Food & Cooking Instagram Engagement Rate
The average Instagram engagement rate for the Food & Cooking niche is 1.72%. Are your posts performing above or below the industry standard?
Food & Cooking Benchmark (2026)
Recipe videos and cooking tutorials perform exceptionally well on Instagram. Based on data from over 9 million posts across 130,000 accounts.
Check Your Account NowWhy Food & Cooking Averages 1.72%
Every niche on Instagram has a different baseline. Content that is highly educational, inspirational, or emotional tends to generate more "Saves" and "Shares" — which are weighted heavily in the 2026 algorithm.
In the Food & Cooking industry, a 1.72% engagement rate means your content strategy is perfectly aligned with industry norms. If you're below this, you may need to focus more on reference-worthy content (like carousels and checklists) rather than just aesthetic photos.
How to Beat the Benchmark
- 1.Test Your Hooks: The first slide of your carousel determines 80% of its performance.
- 2.Optimize for Saves: Ask yourself: "Would a follower bookmark this to look at later?"
- 3.Check Competitors: Analyze other Food & Cooking creators who are growing faster to see what formats they rely on.