chat, discussing everything from Southern flavor and French dishes to favorite chef knives and preferred salt. Together, they felt they had a lot to share with many other food lovers out there and B.F.A.M. Cooking (Brothers from Another Mother) was born on YouTube. Jerome, who had served in the US. Air Force for over five years, during the gulf war, said that the military way is to treat everyone on your team the same as your family.
That became the foundation for Brothers From Another Mother cooking or BFAM Cooking because everyone can be your "fam", especially at the dining table. The BFAM Cooking videos range from delicious, original recipes Jerome created to American restaurant owners who wanted to know better. There are also videos about cooking tools that he loves and simple techniques to make things easier. Jerome was recently one of the many chefs from around the globe who competed in an exclusive online competition to be named the world's Favorite Chef, receive $50,000, and a feature in two-page advertising spread in Bon Appétit announcing the winner. Voted on by the fans, Jerome made it as a semi-finalist, placing 3rd in his group.
