Food Blogging Income Range & 6 Ways They Make Money

In this post we’ve covered

How Much Money Do Food Bloggers Make
Factors Affecting Blog’s Earnings & How You Can Utilize Them
6 Ways You Can Use To Make Money As A Food-based Blogger

How Much Money Do Food Bloggers Make?

Food bloggers make around $3,000 – $50,000 monthly across different categories. This is not a formulated number but based on what we found among real food bloggers. Here you can find some examples of food bloggers and their income reports.

These include blogs that cover topics about, recipes, baking, vegan diet, fruits, etc under foods.

Below are more details about these categories of food bloggers and how much they make;

Beginners: $3,000/month [Before or above 6 months]

Here are the reasons for results like this;

They haven’t lasted long in their niche.
They still have a low number of posts.
They have a low volume of traffic.
They are monetized using a few methods.
They still don’t have enough skills to write a good quality post that will be competitive due to their lack of experience. Most people can’t afford to pay freelancers or don’t know how to do it yet.
They might as well have gone into the wrong niche entirely.

New food-based bloggers need time to learn more and discover what works better to apply them and gradually surpass their current income range.

Average: $10,000/month [Over 12 months]

Here are the reasons for results like this;

They have lasted a little bit longer in their niche and have gained some experience.
They have published an average number of blog posts which is still not very competitive to keep enough audience on their post or make them convert more.
They have gained a few thousand or tens of thousands of visitors monthly due to their gradual organic search growth over time.
They are monetized with two or more methods of monetization.

Average food bloggers still need to stay longer, learn what works better, and develop a strategy to pass their average income range.

They can also surpass this income range if they just continue to publish lots of useful content related to their niche even without following any special strategy.

Established: $50,000+/months [Over 3 years]

Here are the reasons for results like this;

This type of blog has lasted on in its niche and to a good extent understands what works.
Over the years they have published a lot of blog posts.
Over time they have gained trust and consistent traffic.
Within this time as well they have gained topical authority in Google that helps new posts to rank faster.
Due to the consistent traffic, and good implementation of what works that they have learned over time, it fuels their passive monthly income which is not just acquired within a few months.
This type of blog at this stage doesn’t really need to constantly publish new blog posts and would only need to publish once in a while and update its old posts to remain relevant.

Established food bloggers are much more likely to have spent years on their niche, and have discovered and implemented what they now understand to work, which can get them to a $50,000 monthly income.

These earning results are heavily based on the quality [satisfaction rate] of each blog post and how many there are in your blog.

If you pay attention below you will find all the major factors that will help you boost your blog’s monthly revenue.

Factors affecting their earnings & how you can utilize them to the max

If you recognize the functions of these factors and utilize them well enough you can increase your blogging revenue much faster than you would have done without utilizing them;

Content quality or satisfaction rate
Targeted Topics
Number Of Published Posts
Utilized Methods of Monetization
Traffic volume

[1]. Content quality or satisfaction rate – No one has a definition of what quality content is but we all agree is a type of content that satisfies most of its visitors or readers.

Although this can be simply stated it requires considering a lot of small other factors when writing the post itself such as understanding your audience, the value they intend to find in a post, and how you can present that information in an easy way to read, scam or consume it becomes a lot of work in practice.

If you can find a way to do this and align it to the methods you’ve used in monetizing your post, then we can both agree that the conversion rate of those visitors will be high.

[2]. Targeted Topics – Most bloggers, during their early stage just go into publishing any type of content just because it is related to their niche and not because they intend to use those posts to accomplish something to their blog entirely by collectively writing about those topics.

I personally target and select the type of post am going to publish in my niche. Not just because I like or feel good about those topics, but because of how interlinkable they are to one another, and how they can collectively help to increase my affiliate revenue or attract more visitors for higher ad payout while also trying my best to offer value to those visitors as much as I can.

You should always target the type of post you publish to collectively help you achieve your earning or traffic goals while also in the process trying to produce as much value as possible for those readers.

[3]. Number Of Published Posts – Your number of published blog posts clearly matters, even though content quality is king above all other useful metrics. We can’t just deny that quantity is another form of quality overall just on its own which really matters.

Having 10 quality posts that bring in over 10k monthly visitors obviously doubling that to increase its quantity will definitely increase your traffic and earnings.

For example: Two blogs in the same niche have published 100 identical blog posts each but the other surpasses with an additional 100 more blog posts.

Assuming they have the same experience and implemented things the same way the one with 100 additional content is likely to attract more traffic and make more money from their blog.

[4]. Utilized methods of monetization – Some blogs might use one method of monetization while another blog utilizes four. Because of this reason, the other one utilizing four methods is much more likely to make more money than the other one. This is not always true but it happens in most situations for most bloggers.

[5]. Traffic Volume – Increasing your blog’s traffic volume will boost your revenue. Achieving that goal requires a combination of strategies that focus on attracting visitors and then monetizing that traffic effectively. Find “How to increase your blog traffic fast“.

Here’s a breakdown of how increasing your blogs traffic volume can translate to increased revenue:

More Visitors = More Opportunities for Monetization

Ad Revenue (Display Ads): If your blog uses display ads, such as Google AdSense or direct ad sales, increasing traffic means more pageviews, which in turn can increase ad impressions and click-through rates (CTR), leading to more revenue.
Affiliate Marketing: With more readers, you have more opportunities to promote affiliate products, which leads to higher commissions. The more traffic you generate, the more chances there are for conversions from your affiliate links.
Sponsored Content: Brands are willing to pay bloggers with larger audiences to publish sponsored posts. More traffic can increase your attractiveness to potential sponsors.
Selling Products or Services: Increased traffic opens up more opportunities to sell your own products, whether they’re digital products like e-books or courses, physical products, or services like consulting.

In summary, if you can increase your blog’s content quality or satisfaction rate, increase your number of published posts and promote it, it will by default attract more quality traffic, and this type of traffic has a high conversion rate and can increase your blog’s monthly income significantly.

How To Start A Standard Food Blog

To utilize any of the mentioned methods of monetization in this post, you need to follow the below steps to get started and apply them. It’s simple anyone can do it.

Step 1: Use HostGator to get started
Step 2: Choose your preferred HostGator’s plan
Step 3: Choose your preferred domain
Step 4: Create your account, choose your password, and checkout
Step 4: Within your HostGator account “Install WordPress” your blogging platform
Step 5: Within WordPress choose your blog theme [A Pre-built Site]
Step 6: Customize your blog main pages and start publishing blog posts

6 Ways To Monetize Your Food Blog To Make Money

This is the most common method most food bloggers use in monetizing and making money from their blogs and it’s very lucrative.

If you can learn how to make the most out of them you can cash out big just by utilizing at least two of these methods for a start.

Display ads
Affiliate product recommendations
Sponsorships or brand deals
Selling merchandise
Ebook and course sales
Offering freelancing services

[1]. Display Ads

Display ads are the most widely used blog methods of monetization you can use to monetize your food to make money.

You can place ads on your site for free using ad networks like Google AdSense or Mediavine, etc.

As your traffic grows, you will earn revenue based on your impressions [number of ad views] or clicks.

High-traffic food blogs with valuable content can generate consistent income just from display ads.

Even as a beginner, you can easily make up to $8,000/month, if you push hard enough on blog post content creation.

How to make money with display ads on your blog

Step 1: Focus on creating high-quality content, that your audience will find useful and want to stay long on your site.
Step 2: Once your blog starts getting steady traffic (around 10,000 page views/month), sign up for ad networks like Google AdSense or Ezoic. It is not necessary to get to 10,000 monthly page views but this is when your earnings start making sense.
Step 3: Place the ads on your blog in strategic areas like the sidebar, above the fold, or within the content itself, and watch your earnings grow as traffic increases. You can also make this automatic once you create a new post and can also prevent ads from any page you want, you can do this easily.

[2]. Affiliate Product Recommendations

As a food-based blogger, you can promote affiliate products related to foods to make commissions. You can join a single food-related affiliate brand to promote their product or you can also join affiliate networks to find many brands and manage them in one place.

Here are some examples of items you can promote as a food-based blogger;

Kitchen appliances and gadgets: Blenders, food processors, ovens, cookware, and other kitchen essentials.
Ingredients and food products: Organic ingredients, specialty foods, and cooking oils.
Cookbooks and recipe guides: Digital and physical cookbooks, recipe subscriptions, and online courses.
Food blogs and websites: Other food blogs or websites that offer recipes, tips, and inspiration.
Online marketplaces: Amazon, Etsy, and other online marketplaces where people can buy food-related products.
Restaurant and food delivery services: Local restaurants, food delivery apps, and meal subscription services.
Food-related courses and workshops: Online courses on cooking, baking, or nutrition.
Food photography and styling tools: Cameras, lighting equipment, and props for food photography.

You can use affiliate networks like ShareAsale, Impact, CJ, Amazon Associates, etc to find affiliate products and brands to promote.

When readers purchase through your unique affiliate links, you will earn a commission.

This method works well if you produce satisfying content your audience likes and feels can solve their problem. You can make as much as $7,000/month just by recommending food-related affiliate brands & products.

How to recommend affiliate products on your blog

Step 1: Sign up for affiliate programs like Amazon Associates, ShareASale, or health-related affiliate programs or networks.
Step 2: Recommend those products that align with your blog audience and include your unique affiliate links in them.
Step 3: Use strong call-to-actions to encourage your audience to purchase through your links, earning a commission on each sale. You can do this more effectively within posts that align well with affiliate product recommendations.

[3]. Sponsorships or Brand Deals

In simple terms, sponsorships mean that a brand can contact you or that you can contact a brand related to your niche to advertise their product or business in your blog post for an agreed price between you both.

As a food-based blogger, you can collaborate with brands to advertise their products in your blog posts, social media pages, or YouTube videos if you wish to earn more.

In return, you will get paid according to your negotiated commission. These deals are often more lucrative if your blog has grown lots of traffic over time. This is not ideal for complete beginners, but something you can definitely keep in mind as you grow your blog.

On average sponsorship deals within a food blog are usually within $500 – $5,000 and can last as long as one month or more.

You can partner with more than one brand as much as you can manage and control to even make more money.

How to utilize sponsorships or brand deal on your blog

Step 1: Grow your blog traffic first
Step 2: When you’ve reached 20k monthly visitors or more create a page on your site, and make it available in your nav bar above align with your links to your home, page and other important pages, for interested brands interested to contact you if they wish to advertise their brand on your content.
Step 3: If you feel you’ve waited too long you use platforms like, to find and pitch to brands about your blog and get them to sponsor your blog. The higher your blog traffic and the more related it is to a brand you are pitching to the higher the chances of accepting your request to come to come to a deal.

[4]. Selling Merchandise

Merchandises are basically, items bloggers design with their logo on it, mostly in the form of t-shirts, stickers, etc.

Food bloggers often sell merchandise related to their niche.

Merchandises like:

Cookbooks: A compilation of their best recipes.
Kitchenware: Custom-designed aprons, cutting boards, or measuring cups.
Apparel: T-shirts, hats, and other clothing items featuring their logo or branding.
Food-themed items: Mugs, tote bags, stickers, and other items with food-related designs.

These might be complicated for some but it’s not.

Bloggers can use platforms like Printify to design product items like the ones I mentioned above. After the design, they can use their blog to promote the product and make sales while Printify partners handle the order delivery.

Some food bloggers who take this very seriously can set up a dropshipping store within their blog using the Woocommerce plugin within their WordPress blog.

This time around you don’t really need to design the product or add your logo, but just need to import your preferred products to your woocommerce-designed store using third-party product suppliers like AliDropship or Oberlo.

Those suppliers will help you to handle shipping whenever there’s an active order and the actual product price will be deducted from the price you set and you pocket the difference as profit.

How to utilize selling merchandise

Step 1: Identify your niche products your audience would likely love to buy.
Step 2: Set up an online store with Printify to design & sell simple merchandise, or set up a WooCommerce store within your blog to sell a wider category of products you can import from reliable product suppliers.
Step 3: Promote those merchandise in your blog posts, on social media, and through email newsletters, to increase traffic on those products and get you more sales.

[5]. Ebook & Course Sales

As a food, whether you are based on a vegan diet, baking, or beauty-based blogger you can significantly increase your blogging revenue by selling ebooks or a course.

Ebooks & courses are organized content in written forms or as a video on how to do something well.

Their content is usually simple and precise coming from someone who has done the same thing and has had success.

Bloggers would normally show their successes or testimonials from those who have achieved success with their course or ebook as incentives for others to buy.

Examples of niche topics you can create in the form of courses or ebooks as a food blogger;

How to start a successful food blog step-by-step
Knife Skills: Mastering essential knife techniques.
Baking: Cake decorating, bread making, and pastry techniques.
Food Photography: Tips for taking beautiful food photos.
Vegan and Vegetarian Cooking: Recipes and tips for plant-based diets.
Gluten-Free and Allergy-Friendly Recipes: Recipes for those with dietary restrictions.

Steps to create a course or ebook

Step 1: Identify the topic you want to cover [something that has demand and aligns with your blog audience].
Step 2: Learn more about the topic if possible buy a similar course or ebook from a reliable competitor.
Step 3: Divide and outline your course into smaller, manageable sections and determine which topic you’ll cover in each section or module.
Step 4: Create a written copy of each section or record a video to explain each section in order.
Step 5: You will need to edit and cross-check your work which involves adding and removing parts you think don’t fit with video editing software such as Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, or DaVinci Resolve.
Step 6: You can use platforms like, Teachable, Udemy, or Thinkific to host your course or ebook.
Step 7: Promote the page link in your blog and other sharing channels to get more sales.

Note: This is not ideal for beginners till you master your skills and gain some experience.

[6]. Offering Freelancing Services

Some food bloggers offer freelancing services as one of the ways to make money from their blogs.

If you know how to do something well you can use your blog as leverage to get clients especially if it’s a service related to your niche.

Here are some freelancing services you can offer as a blogger based on your skills:

Content creation: Writing blog posts, articles, or social media captions on food-related topics.
Social media management: Managing social media accounts for individuals or businesses.
SEO consulting: Providing search engine optimization (SEO) services to improve client’s website visibility.
Web design and development: Creating and maintaining websites.
Graphic design: Designing logos, graphics, and other visual materials.
Video production: Creating videos for social media, blogs, or YouTube channels.
Event planning: Planning and organizing events, such as parties, weddings, or corporate events.
Copywriting: Writing persuasive and engaging copy for websites, marketing materials, or advertisements.

Food blog freelancers can charge anywhere from $100 – $1,000 in most cases per task, so if you can get 10 clients in a month that pay $300 on average per service charge that’s around $3,000 additional monthly income.

How to offer freelancing service on your blog

Dedicated Freelancing Pages: Create a separate page on your blog specifically outlining the freelancing services you offer, your rates, and how potential clients can contact you.
Portfolio Section: Showcase your previous work and projects to demonstrate your skills and experience.
Contact Form: Make it easy for clients to reach out to you by providing a clear and accessible contact form on your blog.
Social Media: Promote your freelancing services on your social media profiles and engage with potential clients.
Networking: Attend industry events and network with potential clients in your field.
Collaborations: Partner with other bloggers or businesses to offer complementary services or cross-promote each other’s work.
Online Marketplaces: List your freelancing services on online marketplaces like Upwork, Fiverr, or Freelancer.

By effectively promoting your freelancing services on your blog and utilizing these additional channels, you can attract more potential clients and increase your overall blogging revenue.

Note: Working as a freelancer from your blog is not ideal for beginners till you gain experience in your niche and most especially in the skill you are going to offer.

How To Start A Standard Food Blog

To utilize any of the mentioned methods of monetization in this post, you need to follow the below steps to get started and apply them. It’s simple anyone can do it.

Step 1: Use HostGator to get started
Step 2: Choose your preferred HostGator’s plan
Step 3: Choose your preferred domain
Step 4: Create your account, choose your password, and checkout
Step 4: Within your HostGator account “Install WordPress” your blogging platform
Step 5: Within WordPress choose your blog theme [A Pre-built Site]
Step 6: Customize your blog main pages and start publishing blog posts