Recipe names

Capitalize all words except prepositions of fewer than five letters and conjunctions.

Always capitalize the first word of the second and subsequent lines unless the designer calls for
lowercase, for example in a title treatment.
Pumpkin Cake
With Sour Cream Frosting

Use the following guidelines in deciding whether to hyphenate a title:

Hyphenate when there are two ingredients combining to make an item (instead of using “and”).
Banana-Orange Frozen Yogurt
Barley-Wheat Bread
Asparagus-Cheese Omelet

Hyphenate when there’s some action to the second word.
Herb-Marinated Vegetables
Spinach-Stuffed Fish Rolls

Always hyphenate with “style.”
Greek-Style Salad
California-Style Vegetables

Don’t hyphenate when the first word describes the second rather than being an equal part of the recipe.
Greek Meatball Sandwich
Gingered Orange Refresher
California Chicken Stir-Fry
Caramel Apple Tart

Don’t use a hyphen if it would be overwhelming.
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Keep recipe titles as simple as possible. Use “and” only when necessary for clarity.

Turkey-Shrimp Jambalaya
Chicken-Pasta Salad
Beef and Red Onion Bake
Wild Rice and Bulgur Pilaf
Beef-Olive Turnovers
Artichoke and Dried Tomato Pesto
NOT
NOT
NOT
NOT
NOT
NOT
Turkey and Shrimp Jambalaya
Chicken and Pasta Salad
Beef-Red Onion Bake
Wild Rice-Bulgur Pilaf
Beef-and-Olive Turnovers
Artichoke-and-Dried-Tomato Pesto

In some cases, keep the “and” and the hyphens for clarity.
Spinach-and-Cheese-Stuffed Eggs

Do not use ampersands in recipe names. (Exception: PB&J) (Added 7/20/22)

Where applicable, substitute “with” for “and.”
Oven-Fried Chicken with Potato Salad NOT Oven-Fried Chicken and Potato Salad

Don’t hyphenate common terms.
Peanut Butter
Whole Wheat
Graham Cracker
Sour Cream
Ice Cream

There may be some close calls; but use the “and” criteria for help.
Lemon Pudding Cake
Turkey Waldorf Salad
Chili Vegetable Platter
(In these examples, the first word is describing the last two).

 


 

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