Top 25: The Most Successful Food Substacks

September 16, 2024

Ben Russell

Founder

There's one thing people will always pay for, and that's great recipes. Food is everything to us humans, so treating yourself to a great recipe and learning something new and impressing yourself, your friends or family always feels great.

For exactly that reason, when Substack launched as one of the early platforms to grow a paid subscriber based for your content, Food was a category that was always going to take off. There are quite a few success stories.

If you're looking to start a food newsletter or subscription platform, you should also check out Clubb. Unlike Substack, it's specifically built for delivering recipes - great recipe pages, shopping lists, meal plans and your own customised search (rather than the attempts at Index pages people have to create on Substack).

If you're just interested in finding out who the top Substacks are, then lets jump straight into the top 10 to kick things off. The largest food substack in terms of free subscribers is 'A Newsletter' by Alison Roman, which has over 300k free subscribers. According to Substack, a good Substack will have 5-10% of subscribers moving onto the paid plan, mean she's likely to have somewhere between 15-30k paid subscribers. At $5/month, that's between $75,000 and $150,000 per month in subscriber revenue. Not bad, ey?

The opportunities to own and grow your audience and build a steady revenue stream are clear to see so if you want to start the ultimate subscription service for you recipes and thoughts - be sure to check out Clubb!

In the mean time, lets first dive into the top 10 Substacks before we move onto the rest of the list.

‍

1. What to Cook

Caroline Chambers
"One ridiculously impressive complete-meal recipe delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning that dirties minimal dishes and requires under an hour of time."

What to Cook includes Carolines weekly paid recipe newsletter, her Podcast and her free 'So Into That' newsletter that covers what she's currently vibing in products, life and pop culture.
‍
Tens of thousands of paid subscribers
$5/month
Visit What to Cook

‍

2. A Newsletter

Alison Roman
"Recipes, stories, and unsolicited advice from Alison Roman."

Alison is a NYT best selling authoer, sharing regular recipes as well as her musings on life.
‍
Tens of thousands of paid subscribers
$5/month
Visit A Newsletter

‍

3. Violet’s Substack

Violet Witchel
"Recipes, meal plans, shopping lists, and more for your food inspiration and organization."

Violet has a real focus on delivering great recipes and meal plans, with a focus on a variety of foods and lots of fresh produce.
‍
Tens of thousands of paid subscribers
$5/month
Visit Violet's Substack

‍‍‍

4. David Lebovitz Newsletter

David Lebovitz
A tasty mix of recipes, Paris food tips, personal stories, and more...

‍
Thousands of paid subscribers
$5/month
Visit David Lebovitz Newsletter

‍

5. Vittles

Vittles
An online magazine based in the UK and India, publishing new food and culture writing.

‍
£5/month
Visit Vittles

‍

6. Restaurant Dropout

Zoe Barrie
Your go-to guide for cooking weekday dinners like a line cook in a restaurant - efficiently and promptly, while never compromising quality.

‍
Thousands of paid subscribers
$6/month
Visit Restaurant Dropout