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 NOT Turkey and Shrimp Jambalaya
Chicken-Pasta Salad NOT Chicken and Pasta Salad
Beef and Red Onion Bake NOT Beef-Red Onion Bake
Wild Rice and Bulgur Pilaf NOT Wild Rice-Bulgur Pilaf
Beef-Olive Turnovers NOT Beef-and-Olive Turnovers
Artichoke and Dried Tomato Pesto NOT Artichoke-and-Dried-Tomato Pesto
In some cases, keep the “and” and the hyphens for clarity.
Spinach-and-Cheese-Stuffed Eggs
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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