Explainer

Is it okay to save and share recipes from TikTok and YouTube?

Published October 10, 2026 Last checked October 10, 2026

This is general information about US copyright, not legal advice. Rules differ by country, and the platforms’ own terms apply on top.

Saving for your own kitchen

Writing down a recipe you saw in a video so you can cook it at home is what recipes are for. People have copied recipes onto index cards from TV shows and magazines for as long as both have existed. Nothing in this guide suggests you need permission to cook something you watched.

The questions get more interesting when you share what you saved.

What copyright covers in a recipe

The US Copyright Office’s circular on works not protected by copyright addresses recipes directly (Circular 33). In short:

• Not protected: “A mere listing of ingredients or contents, or a simple set of directions.” The Office says a registration “will not cover the list of ingredients,” “the underlying process for making the dish, or the resulting dish itself.”
• Can be protected: a recipe “that creatively explains or depicts how or why to perform a particular activity,” including “the written description or explanation” and “any photographs or illustrations.”

For a cooking video, that means the creator’s video, voiceover, photos, and their particular wording are their work. The ingredients, amounts, and basic method aren’t something anyone owns.

What that means in practice

Credit the creator, even when you don’t have to

Copyright is the legal floor, not the etiquette. Creators earn a living from views and visits, so when you share a recipe you learned from a video, name the creator and link to the original. If they have a written recipe on their site, link to that; it’s the version they tested.

How Sous Chef handles this

When Sous Chef imports a TikTok or YouTube link, it writes a recipe from the video (ingredients, amounts, and steps) rather than storing the video. The recipe shows where it came from, with the platform and creator name and a Watch original video link back to the post.

Sous Chef can also share a recipe as a public link that opens as a web page. If you share one you imported from a video, keep the credit, and consider whether you’ve changed it enough to call it your own version. Edits you make, like halving it or making it dairy-free, are marked in the recipe.

Platform rules sit on top of copyright

Even where copyright doesn’t apply, the platforms’ own terms do. TikTok and YouTube each have terms of service and community guidelines covering downloading and reposting other people’s content. In general, they allow you to watch, share links, and use built-in features like saving and sharing, and they don’t allow taking someone’s video and posting it as your own. Sharing the link is always the safe way to share the video itself.

A simple rule of thumb

Ask yourself what you’re taking:

• Facts (which ingredients, how much, in what order, how hot): yours to write down and cook from.
• Expression (the creator’s video, photos, jokes, story, and exact wording): theirs.
• Credit: always worth giving, whether or not the law requires it.

If what you’re sharing is a recipe you’ve written in your own words, with a link to the creator, you’re on the side that cooks, food bloggers, and recipe apps have been on for decades.

Common questions

Can a TikTok creator copyright their recipe?

They own their video and their creative writing about it. The Copyright Office’s guidance says the list of ingredients and the underlying process for making the dish aren’t covered by a registration.

Is it okay to post a recipe I learned from a video on my own blog?

Writing it up in your own words, with your own photos and a credit and link to the creator, is the widely accepted approach. Copying their text or images isn’t. If you plan to publish commercially, get advice for your situation.

Can I download TikTok or YouTube videos to keep recipes?

TikTok offers a save-video option only when the creator allows downloads, and YouTube offers offline downloads through YouTube Premium inside its app. Either way, a written recipe is easier to cook from and is yours to keep. See the best way to save recipes from TikTok and YouTube.

Does the same apply to Instagram?

The copyright principles are the same. Sous Chef doesn’t import Instagram links yet, so for a Reel, paste the caption as text or import screenshots.

Can I print a recipe I saved from a video?

For your own kitchen, yes. Printing a recipe you wrote down to cook from at home is personal use, the same as a handwritten card.