Generate recipes from fridge photos using GPT-4 Vision & Telegram

This n8n template demonstrates a multi-modal AI recipe assistant that suggests delicious recipes based on user input, delivered via Telegram. The workflow can uniquely handle two types of input: a photo of your ingredients or a simple text list.

Use cases are many: Get instant dinner ideas by taking a photo of your fridge contents, reduce food waste by finding recipes for leftover ingredients, or create a fun and interactive service for a cooking community or food delivery app!

Good to know

• This workflow uses two different AI models (one for vision, one for text generation), so costs will be incurred for each execution. See OpenRouter Pricing or your chosen model provider's pricing page for updated info.
• The AI prompts are in English, but the final recipe output is configured to be in Japanese. You can easily change the language by editing the prompt in the Recipe Generator node.

How it works

1. The workflow starts when a user sends a message or an image to your bot on Telegram via the Telegram Trigger.
2. An IF node intelligently checks if the input is text or an image.
3. If an image is sent, the AI Vision Agent analyzes it to identify ingredients. A Structured Output Parser then forces this data into a clean JSON list.
4. If text is sent, a Set node directly prepares the user's text as the ingredient list.
5. Both paths converge, providing a standardized ingredient list to the Recipe Generator agent. This AI acts as a professional chef to create three detailed recipes.
6. Crucially, a second Structured Output Parser takes the AI's creative text and formats it into a reliable JSON structure (with name, difficulty, instructions, etc.). This ensures the output is always predictable and easy to work with.
7. A final Set node uses a JavaScript expression to transform the structured recipe data into a beautiful, emoji-rich, and easy-to-read message.
8. The formatted recipe suggestions are sent back to the user on Telegram.

How to use

• Configure the Telegram Trigger with your own bot's API credentials.
• Add your AI provider credentials in the OpenAI Vision Model and OpenAI Recipe Model nodes (this template uses OpenRouter, but it can be swapped for a direct OpenAI connection).

Requirements

• A Telegram account and a bot token.
• An AI provider account that supports vision and text models, such as OpenRouter or OpenAI.

Customising this workflow

• Modify the prompt in the Recipe Generator to include dietary restrictions (e.g., "vegan," "gluten-free") or to change the number of recipes suggested.
• Swap the Telegram nodes for Discord, Slack, or a Webhook to integrate this recipe bot into a different platform or your own application.
• Connect to a recipe database API to supplement the AI's suggestions with existing recipes.