By 
Photo courtesy of matt.wordpress.com.
One of the first books I ever read about blogging was Margaret Mason’s No One Cares What You Had for Lunch. It’s a good book, but Mason’s title – while clever – has not proven to be accurate. The massive popularity of food blogs suggests that people might care more about what you had for lunch than about anything else you did in a day!
Food blogging might sound like a narrow topic, but there’s actually a wide range of subject matter. Here are a few of the types of posts I often read and enjoy on food blogs:
- Restaurant reviews. Where did you eat? What was on the menu? What did it cost? I like to read reviews of restaurants in my area, sure, but I also like to see photo journals of great meals people have had in restaurants I will never go to. If you score a resy at Per Se, please don’t forget your camera.
- Recipes. There’s really no need for a battered Joy of Cooking in anyone’s kitchen anymore – you can find a recipe for everything from grilled cheese to the infamous Pâté de Canard en Croûte on food blogs. If you haven’t yet introduced your grandmother’s biscuit recipe to the world, what are you waiting for?
- Special diets. Vegetarian, vegan, celiac, wheat-intolerant, dairy-free, sugar-free, paleo, Adkins – if you’re a foody with a dietary restriction, others can benefit from your expertise. Do you know how to eat carb-free at an Italian restaurant? Do you have the perfect recipe for gluten-free pizza dough or tomato-free salsa?
- Grocery product or ingredient reviews. Have you found a prepackaged microwave dinner that actually tastes good? Do you ever cook with foods that are unfamiliar to many people? Can you explain the best uses for the many different kinds of cooking oils?
- Cheap eats. These days, everybody is eating on a budget. If you have ideas for how to eat like a king for less, whether by finding the cheapest dining options in your city, or by cooking inexpensive recipes at home, do tell.
- Time-saving tips. Grocery shopping, cooking, washing up, packing lunches – all that stuff takes time. If you’ve figured out ways to feed yourself and your family quickly and efficiently, share them.
- Dinner parties. Or brunch parties, afternoon teas, cocktail hours. What did you serve? Was there a theme? Did you use paper plates, or your best china?
No matter your topic, food blogging is all about the photos. We can’t taste the food you blog about, but a good photo can make us feel as if we can. Pictures of delicious-looking food will make anyone’s mouth water.
Food posts are so popular on WordPress.com that we have an entire site dedicated to showcasing them, FoodPress.com. Head over for some inspiration! Also, check out this recent post on the WordPress.com blog on 7 Food Blogs to Follow This Summer.
Do you ever blog about food? If so, what kinds of food posts have you found your readers respond to? What do you most enjoy seeing on other food blogs?
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The Daily Post 
How cool! I have been dabbling in some food photography myself. Although I’m not so sure about trusting myself to cook good food, I can trust myself to take good photographs of the food once it’s made! Feel free to take a look and tell me what you think! http://aparnanairphotography.wordpress.com/2012/05/31/food-photography-a-little-scrumptious-and-enticing/
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I wrote a tongue-in-cheek blog post called “Let’s do Lunch,” and had a great time with it. I agree entirely with the fact that people are enamored with food. I’m a proponent of non-GMO and organic foods as well as being a pescatarian, I think it’s high time for me to throw a few posts into this arena.
Thanks for the shove!
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Even though I focus on travel Writing, your above suggestions work well in blogs other than predominately Food Blogs. I just published a blog:Summer Salads: Quinoa ~ Soul Food of the Andes and it worked well. I included a recipe as well as history of quinoa, where to purchase it and that it works well for the gluten intolerant. I should have added links to my text like you have done. Thanks for this daily post information.
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Ordinarily, I keep my opinions to myself, but since you asked:
No, I don’t blog about food, or like food blogs, so consequently I don’t read/follow them.
Honestly, I’m so surprised by the popularity of food blogs!
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I have archived a lot of breakfast posts, but I think it is true that no one cares what you have for breakfast. Sighs.
Also, I have tried posting during canning season, instructional and encouraging posts, but only my die-hard followers actually responded to that, except for a couple of organic eaters.
I tend to agree that no one cares, but maybe I should try again?
Or maybe it’s just that my site really is not about food as a goal, but as a prop. Hmm.
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Try again! Work hard and someday you’ll definitely succeed! I’m starting to try myself on blogging publicly now and I somehow know the hardships you’re going through. But let’s work hard and hopefully there’ll be a positive result soon! 🙂
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Thanks for the encouraging word, Ina! You are so sweet to try and help me succeed. I have a decent following, given my real topic, which is being at home, but they just do not follow my food. 😉 I do keep trying. Yesterday, I reblogged my own series on home canning and got a grand total of ONE “like”. I am a gourmet cook, but that is not what my site is about, so I think I throw people off when I talk about (GASP!) ingredients! (Not shike ‘n’ bike? OH NO!!!) 😉
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Awesome post, Elizabeth! About your question, I do write about food and love to read other people’s blogs about how they handle certain food-related situations.
My blog is about coming off junk food, overcoming food addiction and healing my body with eating low-carb. There’s a bunch of stuff I no longer eat, which I have to replace with something tasty, so I won’t slip back into my food addiction. Some of the things I eat now may look unconventional for some, but I did find, that it’s not really that hard to cook whole foods with healthy fats, and what I eat now, tastes 100% better than the junk I used to eat. I occasionally post about yummy new foods I tried, or dishes I ordered in restaurants that are gluten-free and low in carbs.
Just in case you’re curious, here’s my link: http://badfoodbrokenbody.wordpress.com/
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Interesting post. I blog (mostly) about my garden – and what it produces and then onto the meals I make from the veggies I’ve grown, the focus is on the gardening though. The one thing I have found with food blogs is that no matter how many cakes and sweet treats you blog about they are always popular. Maybe WordPress has a collective sweet tooth?
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Thanks for linking to my blog under dinner parties 🙂 I definitely think that photos make a great food post – something I’m keen to improve on with my blog. Really enjoyed this post and all the links to great blogs!
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I’m not a foodie but enjoyed your post because it shows that we are always looking for that common bond that links us and what could be more common than food? We all need to eat, so why not try something great to eat. Take care. -Max-.
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Great article!
Food sells! And yes, restaurant reviews do capture a lot of interest. In particular the mouth-watering pictures. Putting a focus on a specific type of restaurant (be it ‘fast food’ or – as in my case Michelin rated restaurants, be it a regional focus, be it a focus on e.g. Italian or French cuisine) also helps to get interested and active readers…
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I don’t know. I like pictures of food (that’s what brought me here) … but I’m not sure if I would read about it on a regular basis.
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One of my beautiful things is often about food and I find those posts to be very popular. I love photographing the whole process of making things from cakes to main courses and have indeed used some old family recipes. Thanks for the help here with more ideas 🙂
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Its funny. I posted one recipe on my blog, about 9 months ago. Subject? The simple Green Chile Chicken Posole I’ve made for years. It has been one of the most consistently popular hits on my blog since. You can find it here: http://www.aroundtheworldineightyyears.com/green-chile-chicken-posole/
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I am so glad you blogged about this topic. My husband always laughs at me, as I love taking pictures of meals I’ve prepared and posting them to Facebook for friends to enjoy. What I love most about food blogs is the step-by-step instructions with pictures showing these steps. This is something I’ve never tried doing, but LOVE seeing others, infact I’m a subscriber of a few different food blogs: Iowa Girl Eats and Darla Cooks. They take the best pictures and really explain how to make a dish. I also enjoy the stories that go along with these blogs too. It’s always entertaining to read a personal story attached with the dish they are making. Anyway, I am so happy that food blogging is so popular!!!! Thanks for posting this! -Heather
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I agree. Food blogs ARE popular. I look at them daily for inspiration. A friend of mine just started a great food blog called SoFullEats; and shortly my container gardening experiment blog is going to become a food blog because I’m going to need recipes for all the veggies I’m about to have! http://www.HeathersHomegrown.com
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John-Bryan Hopkins at foodimentary.com posts daily about which food of the day it is (e.g., today is National Doughnut Month) then tells us interesting things about that food and lists historical items relating to that food. It’s a yummy blog!
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Lately I posted about food and I think I’m going to do it again (only if i have something interesting to share).
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I love to read blogs about different delicious food!I also like to try to make them!
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Thanks for sharing this blog.
Since I am not very good in the kitchen, I rarely have story to share about food. However, recently I attended the Cuban Sandwich Festival and decided to share it in my blog.
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Okay. Reposted one of my fun ones about home canning.
Hey, There’s food in them there jars! Pretty photos, too, especially of the rose honey.
Enjoy!
http://katharinetrauger.wordpress.com/
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Those are great tips! I cook every other day at least. I mention it sometimes in my blog, but I don’t think about taking pictures when I pull something out of the oven. I should. I watch Food Network and Travel channel, and I keep my favorite recipes. I have a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook which is my favorite, and I created a low cal fried chicken recipe. Thanks for the information!
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Reblogged this on Misk Cooks and commented:
Lots of valuable tips and ideas for food bloggers, or floggers as my fingers continually type …
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I think food blogs are incredibly popular with people who like food…cooking it, eating it, thinking about cooking it, wishing we thought less about it…….speciality food blogs will attract a special audience, so I guess the wider the interest in the topic the wider your reach…baking and bread seem ever popular
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Reblogged this on driftersonline.com.
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I think food, travel and personal style blogs are the most popular nowadays. It might derive from the fact that those topics are things that each of us encounters every day, plus they inspire us. The posts at The Daily Post have inspired me to try myself on this area. I’m curious how things’ll turn out and hopefully I’ll meet some people who like my posts and share my interests^^
Happy blogging to everyone 🙂
And if someone got curious, here you go 😉
http://www.petitesaigon.wordpress.com
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My wife watches the Food Network all the time, and I am even getting hooked. We are a nation of eaters!
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When I read a food blog, I not only appreciate the recipe and a tutorial with tips on how to make it, I also enjoy the story behind it. For what occasion did you make it? What other foods and drinks did you serve it with? Were any of the ingredients purchased at a farmers’ market or grown in your garden? What were peoples’ reactions to the dish? On my own blog, I like to combine two of my favorite things — food and books — into a single post.
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