ChatGPT answers, unedited

For a cooking YouTube channel, you’ll usually want a tool that can do three things:

1. Find popular recipe keywords people are searching for
2. Estimate search demand/volume and competition
3. Analyze tags, titles, and videos already ranking

No tool has perfect access to YouTube’s true search volume, so most platforms provide estimates or modeled data. Use them as research signals rather than exact numbers. OutlierKit WildandFree Tools

Best options for cooking channels

My suggested stack for a cooking channel

If you are just starting:

• YouTube autocomplete (free) → collect recipe ideas
• vidIQ free → check keyword opportunity
• Google Trends → check whether interest is rising
• YouTube Studio → learn what your audience actually searches

If you upload frequently:

• vidIQ + TubeBuddy

• vidIQ: “What recipe should I make?”
• TubeBuddy: “How do I optimize this upload?”

If you want to scrape lots of ideas automatically:

Look at automation/scraping tools such as:

• apify.com — can run custom scrapers for YouTube search suggestions, channels, and metadata (requires more technical setup).
• octoparse.com — visual web scraping workflows without much coding.

For cooking specifically, I’d track these keyword patterns

Instead of only searching “pasta recipe,” collect modifiers:

• “easy ___ recipe”
• “15 minute ___”
• “one pot ___”
• “high protein ___”
• “meal prep ___”
• “restaurant style ___ at home”
• “authentic ___ recipe”
• “air fryer ___”
• “without oven”
• “budget ___ meals”
• “beginner ___ recipe”

These usually reveal stronger video ideas than broad ingredient names.

If you tell me your channel style (e.g., Indian food, baking, vegan, budget meals, keto, shorts, restaurant recreations), I can suggest a keyword research workflow and the exact tags/queries to mine.

For a cooking YouTube channel, I’d use vidIQ as the main tool. It’s particularly suited to what you’re asking for: finding popular search terms, estimated YouTube search volume, competition, related keywords, rising searches, and competitor video data. vidIQ Help Center vidIQ

My shortlist

• vidiq.com — Best overall for your use case.

Its keyword research shows estimated monthly search volume, competition, related terms, questions, and rising keywords. It can also surface tags from competing videos and export keyword data. vidIQ Help Center Ahrefs

• tubebuddy.com — Best if tags and bulk channel management matter.

Its Keyword Explorer works inside the YouTube workflow, and paid tiers add more optimization and bulk-management features. vidIQ vidIQ

• keywordtool.io — Best for generating lots of long-tail cooking searches.

Useful for finding variations such as easy chicken dinner, high protein chicken recipe, air fryer chicken breast, etc. Paid plans add estimated YouTube volume, historical trends, bulk research, and exports. vidIQ

• YouTube Studio Trends — Best free source from YouTube itself.

The Trends tab lets you explore what viewers are searching for and use those searches for video ideas. Google Help

What I'd actually do

For a cooking channel, I'd use:

YouTube Studio Trends → vidIQ → YouTube search/competitor videos

For example, start with “chicken recipes” in vidIQ and look for combinations with good demand but manageable competition:

chicken recipes
→ easy chicken recipes
→ easy chicken dinner
→ one pan chicken dinner
→ high protein chicken recipe
→ air fryer chicken thighs
→ crispy chicken thighs air fryer

Then look at which specific phrases have rising demand and what videos are already getting traction, rather than simply stuffing every popular tag into your upload. vidIQ explicitly provides rising-keyword and competitor/outlier research for this workflow. vidIQ Help Center vidIQ

One important caveat: YouTube doesn't publish an official exact monthly search-volume number, so third-party volume figures should be treated as estimates rather than precise measurements. outlierkit.com

If you tell me what kind of cooking channel you have (e.g. Indian, healthy/high-protein, baking, budget meals, air fryer, BBQ), I can give you a keyword/tag research workflow specifically for that niche, including the exact columns I'd track in a spreadsheet.

For a cooking YouTube channel, I’d start with vidIQ. It provides estimated search volume, competition, related keywords, trends, and competitor research. vidIQ vidIQ

• vidIQ — best all-around for finding popular cooking keywords and trends.
• TubeBuddy — particularly useful for tags and optimizing an existing video library. vidIQ
• OutlierKit — useful if you want to identify low-competition topics and videos outperforming their channels. outlierkit.com
• YouTube Studio + Google Trends — free foundation; Studio shows the search terms actually generating impressions for your channel. tubeanalytics.net

My suggested stack: vidIQ + YouTube Studio. Search volume from third-party tools is estimated, so validate promising ideas against YouTube autocomplete and your own Studio data. outlierkit.com

If your main goal is finding popular cooking keywords/tags + estimating YouTube search volume before making videos, I’d rank them:

1. vidiq.com — Best overall

• Search-volume estimates
• Competition/opportunity scores
• Related keywords and tag ideas
• Trending/rising topics
• Competitor and high-performing-video research
• Particularly good for deciding what cooking videos to make, not just optimizing existing ones. vidIQ vidIQ
• tubebuddy.com — Best for tags + optimization

• Keyword Explorer
• Tag suggestions
• SEO optimization
• Bulk metadata/tag management
• Good choice if you already have a large library of cooking videos. vidIQ
• outlierkit.com — Best for finding underserved cooking topics

• Looks for keywords/topics where demand exists but competition is relatively weak.
• Useful for finding opportunities such as “easy high-protein breakfast” rather than competing directly for something enormous like “chicken recipe.”
• Current reviews highlight its outlier detection and low-competition research as its major strength. OutlierKit Market Correct
• studio.youtube.com — Essential free tool

• Shows the actual search terms that are generating impressions/traffic for your videos.
• This is extremely valuable because third-party search-volume numbers are estimates; your own Studio data tells you what your audience is actually searching for. TubeAnalytics
• trends.google.com — Best for seasonality

• Great for spotting things like Thanksgiving recipes, Christmas baking, summer grilling, pumpkin recipes, etc.
• I'd use it alongside a YouTube-specific tool rather than by itself.

What I'd use for a cooking channel

Best setup: vidIQ + YouTube Studio + Google Trends.

For example, suppose you want to make a video about chicken:

vidIQ research
→ chicken dinner
→ easy chicken dinner
→ one pan chicken dinner
→ high protein chicken dinner
→ air fryer chicken dinner
→ chicken dinner for two

Then compare volume + competition + trend, rather than simply choosing the keyword with the largest volume.

Then look at competing videos and ask:

"Which cooking videos are getting unusually high views relative to the size of the channel?"

That is often more useful than simply chasing the highest-volume keyword.

One important point: don't over-focus on tags. Tags are useful supporting metadata, but your topic, title, thumbnail, viewer satisfaction, and actual search intent matter much more. TubeAnalytics

If you tell me what kind of cooking channel you have (e.g. Indian recipes, healthy meals, baking, air fryer, budget meals, BBQ, etc.) and roughly how many subscribers you have, I can give you a specific keyword-research workflow and show you exactly what metrics I'd target for your channel.

If your goal is a cooking YouTube channel and you specifically want to find popular tags/keywords + estimated search volume + low-competition opportunities, I’d narrow it to these:

My picks

• vidiq.com — Best overall

• Search-volume estimates
• Keyword/competition scores
• Related keywords and tag ideas
• Competitor research
• Trend detection and video ideas
• Particularly useful for finding things like “easy chicken dinner,” “high protein breakfast,” “air fryer recipes,” etc. vidIQ vidIQ
• tubebuddy.com — Best for tags + optimization

• Keyword Explorer
• Tag suggestions
• Competitor/tag research
• Bulk metadata optimization
• Good choice if you're already producing lots of videos and want to optimize them efficiently. vidIQ Ahrefs
• outlierkit.com — Best for finding underserved topics

• Focuses heavily on finding low-competition keywords and videos that dramatically outperform their channels.
• This is interesting for a cooking channel because you can identify recipe topics where relatively small channels are getting unusually high views. OutlierKit
• trends.google.com — Best free trend check

• Use the YouTube Search data source.
• Great for comparing things like air fryer chicken vs. air fryer salmon and seeing seasonality/rising interest.
• It doesn't give absolute search volume, though. Trends MCP
• YouTube Studio — Essential and free

• Once you have videos published, Studio shows the actual search terms that are bringing people to your videos.
• That's much more valuable for your own channel than relying exclusively on third-party volume estimates. vidIQ

What I'd use for a cooking channel

If you only want one paid tool: → vidIQ.

I'd use this workflow:

YouTube autocomplete → vidIQ → competitor videos → Google Trends → YouTube Studio

For example, start with:

chicken recipes

Then investigate variations such as:

• easy chicken recipes
• chicken dinner recipes
• high protein chicken recipes
• chicken meal prep
• air fryer chicken
• crispy chicken
• chicken breast recipes
• 30 minute chicken dinner

Instead of simply choosing the keyword with the highest search volume, look for high demand + relatively low competition + a video format you can execute better. Also, don't over-focus on tags: tags are supporting metadata; the topic, title, thumbnail, content and viewer satisfaction matter considerably more. TubeAnalytics

One important caveat: YouTube doesn't publish an official absolute monthly search-volume number, so the volume figures from vidIQ, TubeBuddy and similar services are estimates. Treat them as comparative signals rather than exact numbers. OutlierKit Ahrefs

If you tell me your cooking niche (e.g. Indian, Italian, healthy, air fryer, baking, budget meals, high-protein), I can also give you a specific keyword-research workflow and 20–30 tags/topics to investigate first.

For a cooking YouTube channel, you’ll get the best results by combining YouTube keyword research + competitor tag analysis + trend tracking. No tool has perfect YouTube search volume (YouTube does not publish exact numbers), so treat volume estimates as directional rather than guaranteed. OutlierKit WildandFree Tools

Here are the strongest options:

🥇 Best overall: vidIQ

vidiq.com

Best for: finding recipe keywords, trending food topics, competitor research.

Useful features:

• YouTube keyword volume estimates
• Competition scores
• Related search terms
• Competitor video analysis
• Tag suggestions
• Trending topic discovery

Example searches:

• “air fryer chicken thighs”
• “high protein meal prep”
• “easy dinner recipes”
• “Korean street food”
• “sourdough starter”

vidIQ specifically provides YouTube-focused keyword data, including search volume, competition, and related keywords. vidIQ

🥈 Best for tags + optimizing uploads: TubeBuddy

tubebuddy.com

Best for: creators who already have many videos and want to improve metadata.

Good for:

• Tag suggestions
• SEO checks
• Updating old videos
• Testing titles/thumbnails
• Bulk workflow improvements

For a cooking channel with 50+ uploads, TubeBuddy can save a lot of time. Market Correct

🥉 Best for serious keyword research: Ahrefs

ahrefs.com

Best for: understanding broader search demand.

Useful when your cooking content overlaps with Google searches:

• “how to make ramen broth”
• “best cast iron skillet recipes”
• “meal prep ideas for weight loss”

Ahrefs can help identify keyword opportunities and compare search demand, though it is more SEO-focused than YouTube-native. Ahrefs

Good free stack (works surprisingly well)

1. YouTube autocomplete

• Type: - “chicken…”
• “pasta…”
• “easy vegan…”
• Collect phrases people actually type.
• Google Trends

• Compare: - “air fryer recipes” vs “slow cooker recipes”
• “high protein meals” vs “meal prep”
• YouTube Studio → Research tab

• See what your audience is searching for.

For a cooking channel, I’d use this workflow:

Before filming

1. Put your recipe idea into vidIQ.
2. Find: - high demand
3. lower competition
4. specific phrases

Example:

❌ Broad:

Chicken recipe

✅ Better:

Crispy air fryer chicken thighs no breading

Before uploading

Research:

• 3–5 main keywords
• 10–20 related tags
• competitor titles

Example tags:

air fryer chicken thighs
easy chicken dinner
crispy chicken recipe
healthy dinner ideas
30 minute meals
high protein recipes

My recommendation by channel size:

• New/small cooking channel: vidIQ + YouTube autocomplete
• Growing channel (10k–100k subs): vidIQ + TubeBuddy
• Food business / SEO-focused channel: Ahrefs + vidIQ

For most cooking creators, I’d start with vidIQ because it directly matches the problem: “What recipes are people searching for on YouTube right now?” vidIQ

I can also give you a **** (spreadsheet format) with columns for search volume, competition, tags, title ideas, and video priority.

If your main goal is finding popular cooking keywords/tags + estimated YouTube search volume before you make videos, I’d rank the options like this:

1. vidiq.com — Best overall

• Shows estimated YouTube search volume, competition, related keywords, and trends.
• Particularly useful for discovering phrases such as “easy chicken dinner,” “air fryer recipes,” “high protein breakfast,” etc.
• Its Keyword Inspector works directly while browsing YouTube. vidIQ vidIQ
• My pick for a cooking channel.
• tubebuddy.com — Best for tags + optimizing existing videos

• Keyword Explorer, tag suggestions, SEO optimization, and bulk metadata editing.
• Better choice if you have a large backlog of cooking videos you want to optimize. vidIQ vidIQ
• outlierkit.com — Best for finding underserved cooking topics

• More focused on finding low-competition opportunities and videos that outperform their channels.
• Interesting if you're trying to discover “this recipe is getting huge views despite the channel being small” opportunities. OutlierKit
• studio.youtube.com — Essential free tool

• Doesn't give you the same broad keyword-volume research as vidIQ, but it tells you which actual search terms are already bringing impressions/views to your videos.
• I'd use this even if you pay for another tool. TubeAnalytics

What I'd use for a cooking channel

vidIQ + YouTube Studio is probably the best combination.

For example, before making a video about chicken:

chicken recipes
easy chicken recipes
easy chicken dinner
high protein chicken recipes
air fryer chicken
crispy chicken thighs
chicken breast recipes
easy chicken dinner for family

I'd use vidIQ to compare search volume + competition + trend, then look at the actual YouTube results to see whether relatively small cooking channels are getting significant views.

One important caveat: YouTube doesn't publish an official public search-volume number, so the volumes shown by third-party tools are estimates. Use them for comparing keywords rather than treating them as exact counts. OutlierKit

If you tell me your cooking channel's niche (e.g. Indian food, healthy meals, baking, BBQ, air fryer, budget meals, etc.) and roughly how many subscribers you have, I can also give you a keyword-research strategy specifically for your channel, including what search-volume range I'd target and how I'd turn the keywords into video titles.

For a cooking YouTube channel, I’d prioritize tools that give you keyword/search-volume estimates + competition + competitor tags + rising trends, rather than a tool that only generates tags.

My picks

1. vidiq.com — Best overall

• Search-volume estimates and keyword competition
• Related keywords and rising searches
• Competitor research and tag discovery
• Particularly useful for finding opportunities such as “easy chicken dinner,” “high protein breakfast,” “air fryer recipes,” etc.
• vidIQ currently says its keyword data includes volume, trend direction, competition, and an opportunity score. vidIQ vidIQ

My choice if you're serious about growing the channel.

2. tubebuddy.com — Best for optimizing videos you already have

• Keyword Explorer
• Search-volume and competition indicators
• Tag suggestions
• Bulk metadata optimization
• Strong integration with the YouTube workflow. TubeBuddy

I'd choose this over vidIQ if you have a large existing library of cooking videos and want to optimize lots of them.

3. trends.google.com — Best free trend checker

• Free
• Lets you compare things like “air fryer chicken” vs. “baked chicken”
• You can specifically use the YouTube Search dataset
• Excellent for spotting seasonal cooking trends. Wild and Free Tools
• keywordtool.io — Best for finding lots of long-tail ideas

• Good for generating variations around a seed phrase.
• For example, start with chicken recipes and uncover phrases around easy, healthy, air fryer, for dinner, for beginners, etc.
• The free version is mainly for keyword discovery; useful volume data is paid. Wild and Free Tools

What I'd actually use

For your cooking channel, I'd use this stack:

YouTube autocomplete → vidIQ → Google Trends → YouTube Studio

For example, suppose you're thinking about making a video on chicken:

Seed: chicken recipes

vidIQ might help you identify high-opportunity searches such as:

• easy chicken recipes
• chicken breast recipes
• air fryer chicken
• high protein chicken recipes
• easy chicken dinner
• chicken meal prep

Then Google Trends tells you which ones are gaining or losing interest, while YouTube Studio tells you what your own viewers are actually searching for. YouTube Studio is especially valuable because its search-term data reflects your real channel rather than a third-party estimate. TubeAnalytics

One important caveat: YouTube doesn't publish an official absolute search-volume number, so the volume figures from vidIQ, TubeBuddy, etc. are estimates. Treat them as directional rather than exact. OutlierKit

If you want just one

Start with vidIQ. For a cooking channel specifically, its combination of search volume + competition + rising keywords + competitor research is probably the most useful all-in-one setup. vidIQ

If you tell me your cooking niche (e.g. Indian, healthy, budget, air fryer, desserts, Southern, meal prep, etc.) and roughly how many subscribers you have, I can also give you a specific keyword-research workflow and the 10–20 metrics I'd use to decide which recipe to film next.

If your goal is specifically finding popular cooking keywords/tags + estimating YouTube search volume, I’d narrow it down to these:

1. vidiq.com — Best overall

• Shows estimated YouTube monthly search volume, competition, related keywords, and rising searches.
• Particularly good for discovering what to make next, not just optimizing an existing video.
• Its keyword data is updated frequently; the current tool reports YouTube search-volume estimates and trend data. vidIQ
• My pick for a cooking channel.
• tubebuddy.com — Best for tags/SEO

• Keyword Explorer gives search volume, competition, keyword scores and related suggestions.
• Its Search Explorer works directly while browsing YouTube and can show related keywords and information about the tags/strategies used by ranking videos. TubeBuddy TubeBuddy
• Especially useful if you want to extract ideas from successful cooking videos and optimize your own metadata.
• trends.google.com — Best free trend checker

• Excellent for determining whether something like “air fryer chicken,” “high protein recipes,” or “Dubai chocolate” is gaining or losing interest.
• Use the YouTube Search option rather than relying only on general Google trends.
• I would use this alongside vidIQ rather than as your primary keyword-volume tool.

What I'd use for your channel

vidIQ + Google Trends is probably the strongest combination.

For example, if you're considering a video about chicken:

chicken recipes → easy chicken dinner → high protein chicken → air fryer chicken breast → crispy chicken breast → meal prep chicken

I'd compare each for search volume + competition + trend direction, then choose a more specific phrase where demand is good but competition isn't overwhelming.

One important caveat: YouTube doesn't publish exact public search-volume numbers, so the monthly-search figures from vidIQ/TubeBuddy are estimates rather than Google's equivalent of an exact search count. TubeBuddy explicitly describes its numbers as estimates. support.tubebuddy.com tubebuddyhelp.zendesk.com

If you tell me what kind of cooking channel you have (e.g. Indian, keto, easy dinners, baking, air fryer, high-protein, BBQ), I can also give you a keyword-research workflow specifically for that niche, including the tags/keywords I'd investigate first.

For a cooking YouTube channel, I’d prioritize tools that can do three things: find popular cooking searches, estimate search volume/competition, and show what tags/keywords successful videos are using.

My picks

1. vidiq.com — Best overall

• YouTube-specific keyword research with estimated search volume, competition, trends, and related queries.
• Can inspect competitor keywords/tags directly while browsing YouTube.
• Particularly good for turning a broad idea like “chicken recipes” into more specific opportunities such as easy chicken dinner, high protein chicken recipe, etc. vidIQ vidIQ
• My choice if you only want one paid tool.
• tubebuddy.com — Best for tags + optimizing existing videos

• Stronger workflow for tag suggestions, SEO optimization and bulk changes across an existing channel.
• I'd choose this over vidIQ if you already have lots of videos and want to optimize your back catalog. vidIQ
• outlierkit.com — Best for finding underserved topics

• Useful if your goal isn't just “what's popular?” but “what popular cooking topics have relatively weak competition?”
• Its focus is search volume + competition/outlier analysis. OutlierKit
• studio.youtube.com — Best free option

• Don't overlook YouTube's own Trends tab. It shows searches based on your audience and broader YouTube activity, including top searches and trending topics. Google Help
• This is especially valuable because it uses data associated with your actual audience rather than relying entirely on third-party estimates.

What I'd use for a cooking channel

YouTube Studio + vidIQ is probably the sweet spot.

For example, before making a video about “air fryer chicken,” I'd research:

Then I'd look at competitor videos that are getting unusually high views for their channel size, rather than simply copying the tags from the biggest channels.

One important caveat: YouTube does not publish an official public monthly-search-volume number, so third-party “search volume” figures should be treated as estimates. OutlierKit

If you tell me what kind of cooking channel you have (e.g. Indian, Mexican, baking, healthy/high-protein, budget meals, BBQ, air fryer, etc.) and roughly how many subscribers you have, I can recommend the best tool/setup specifically for your channel and give you a keyword-research workflow.

If your goal is finding popular cooking topics, tags, and estimated YouTube search volume before you make videos, I’d rank the options like this:

🥇 My pick: vidIQ

For a cooking channel, vidIQ is probably the one I'd start with. Its current keyword tools provide YouTube-specific search volume, competition, related keywords, and trend information, and its Keyword Inspector works directly while you're browsing YouTube. vidIQ vidIQ Help Center

For example, you could research:

• easy chicken dinner
• air fryer chicken
• high protein breakfast
• 3 ingredient dessert
• crispy potatoes
• meal prep ideas
• southern comfort food
• easy dinner recipes
• what to make with chicken breast

Then look for high demand + relatively low competition, rather than simply chasing the biggest keyword.

🥈 If tags are your main concern: TubeBuddy

TubeBuddy is particularly useful if you already have lots of videos and want to optimize tags/metadata in bulk. Its Keyword Explorer and SEO workflow are useful, although I'd favor vidIQ for deciding what videos to make. vidIQ LensPOV

🥉 If you want to find "hidden" cooking opportunities: OutlierKit

This is interesting for a growing channel because it focuses heavily on outlier videos and low-competition keywords—i.e., finding videos that dramatically outperform the channel's normal views. That can be more useful than simply finding a keyword with huge search volume. OutlierKit

One important catch about "search volume"

No third-party tool has perfect official YouTube keyword-volume numbers because YouTube doesn't publish per-keyword search volume. Some services estimate it from YouTube data; others use Google volume as a proxy. Keywords Everywhere OutlierKit

So I wouldn't choose a video solely because a tool says "50,000 searches/month."

For cooking, I'd use this workflow:

vidIQ → find keyword → check competing videos → look for outliers → check Google Trends → make the video → use YouTube Studio to see which searches actually brought viewers.

YouTube Studio is especially valuable because it gives you the actual search terms that are generating impressions for your channel, rather than an industry estimate. TubeAnalytics

If you tell me your cooking channel's niche (e.g. Southern food, healthy meals, Indian food, baking, budget meals, air fryer, etc.) and roughly how many subscribers you have, I can give you a specific keyword/tag research system and a list of 30–50 cooking keywords to investigate first.

If your goal is specifically finding popular cooking tags/keywords + estimating YouTube search volume, I’d narrow it to these:

1. vidiq.com — Best overall

• Shows estimated search volume, competition, keyword score, related keywords, questions, and rising keywords.
• Particularly useful for discovering things like easy dinner recipes, high protein breakfast, air fryer chicken, etc.
• You can also export keyword research to CSV. vidIQ Help Center
• My pick for a cooking channel.
• tubebuddy.com — Best for tags + optimizing existing videos

• Good keyword research and tag suggestions.
• Particularly useful if you have a lot of existing videos and want to optimize them in bulk.
• Compared with vidIQ, TubeBuddy leans more toward channel-management/optimization workflows. vidIQ LensPOV
• studio.youtube.com — Best free source

• The Trends tab can show what your audience and viewers across YouTube are searching for, including top searches and content gaps. Google Help
• Your Analytics can also show the actual search terms that are bringing impressions/traffic to your videos. Google Help
• This is especially valuable because third-party tools are estimating search volume; YouTube doesn't publish an official monthly-search-volume number. OutlierKit
• outlierkit.com — Worth considering for finding underserved topics

• More focused on identifying low-competition opportunities and outlier videos, rather than simply generating a huge list of tags. OutlierKit
• I'd consider this if you're trying to find what cooking videos to make next, not merely optimize tags.

What I'd use for a cooking channel

YouTube Studio + vidIQ is the combination I'd start with.

For each video idea, I'd research:

Topic → search volume → competition → related long-tail keywords → competing videos → final title

For example, instead of targeting the extremely broad "chicken recipe", you might discover:

• easy chicken dinner
• crispy chicken thighs
• air fryer chicken breast
• high protein chicken dinner
• one pan chicken and rice
• easy chicken recipe for beginners

Then I'd choose the keyword with the best combination of demand + achievable competition, rather than simply stuffing the maximum number of tags into the video. YouTube says search ranking considers relevance of the title/description/content and engagement, so tags alone aren't the main growth lever. Google Help vidIQ Help Center

If you tell me your cooking niche (e.g. Indian, Mexican, healthy, baking, air fryer, family meals, budget recipes, etc.) and roughly how many subscribers you have, I can also give you a specific keyword-research workflow and the best tool/plan for your channel size.

For a cooking channel, you’ll get the best results by combining a YouTube keyword/tag tool with trend and competitor research. No tool has perfect YouTube search volume because YouTube does not publicly release exact keyword volumes, so treat numbers as estimates and compare opportunities rather than chasing exact counts. OutlierKit WildandFree Tools

Here are the strongest options:

🥇 Best overall: vidiq.com

Best for: finding popular recipe keywords, competitor tags, and video ideas.

Good for cooking topics like:

• “easy chicken recipes”
• “air fryer dinner”
• “high protein meal prep”
• “Italian pasta recipes”
• “Christmas desserts”

Features:

• Keyword volume estimates
• Competition scores
• Related search terms
• Competitor video analysis
• Trending topic discovery

vidIQBest workflow: Search a recipe idea → find related keywords → check competing videos → build your title around the highest-opportunity phrase.

🥈 Best for tags and bulk optimization: tubebuddy.com

Best for: improving existing videos.

Useful features:

• Tag suggestions
• SEO checklist
• Title testing
• Updating old videos at scale

It is less about discovering the next viral recipe and more about optimizing uploads you already have. Market Correct

🥉 Best for serious keyword research: ahrefs.com

Best for: creators who also care about Google search traffic.

Great for:

• “best sourdough starter recipe”
• “how to freeze lasagna”
• “meal prep recipes for beginners”

It is stronger for broader SEO research than YouTube-only discovery. Market Correct

💰 Best free stack

Use these together:

1. YouTube Studio Research tab

• Shows what your own viewers are searching for.
• Best source for your channel-specific opportunities. TubeAnalytics
• YouTube autocomplete

• Type: - “chicken ___”
• “easy ___ recipe”
• “dessert without ___”
• Save the suggestions.
• Google Trends

• Check seasonal food spikes: - pumpkin recipes → fall
• grilling → summer
• cookies → holidays

For a cooking channel, I’d use this exact setup:

If you are under 10k subscribers:

• vidiq.com
• YouTube autocomplete
• YouTube Studio

Focus on low competition long-tail recipes, such as:

• “10 minute garlic butter shrimp recipe”
• “easy Korean lunch box ideas”
• “high protein breakfast meal prep”

If you already have a large audience:

• ahrefs.com + vidiq.com
• Analyze competitors
• Build recipe clusters

A few cooking-specific keywords I would research first:

• “easy dinner recipes”
• “30 minute meals”
• “one pot recipes”
• “air fryer recipes”
• “meal prep”
• “budget meals”
• “high protein recipes”
• “copycat restaurant recipes”
• “slow cooker recipes”
• “beginner baking”

For a food channel, titles and thumbnails usually matter more than tags; tags help categorize videos, but they are not the main discovery driver. TubeAnalytics

I can also give you a cooking-channel keyword research workflow (with a spreadsheet template) if you want to systematically find video ideas with high demand and lower competition.

If your main goal is finding popular cooking keywords/tags + estimating YouTube search volume, I’d narrow it to these:

🥇 My pick: vidIQ

vidiq.com

For a cooking channel, I'd use vidIQ first. It provides estimated search volume, competition, related keywords, trend direction, and competitor/tag research. vidIQ

For example, instead of just targeting:

chicken recipe

you could research variations like:

• easy chicken dinner
• crispy chicken recipe
• one pot chicken
• air fryer chicken breast
• chicken dinner ideas
• high protein chicken recipe
• easy chicken recipes for family

Then compare volume vs. competition and choose topics where demand is substantial but you're not competing against enormous channels.

🥈 TubeBuddy

tubebuddy.com

I'd choose TubeBuddy if you're particularly interested in tags and optimizing lots of existing videos. Its Keyword Explorer provides search/competition data, related terms and tag suggestions, and it integrates directly into YouTube. TubeBuddy vidIQ

Don't overlook YouTube itself

YouTube Studio now has a Trends tab that shows what your audience and viewers across YouTube are searching for, including top searches and content gaps. Google Support

support.google.com

One important caveat: YouTube doesn't publish an official monthly-search-volume number, so third-party "search volume" figures are estimates. Use them for comparing keywords rather than treating them as exact counts. OutlierKit

What I'd use for a cooking channel

Free: YouTube Studio Trends + YouTube autocomplete + Google Trends.

Paid: vidIQ for keyword/topic discovery, then YouTube Studio for validating how your own videos perform.

If you tell me what kind of cooking channel you have (e.g. Southern food, Indian recipes, healthy meals, baking, air fryer, budget meals), I can also give you a keyword-research system specifically for cooking videos, including what search-volume range I'd target and how I'd turn the keywords into titles/tags.

For a cooking YouTube channel, I’d prioritize tools that show YouTube search volume + competition + competitor tags/keywords + rising topics, rather than a tool that only generates hashtags.

My picks

1. vidiq.com — Best overall

• Shows estimated YouTube search volume, competition, keyword score, related searches, questions, and rising keywords.
• Can also inspect tags used by competing videos.
• Particularly good for finding opportunities like “easy chicken dinner” → “easy chicken dinner for two” where the narrower phrase may be easier to target.
• Its search-volume estimates are based on a rolling period, so treat them as estimates rather than official YouTube numbers. vidIQ Help Center vidIQ Help Center
• tubebuddy.com — Best for optimization

• Good Keyword Explorer, tag suggestions, SEO tools and bulk editing.
• I'd choose this over vidIQ if you already have a large library of cooking videos and want to optimize lots of existing uploads. vidIQ
• outlierkit.com — Best for finding underserved topics

• More focused on discovering low-competition opportunities and outlier videos rather than simply giving you a huge keyword list.
• Useful for finding cooking topics where relatively small channels are getting unusually high views. OutlierKit
• YouTube Studio + Google Trends — Best free combination

• YouTube Studio tells you the actual search terms already generating impressions/views for your channel.
• Google Trends can show whether a cooking topic is gaining or losing interest.
• YouTube autocomplete is also worth using because it reflects phrases people are actually entering. TubeAnalytics vidIQ

What I'd use for a cooking channel

If you're willing to pay:
vidIQ + YouTube Studio

I'd use vidIQ to research:

chicken recipes → easy chicken recipes → easy chicken breast recipes → easy chicken breast recipes for dinner

Then compare volume vs. competition, and look at the videos currently ranking.

One important point: don't over-focus on tags. YouTube says tags play a relatively small role in discovery; they're more useful for things like misspellings and additional context. Your topic, title, thumbnail, viewer satisfaction, and watch behavior matter considerably more. vidIQ Help Center

If you tell me what kind of cooking channel you have (e.g. Indian, Italian, baking, air fryer, healthy meals, Southern, meal prep) and whether you make Shorts, long-form, or both, I can give you a specific keyword/tag research workflow and the best tool for your niche.

If your main goal is finding popular cooking tags/keywords + estimated YouTube search volume, I’d shortlist these:

🥇 My pick: vidIQ

vidIQ YouTube Keyword Tools

For a cooking channel, I'd start with vidIQ. It provides YouTube-specific search volume, competition, related queries, rising keywords, and keyword scores. It can also show keyword information while you're browsing YouTube. vidiq.com

For example, you could research:

• easy chicken dinner
• air fryer chicken
• high protein breakfast
• easy pasta recipe
• meal prep
• sourdough bread
• 30 minute dinner

Then compare volume vs. competition rather than simply grabbing the highest-volume terms.

🥈 If tags are your priority: TubeBuddy

TubeBuddy

TubeBuddy is particularly useful if you already have a backlog of videos and want to suggest, optimize, and manage tags/metadata in bulk. Its keyword research is useful, but I'd favor vidIQ for deciding what cooking videos to make. vidiq.com

💡 A good inexpensive combination

vidIQ + YouTube Studio + Google Trends

YouTube Studio tells you the actual search terms already bringing impressions to your videos, which is more valuable than relying exclusively on third-party volume estimates. www.tubeanalytics.net

And remember: YouTube doesn't publish an official public search-volume number, so third-party volume figures should be treated as estimates. outlierkit.com

For a cooking channel specifically, I'd use this workflow:

vidIQ → find high-demand recipe keywords → inspect competing videos → identify underserved recipe angles → make video → YouTube Studio → see the actual searches generating impressions → feed those terms back into your next videos.

If you tell me what kind of cooking channel you have (e.g. healthy meals, Indian food, baking, Southern food, air fryer, budget meals), I can also give you a keyword/tag research stack specifically for that niche, including which tool I'd pay for and which ones I'd skip.

For a cooking YouTube channel, I’d prioritize tools that give you YouTube search volume + keyword competition + competitor tags + rising topics, rather than a generic hashtag scraper.

My picks

1. vidiq.com — Best overall

• Shows estimated YouTube search volume, competition, keyword scores, related searches and rising keywords.
• Lets you inspect keywords and competitor videos directly while browsing YouTube.
• Particularly useful for finding topics such as “easy chicken dinner,” “high protein breakfast,” “air fryer recipes,” etc.
• vidIQ currently says its keyword data is refreshed daily. vidIQ vidIQ
• My choice if you're serious about growing the channel.
• tubebuddy.com — Best for tags + optimization

• Its Keyword Explorer combines keyword research with tag suggestions and SEO optimization.
• Better choice if you already have lots of videos and want to optimize/bulk-edit them. vidIQ
• Paid plans currently start around $12/month when billed annually, according to a recent comparison. vidIQ
• keywordtool.io — Best for large keyword lists

• Excellent for scraping YouTube autocomplete suggestions.
• Useful when you want hundreds/thousands of variations around a cooking topic.
• Paid plans add estimated search volume, historical trends, bulk research and exports. vidIQ
• Particularly good for finding long-tail phrases like “crispy chicken without breadcrumbs” rather than just broad terms like “chicken recipe.”
• YouTube Studio Trends — Best free option

• YouTube itself now has a Trends area showing what your audience and viewers across YouTube are searching for.
• You can explore top searches and search topics directly in Studio. Google Help
• This is especially valuable because it's based on YouTube's own ecosystem rather than a third-party estimate.

What I'd use for your cooking channel

YouTube Studio + vidIQ is the combination I'd start with.

For each video, I'd research something like:

Seed: chicken recipes
↓
easy chicken recipes
easy chicken dinner
chicken dinner ideas
crispy chicken recipe
high protein chicken recipe
air fryer chicken recipe
30 minute chicken dinner
healthy chicken recipes
one pan chicken recipe

Then compare search volume, competition, trend direction, and the videos currently ranking.

One important point: YouTube doesn't publish an official universal monthly search-volume number, so third-party volume figures should be treated as estimates. OutlierKit And don't over-focus on tags—YouTube says Search ranking also considers how well the title, description and video content match the query, along with engagement. Google Help

If you tell me your cooking niche (e.g. Indian food, meal prep, desserts, air fryer, healthy recipes, BBQ, etc.), I can also give you a specific keyword-research workflow and the best 20–30 tags/keywords to target for your next videos.

For a cooking channel, you want tools that can find:

• YouTube search volume (e.g., “chicken tikka recipe” vs “easy chicken dinner”)
• Trending food topics
• Competitor tags/titles
• Low-competition keywords
• Seasonal searches (Christmas recipes, Ramadan recipes, summer grilling, etc.)

These are the strongest options:

My recommended stack for a cooking creator

If you’re a small/new channel:

1. vidIQ (free tier) → find video ideas and keywords
2. YouTube autocomplete → discover exact phrases viewers type
3. Google Trends (YouTube Search filter) → check if interest is rising
4. YouTube Studio → see the real search terms bringing viewers to your videos

TubeAnalytics WildandFree Tools### If you upload frequently:

Add TubeBuddy for bulk optimization and managing many videos. vidIQ

Example workflow for one recipe video

Suppose your video is “crispy chicken recipe.”

Search variations:

• crispy chicken recipe
• crispy chicken air fryer
• easy crispy chicken dinner
• Korean crispy chicken
• crispy chicken without breadcrumbs
• 10 minute chicken recipe

Then compare:

• Search volume ↑
• Competition ↓
• Trend ↑

A smaller channel often wins by targeting specific long-tail phrases, such as:

• “air fryer crispy chicken thighs”
• “easy chicken recipes for beginners”
• “high protein meal prep chicken”

rather than only “chicken recipe.”

For a cooking channel, I’d start with vidIQ + YouTube Studio + Google Trends. That combination gives you discovery, validation, and real performance data without paying for multiple overlapping tools. vidIQ WildandFree Tools

I can also give you a cooking-channel keyword research template (spreadsheet format) if you want to track recipes, tags, volume, competition, and video ideas.

For a cooking YouTube channel, I’d prioritize tools that show YouTube-specific search demand + competition + related keywords, rather than generic Google SEO tools.

My picks

1. vidiq.com — Best overall

• Shows estimated YouTube search volume, competition, related keywords, and trends.
• Particularly useful for finding things like “easy chicken dinner,” “high protein breakfast,” “air fryer recipes,” etc.
• Its Keyword Inspector works while you're browsing YouTube. vidIQ vidIQ
• My choice if you're serious about growing the channel.
• tubebuddy.com — Best for tags + optimizing existing videos

• Good for tag suggestions, keyword exploration, SEO optimization, and bulk changes across your videos.
• I'd choose it over vidIQ if you already have a large library of cooking videos that you want to optimize. vidIQ
• outlierkit.com — Best for finding underserved topics

• More interesting if your goal isn't merely “what are people searching?” but “what cooking topics have demand that a smaller channel can actually compete for?”
• It combines search-volume information with outlier-video and competition research. OutlierKit
• YouTube Studio — Best free option

• YouTube's Trends tab can show what your audience and viewers across YouTube are searching for.
• Your own Analytics also gives you the most valuable data: the search terms that are actually bringing viewers to your videos. Google Help TubeAnalytics

What I'd use for a cooking channel

If you're starting/small:
YouTube Studio + vidIQ

If you're established:
vidIQ + YouTube Studio + OutlierKit

I wouldn't spend much time obsessing over tags themselves. For cooking videos, I'd use these tools primarily to find high-demand topics and long-tail phrases, then put the strongest phrase naturally into your title, description, spoken content, and thumbnail concept.

For example, instead of simply targeting:

chicken

I'd research variations such as:

• easy chicken dinner
• crispy chicken thighs
• one pot chicken recipe
• high protein chicken dinner
• air fryer chicken breast
• easy chicken recipe for beginners

Then compare search volume vs. competition and look for terms where the demand is good but the current top videos aren't overwhelmingly dominated by huge channels.

If you tell me your cooking niche (e.g. Indian, Italian, healthy/high-protein, baking, air fryer, budget meals) and roughly how many subscribers you have, I can recommend the best tool + exact keyword strategy for your channel.

I'd research variations such as:

• easy chicken dinner
• crispy chicken thighs
• one pot chicken recipe
• high protein chicken dinner
• air fryer chicken breast
• easy chicken recipe for beginners

Then compare search volume vs. competition and look for terms where the demand is good but the current top videos aren't overwhelmingly dominated by huge channels.

If you tell me your cooking niche (e.g. Indian, Italian, healthy/high-protein, baking, air fryer, budget meals) and roughly how many subscribers you have, I can recommend the best tool + exact keyword strategy for your channel.

For a cooking YouTube channel, I’d focus less on “tags” alone and more on keyword demand + competition + viewer intent (what people actually type when they want a recipe). YouTube tags have become a smaller ranking factor; titles, thumbnails, descriptions, retention, and matching search intent matter much more.

Here are the best tools depending on your workflow:

My recommended stack for a cooking channel

If you are small/new (<10k subscribers)

Use:

1. YouTube autocomplete (free) - Type: “chicken…” and collect suggestions: - chicken breast recipes
2. chicken dinner ideas
3. chicken meal prep
4. chicken air fryer recipes
5. vidIQ for competition checks and related keywords. vidIQ
6. Google Trends for seasonality.

If you upload frequently (2–5+ videos/week)

Use:

• vidIQ for topic discovery
• TubeBuddy for optimization and bulk cleanup
• YouTube Studio for what is actually working. Market Correct TubeAnalytics

Cooking-specific keyword research examples

Instead of targeting:

❌ “Pasta recipe”

Try finding opportunities like:

✅ “one pot creamy garlic pasta”
✅ “high protein pasta meal prep”
✅ “15 minute pasta dinner”
✅ “Italian pasta recipe authentic”
✅ “cheap family dinner ideas”

These have clearer search intent and often less competition.

Extra tip: build a keyword bank by category

Create lists for:

• Recipe intent - “how to make ___”
• “easy ___ recipe”
• “authentic ___”
• Problem solving - “what to cook when…”
• “cheap meals for…”
• “meal prep for…”
• Diet trends - keto
• high protein
• low carb
• gluten free
• Equipment searches - air fryer
• Instant Pot
• cast iron
• blender recipes

If I were choosing one paid tool for a cooking channel, I’d start with vidIQ; if you already run a food blog or SEO site, add Ahrefs. vidIQ Market Correct

I can also help you build a YouTube cooking keyword research spreadsheet template (with columns for search volume, competition, video idea, title, and tags).

• Recipe intent - “how to make ___”
• “easy ___ recipe”
• “authentic ___”
• Problem solving - “what to cook when…”
• “cheap meals for…”
• “meal prep for…”
• Diet trends - keto
• high protein
• low carb
• gluten free
• Equipment searches - air fryer
• Instant Pot
• cast iron
• blender recipes

If I were choosing one paid tool for a cooking channel, I’d start with vidIQ; if you already run a food blog or SEO site, add Ahrefs.

For a cooking channel, you want more than a tag generator. The best tools help you find:

• what people are searching on YouTube
• estimated search demand
• competition level
• rising food trends
• competitor video keywords/tags
• content gaps (recipes people want but few creators cover)

Here are the strongest options:

🥇 Best overall: vidiq.com

Best for: YouTube cooking creators who upload regularly

Why it fits cooking:

• Finds keyword ideas like “air fryer chicken thighs,” “high protein meal prep,” “easy Korean recipes”
• Shows search volume estimates, competition, and related queries
• Helps analyze competing cooking channels and their winning topics vidIQ

Good workflow:

1. Enter a recipe idea
2. Find related searches
3. Pick keywords with decent demand + lower competition
4. Use them in title, description, and tags

🥈 Best for tags + channel optimization: tubebuddy.com

Best for: Improving existing videos

Useful features:

• Tag suggestions
• Keyword explorer
• Bulk updates for older videos
• Thumbnail/title testing tools Trends MCP

Example:
Instead of tagging only:

“pasta recipe”

You might discover variations:

• “creamy garlic pasta recipe”
• “15 minute pasta dinner”
• “easy pasta for beginners”

🥉 Best for serious SEO research: ahrefs.com

Best for: Bigger channels or creators planning lots of content

Good for:

• Finding broader search demand
• Researching competitor keywords
• Discovering Google + YouTube opportunities

It is more SEO-focused than cooking-channel-focused, but useful if you want to build a content strategy. Ahrefs

🔥 Best for finding videos that are outperforming: outlierkit.com

Best for: Finding recipe ideas before they become saturated

Useful for:

• Spotting cooking videos getting unusually high views
• Finding low-competition niches
• Discovering formats that smaller channels can compete in OutlierKit

Example discoveries:

• “5 ingredient dinner recipes”
• “budget meals under $5”
• “viral cottage cheese recipes”
• “restaurant copycat recipes”

Free stack (surprisingly effective)

Use:

• YouTube autocomplete — type: - “chicken…”
• “easy dinner…”
• “high protein…”
• “air fryer…”
• trends.google.com with YouTube Search filtering
• Your own YouTube Studio search terms

This gives you real phrases viewers are using, although it won’t give perfect monthly volume numbers. WildandFree Tools

My recommended setup for a cooking channel

If you are under 10k subscribers:

• vidIQ + YouTube autocomplete
• Focus on long-tail recipe searches

If you are 10k–100k subscribers:

• vidIQ + TubeBuddy
• Track competitors and optimize older videos

If you want to build a serious food media brand:

• Ahrefs + OutlierKit + YouTube Studio data

For cooking specifically, I would prioritize search intent over tags. Tags have become a smaller ranking factor; the bigger wins usually come from:

• searchable titles (“Easy 30-Minute Chicken Dinner”)
• strong thumbnails
• matching the exact recipe people are looking for
• high viewer retention

If you tell me your cooking niche (e.g., Indian food, keto, baking, meal prep, budget meals, BBQ, vegan, etc.) and your channel size, I can suggest a keyword-research workflow and tag strategy tailored to it.

If your goal is specifically “find popular cooking topics/tags + estimate search volume + see what’s gaining momentum”, I’d narrow it to these:

*It's your own channel data rather than general market search volume.

🥇 I'd pick vidIQ for a cooking channel

vidiq.com

It combines keyword demand, competition/opportunity scoring, related searches, competitor research and trend discovery. Current 2026 comparisons consistently put it among the strongest all-around YouTube keyword tools. TubeAnalytics YTGrowth

For cooking, you could start with seeds like:

• easy chicken dinner
• high protein breakfast
• air fryer chicken
• sourdough
• 30 minute meals
• meal prep
• easy pasta
• cottage cheese recipes

Then expand them into specific searches such as “high protein chicken pasta,” “easy chicken dinner for family,” “air fryer chicken breast juicy,” etc.

🥈 If your priority is finding what videos to make

outlierkit.com

This is particularly interesting because it combines search-volume information with outlier-video and competition analysis—so instead of simply finding “popular” keywords, you can look for cooking videos that are disproportionately successful relative to the channel producing them. OutlierKit

That's a very useful distinction for a smaller cooking channel.

🆓 Don't overlook the free combination

Use YouTube autocomplete + Google Trends + YouTube Studio.

Google Trends can compare relative interest and identify rising/seasonal searches, while YouTube Studio shows the search terms that are actually generating impressions for your videos. WildandFree Tools TubeAnalytics

trends.google.com

One important caveat: YouTube doesn't publish an official public monthly search-volume number, so the volume figures from third-party tools should be treated as estimates rather than ground truth. OutlierKit WildandFree Tools

What I'd actually do

For a cooking channel, I'd use vidIQ + YouTube Studio, and add Google Trends for seasonal opportunities.

The workflow would be:

Seed recipe → search volume → competition → rising trend → inspect top 10 videos → identify a gap → make the video → measure actual search traffic in Studio.

And don't over-focus on tags. The topic/search intent and title/thumbnail are much more important than stuffing the video with dozens of tags.

If you tell me your cooking niche (e.g. Indian, keto, baking, family meals, air fryer, etc.) and roughly how many subscribers you have, I can recommend the best tool + a concrete keyword-research workflow for your channel size.

For a cooking YouTube channel, I’d prioritize tools that can do three things: YouTube search-volume estimates, competitor/tag research, and trend discovery.

My picks

1. vidiq.com — best overall

• YouTube-specific keyword research
• Search-volume estimates, competition, related keywords, and trend data
• Particularly useful for looking at what successful cooking channels are doing and finding lower-competition opportunities. vidIQ vidIQ
• My pick if you only want one paid tool.
• tubebuddy.com — best for tags/SEO workflow

• Keyword Explorer and tag suggestions
• Stronger than vidIQ for bulk metadata/channel-management tasks
• Good choice if you already have a library of videos and want to optimize lots of them. vidIQ Lens POV
• ahrefs.com — best for serious keyword research

• Gives YouTube keyword ideas and search-volume data
• Excellent for going beyond obvious terms and finding long-tail searches such as "easy chicken dinner for family" rather than just "chicken recipe". Ahrefs Ahrefs
• More expensive/SEO-oriented than most cooking creators need.
• trends.google.com — best free trend checker

• Particularly useful for cooking because food searches are highly seasonal.
• You can compare things like "pumpkin bread" vs. "apple crisp" vs. "banana bread" using the YouTube search filter and identify which topic is gaining momentum. Ahrefs
• YouTube Studio — essential and free

• Don't overlook this. It tells you the search terms that are actually generating impressions for your channel, rather than an external company's estimate. TubeAnalytics

What I'd use for your cooking channel

Best setup:

vidIQ + YouTube Studio + Google Trends

Use vidIQ to discover opportunities → Google Trends to determine whether the food/topic is gaining momentum → YouTube Studio to see what is actually working on your channel.

One important caveat: YouTube doesn't publish official search-volume numbers, so third-party "monthly searches" should be treated as estimates rather than exact counts. OutlierKit Ahrefs

Also, I wouldn't obsess over tags. For YouTube, I'd put much more effort into the topic + title + thumbnail + viewer retention, then use relevant tags as supporting metadata.

If you tell me what kind of cooking channel you have (e.g. easy dinners, baking, Southern food, healthy recipes, air fryer, Indian, meal prep), I can also give you a specific keyword-research workflow and the best 20–30 search terms to start testing.

If your goal is specifically finding popular cooking keywords/tags + estimated YouTube search volume, I’d rank the options like this:

1. vidiq.com — Best overall

• Gives estimated YouTube search volume, competition, trend direction, related keywords, and keyword scores.
• Particularly good for finding opportunities such as “easy chicken dinner,” “high protein breakfast,” or “air fryer recipes” and then drilling into variations.
• Its current keyword tools also surface rising searches and competitor keyword/tag data. vidIQ vidIQ
• My pick for a cooking channel.
• tubebuddy.com — Best for tags + optimizing existing videos

• Keyword Explorer provides volume, competition, related terms and tag suggestions.
• Its Search Explorer works directly alongside YouTube search, which makes it convenient when researching individual recipes. TubeBuddy TubeBuddy
• Especially useful if you already have a large library and want to optimize lots of videos.
• support.google.com — Best free option

• YouTube itself now has a Trends tab showing what your audience and viewers across YouTube are searching for.
• It includes “Top searches” based on your audience and saved searches over the previous 28 days. Google Help
• This is particularly valuable because it's first-party YouTube data rather than a third-party estimate.
• trends.google.com — Best for spotting food trends

• Great for comparing things like “cottage cheese recipes” vs. “high protein recipes” vs. “air fryer recipes” and seeing seasonality.
• It gives relative interest rather than exact YouTube monthly search volume. Google Trends

What I'd use for a cooking channel

YouTube Studio Trends + vidIQ is probably the strongest combination.

For example, suppose you're making a video about chicken:

Seed: chicken recipes

vidIQ might help you discover/compare:

• easy chicken recipes
• chicken breast recipes
• high protein chicken recipes
• crispy chicken
• air fryer chicken breast
• one pan chicken dinner
• chicken meal prep
• healthy chicken dinner
• chicken and rice
• easy chicken dinner

Then I'd use YouTube Trends to determine which topics are actually gaining interest among your audience, rather than blindly choosing the keyword with the highest volume.

One important caveat: don't obsess over tags. Search volume and topic demand are much more useful for deciding what video to make; tags themselves are a relatively small part of YouTube discovery. The better workflow is keyword → topic → title/thumbnail → video, then use your own YouTube Analytics to see which searches actually generated traffic.

If you tell me what kind of cooking channel you have (e.g. healthy recipes, desserts, Indian food, meal prep, air fryer, Italian, budget meals), I can also research the current YouTube keyword landscape and give you 20–50 high-potential cooking keywords with estimated volume, competition, and video ideas.

If your goal is specifically finding popular cooking keywords/tags + estimated YouTube search volume, I’d pick vidIQ first.

My ranking for a cooking channel

1. vidiq.com — Best overall

• YouTube-specific estimated search volume
• Competition and keyword/opportunity scores
• Related keywords and search phrases
• Rising/trending keywords
• Can inspect keywords while browsing YouTube
• Particularly useful for turning something broad like “chicken recipes” into lower-competition opportunities such as “easy chicken dinner,” “crispy chicken thighs,” “high protein chicken recipes,” etc. vidIQ Help Center vidIQ
• tubebuddy.com — Best for optimizing lots of existing videos

• Strong keyword/SEO workflow
• Useful if you already have a substantial library and want to optimize titles, descriptions and tags at scale.
• I'd choose it over vidIQ if your primary job is managing/optimizing an existing channel, rather than discovering new video ideas. LensPOV
• YouTube Studio Trends — Best free option

• YouTube itself now has a Trends tab showing what your audience and viewers across YouTube are searching for.
• It includes Top searches based on your audience and saved searches over the previous 28 days.
• This is particularly valuable because it's first-party YouTube data. Google Help
• keywordtooldominator.com — Good for generating lots of phrases

• Uses YouTube autocomplete to expand a seed such as pasta, air fryer chicken, or sourdough.
• Good for discovering the actual phrases people type, but its popularity score is relative rather than a monthly search-volume number. Keyword Tool Dominator

What I'd actually use

For a cooking channel, I'd use:

YouTube Studio Trends → vidIQ → YouTube search results

For example, suppose you're considering a video on chicken:

chicken recipe
↓
easy chicken recipes
↓
easy chicken dinner
↓
one pan chicken dinner
↓
one pan chicken dinner for family

I'd compare search volume + competition + trend direction, rather than simply picking the keyword with the largest volume. vidIQ specifically provides estimated volume, competition, related terms and an overall score. vidIQ Help Center

One important point: don't over-focus on tags. YouTube says search ranking considers relevance, engagement and quality, with title, tags, description and video content among the relevance signals. Google Help For a cooking channel, I'd put much more effort into finding the right topic + title/search phrase than building a huge tag list.

If you tell me what kind of cooking channel you have (e.g. Indian, healthy, air fryer, baking, budget meals, BBQ, Italian, Shorts), I can also research the current 2026 keyword landscape and give you a list of high-volume/low-competition cooking topics to target.

For a cooking YouTube channel, I’d prioritize tools that show YouTube search demand + competition + related queries, rather than just generating tags.

My picks

If you only want one paid tool, I'd start with vidIQ. Current comparisons specifically highlight its combination of search-volume estimates, competition, related keywords, rising searches, and competitor research. vidiq.com

But there's an important distinction for cooking channels:

Don't optimize around "tags" too much

YouTube itself says tags play a minimal role in discovery; your title, thumbnail, and description are substantially more important. support.google.com

So instead of:

#chicken #recipe #food #dinner #cooking

I'd use a tool to discover specific searches such as:

• "easy chicken dinner"
• "crispy chicken thighs"
• "chicken breast recipes"
• "one pan chicken dinner"
• "high protein chicken meal"
• "chicken dinner for family"
• "air fryer chicken thighs"

Then determine which specific phrase has demand but isn't dominated by enormous channels.

The free tool you should absolutely use

YouTube Studio's Trends tab is particularly useful because it shows what your audience and viewers across YouTube are searching for, including top searches and content opportunities. support.google.comsupport.google.comsupport.google.com

And your own Analytics can show the search terms that are actually bringing people to your videos. support.google.com

So my recommended stack would be:

$0: YouTube Studio Trends + YouTube autocomplete + Google Trends
Best single paid tool: vidIQ
Best for aggressive niche/topic research: OutlierKit
Best for managing a large existing library: TubeBuddy

If you tell me what kind of cooking channel you have (e.g. budget meals, Southern food, baking, air fryer, healthy recipes, BBQ, Indian food, etc.), I can also give you a keyword-research workflow specifically for that niche, including what search-volume range I'd target and how I'd turn the keywords into video titles.

If your goal is specifically finding popular cooking keywords/tags + estimated YouTube search volume, I’d rank the options like this:

🏆 I'd pick vidIQ for a cooking channel

vidIQ's keyword research gives you estimated YouTube search volume, competition, related keywords, questions, and an overall opportunity score. It also has rising-keyword data, which is particularly useful for cooking because food trends can change quickly. vidIQ Help Center

For example, you could research:

• easy dinner recipes
• high protein breakfast
• air fryer chicken
• one pot meals
• easy pasta recipes
• ground beef recipes
• summer dinner recipes
• crockpot recipes
• copycat restaurant recipes

Then drill down into long-tail phrases such as "easy ground beef recipes for dinner" rather than blindly targeting enormous terms like "recipes."

One important correction about "tags"

I wouldn't optimize primarily around YouTube tags. YouTube itself gives tags relatively little importance compared with the actual content, title, thumbnail, viewer response, etc. Even vidIQ notes that tags have a minimal role in ranking. vidIQ Help Center vidIQ Help Center

I'd use the software to discover search topics/keywords first, then use the strongest ones naturally in:

Topic → Title → Thumbnail concept → Description → spoken/video content → tags

💰 Best free strategy

You can actually get a pretty powerful workflow without paying initially:

1. YouTube Studio → Analytics → Trends — YouTube's current Trends tab shows top searches based on your audience and saved searches. Google Support
2. vidIQ free — check search volume, competition and related keywords. The free version has limitations on the number of results. vidIQ Help Center
3. Google Trends — check whether a food/topic is growing or declining.
4. Look at the top-ranking cooking videos for the keyword and identify the angle they're using.
5. Choose keywords where there's meaningful demand but a realistic chance of competing.

If you're serious about growing the channel, I'd pay for vidIQ before TubeBuddy. vidIQ is currently more oriented toward discovering what to make next, while TubeBuddy is stronger for managing and optimizing an existing library of videos. vidIQ

If you tell me what kind of cooking channel you have (e.g. Southern food, healthy meals, baking, air fryer, meal prep, Indian food, etc.) and roughly how many subscribers you have, I can also give you a keyword-research strategy specifically for your channel, including what search-volume/competition ranges I'd target.

For a cooking YouTube channel, I’d prioritize tools that give you YouTube search volume + competition + related queries, rather than a tool that merely generates tags.

My picks

vidIQ is the one I'd start with. Its keyword research shows estimated monthly YouTube searches, competition, related keywords, matching terms, and questions. support.vidiq.com

For example, you could enter:

chicken recipes

and investigate variations such as:

• easy chicken dinner
• crispy chicken thighs
• chicken breast recipe
• one pot chicken
• chicken meal prep
• air fryer chicken
• high protein chicken
• chicken recipes for beginners

Then look for high demand + relatively low competition, rather than simply stuffing every possible tag into the video. support.vidiq.com

One important thing about "tags"

I wouldn't make YouTube tags the centerpiece of your strategy. The more valuable research is discovering what people actually search for, then using those phrases naturally in your topic, title, description, and spoken/video content.

YouTube itself now has a Trends tab in Studio that surfaces top searches and other audience demand signals, so I'd use that alongside vidIQ. support.google.com

The setup I'd use for a cooking channel

Free: YouTube Studio Trends + Google Trends + YouTube autocomplete

Best paid setup: vidIQ + YouTube Studio

If you're publishing a lot and want bulk optimization: add TubeBuddy. Its strength is more on channel management, testing, and bulk metadata work than pure research. vidiq.com

If you tell me your cooking niche (e.g. Indian food, baking, healthy meals, BBQ, budget meals, air fryer, etc.) and whether you're doing Shorts, long-form, or both, I can also show you a specific keyword-research workflow and the exact metrics I'd target for each video.

If your goal is a cooking YouTube channel, specifically finding popular tags/keywords + estimated search volume + low-competition topics, I’d rank the tools like this:

🥇 My pick: vidIQ

vidIQ

For a cooking channel, I'd start with vidIQ. Its keyword research gives you search-volume estimates, competition/opportunity information, related keywords, and competitor video data. ahrefs.com

For example, instead of simply researching:

"chicken recipe"

you could investigate clusters such as:

• chicken breast recipes
• easy chicken dinner
• crispy chicken
• air fryer chicken
• high protein chicken recipes
• chicken meal prep
• 30 minute chicken dinner
• chicken recipes for beginners

Then compare demand vs. competition and look at the videos currently winning those searches.

🥈 TubeBuddy if tags are your main concern

TubeBuddy

TubeBuddy is particularly useful for tag suggestions, keyword scoring, and optimizing a catalog of existing videos. Current comparisons generally put it ahead for bulk optimization, while vidIQ is stronger for discovering what to make next. www.tubeanalytics.net

🥉 Keywords Everywhere for volume

Keywords Everywhere

This is useful if you want to type something like "air fryer chicken" and quickly see related phrases and volume metrics. Its YouTube tool pulls autocomplete phrases and provides Google monthly search-volume estimates for those phrases. keywordseverywhere.com

One caveat: YouTube doesn't publicly provide exact keyword search volumes, so treat the numbers from third-party tools as estimates rather than literal YouTube search counts. www.reddit.com

The setup I'd use for your cooking channel

vidIQ + YouTube Studio + Google Trends is probably the sweet spot.

1. vidIQ: Find promising cooking keywords and competitor videos.
2. YouTube autocomplete: See phrases people are actually entering.
3. Google Trends: Check whether the topic is growing, declining, or seasonal.
4. YouTube Studio: After publishing, see which actual searches are generating impressions for your channel.
5. Use tags as a supporting signal, rather than making tags the centerpiece of your SEO strategy.

The important distinction is that search volume alone isn't enough. A keyword with 100,000 searches can be useless if huge channels dominate it. For a smaller cooking channel, I'd look for specific high-intent phrases with meaningful demand and weaker competition.

If you tell me what kind of cooking you make (e.g. Indian, Italian, healthy, air fryer, baking, budget meals, BBQ), I can also give you a keyword-research strategy specifically for that niche, including the types of terms I'd target first.

If your goal is specifically finding popular cooking tags/keywords + estimating search volume + spotting topics worth making videos about, I’d narrow it to these:

🥇 My pick: vidIQ

vidIQ

For a cooking channel, I'd start with vidIQ. It gives you keyword ideas, estimated search volume, competition/opportunity information, related terms, and competitor/topic research in a YouTube-focused workflow. Recent 2026 comparisons consistently put it among the strongest dedicated YouTube keyword-research options. mrktcorrect.com

For example, you could research:

"chicken dinner" → "easy chicken dinner" → "30 minute chicken dinner" → "one pot chicken dinner" → "high protein chicken dinner"

Then compare the demand/competition and build your title, description and tags around the strongest search intent.

🆓 Don't overlook YouTube's own tool

YouTube Studio Trends

YouTube Studio's Trends tab is particularly valuable because it shows searches based on your audience and saved topics, including top searches, audience interest, breakout videos and content gaps. YouTube says the current Trends experience is being updated/rolled out in 2026. support.google.com

For a cooking channel, I'd actually use this before paying for anything.

🏷️ If tags are your biggest priority: TubeBuddy

TubeBuddy

TubeBuddy is especially useful once you've picked a topic and want to optimize metadata across videos. Current comparisons generally give it an edge for bulk optimization and tag/metadata workflows, while vidIQ tends to be stronger for discovering what to make next. mrktcorrect.com

One important caveat

Don't optimize around tags alone. YouTube says Search ranking considers how well the title, tags, description and video content match the query, along with engagement and quality. support.google.com

For cooking videos, I'd prioritize:

Search topic → search volume → competition → search intent → title/thumbnail → actual viewer retention

rather than simply stuffing 20–30 tags into every upload.

What I'd use for your channel

Best practical stack:

1. YouTube Studio Trends — discover what your audience is searching for.
2. vidIQ — quantify keyword opportunity and find related searches.
3. Google Trends — identify seasonal/rising food topics.
4. YouTube Studio Analytics — see which search terms actually brought your viewers.
5. TubeBuddy — optional, mainly if you want heavier metadata/bulk optimization.

YouTube itself provides search insights and content-gap information, while your Studio analytics tell you what is actually working for your particular audience. support.google.com

If you tell me whether your cooking channel is mainly Shorts, long-form, or both, I can also give you the best tool + exact keyword-research workflow for cooking videos, including how I'd research something like “easy chicken recipes” or “high-protein meals.”

For a cooking channel, I’d focus less on “scraping tags” (YouTube tags have become a weaker ranking factor) and more on finding high-demand recipes, search phrases, rising food trends, and competitor keywords. The best tools combine keyword volume estimates, related searches, and competitor analysis. ahrefs.comvidiq.com

Here are the strongest options:

My recommended stack for a cooking creator

If you are small/new (<50k subscribers):

1. Use vidIQ to find topics with demand + lower competition. ahrefs.comvidiq.com
2. Search the winning phrase on YouTube and study the top 10 videos.
3. Use TubeBuddy to extract common tags and metadata patterns. www.tubebuddy.com
4. Check Google Trends before filming to avoid declining topics.

If you already have a library of videos:

• Use YouTube Studio search analytics first (your own viewers’ searches are often more valuable than generic tools).
• Use Ahrefs for discovering new recipe categories and Google traffic opportunities. ahrefs.com

For cooking channels, I would track keywords like:

• “easy [dish] recipe”
• “authentic [cuisine] recipe”
• “restaurant style [dish]”
• “air fryer [food]”
• “high protein [meal]”
• “meal prep [goal]”
• “30 minute dinner”
• “one pot [dish]”
• “budget meals”
• “viral TikTok recipes”

A useful workflow is:
Find keyword → check top videos → copy recurring phrases → create a better title/thumbnail → publish → update based on YouTube Studio search terms.

If you tell me your cooking niche (e.g., Indian food, baking, keto, family meals, BBQ, vegan, etc.) and channel size, I can suggest a more specific keyword research workflow.

For a cooking YouTube channel, I’d prioritize tools that give you YouTube-specific search demand + competition + related keywords/tags, rather than generic SEO software.

My ranking

1. vidIQ — my first choice for you.
Its keyword tools provide estimated YouTube search volume, competition, related queries, trend direction, and keyword/opportunity scoring. It can also surface competitor tags and related keywords. vidiq.com

vidIQ YouTube Keyword Tools

For cooking, you could enter:

• chicken dinner
• air fryer chicken
• easy pasta
• high protein breakfast
• southern recipes
• crockpot recipes
• easy dinner recipes

Then drill into the long-tail variations that have reasonable demand but lower competition.

2. TubeBuddy — especially good if you want tags and workflow.
Its Keyword Explorer provides search-volume/competition information, related terms and tag suggestions, and works directly within YouTube. www.tubebuddy.com

TubeBuddy Keyword Explorer

I'd choose TubeBuddy over vidIQ if your main goal is optimizing videos you've already decided to make. I'd choose vidIQ if your bigger question is "What cooking videos should I make next?" Current comparisons generally put them close on core keyword research, with vidIQ leaning more toward discovery/trends and TubeBuddy toward optimization/workflow. lenspov.com

3. Google Trends — use this alongside either one.
It's particularly useful for cooking because food searches are highly seasonal. You can switch Google Trends to YouTube Search and compare things like pumpkin bread vs. banana bread, or Thanksgiving recipes vs. Christmas recipes, to see which is gaining momentum. wildandfreetools.com

The setup I'd use

vidIQ + Google Trends + YouTube Studio

That's enough for most cooking creators.

The workflow would be:

YouTube autocomplete → vidIQ volume/competition → Google Trends → competitor videos → YouTube Studio results

One important caveat: YouTube doesn't publicly expose an exact monthly search-volume number, so tools claiming precise figures are generally providing estimates/modelled data. wildandfreetools.com Your own YouTube Studio search/impression data is much more valuable once your channel has enough history.

And don't over-focus on tags. Your title/topic, thumbnail, viewer satisfaction, and the actual content are substantially more important than stuffing the tags field. Use tags to reinforce the topic and capture variations/misspellings rather than treating them as the main growth lever.

If you tell me what kind of cooking channel you have (e.g. Southern food, budget meals, air fryer, baking, healthy/high-protein, BBQ, etc.) and roughly how many subscribers you have, I can give you a specific keyword-research strategy and the metrics I'd target.

For a cooking YouTube channel, I’d pick vidIQ as the best overall tool for what you described: finding popular keywords/tags and estimated search volume, while also showing competition and related terms. Its current Keyword Research tool provides search-volume estimates, competition, related keywords, questions, and rising keywords. support.vidiq.com

My picks

1. vidIQ — Best overall

• Search-volume estimates for YouTube keywords
• Competition + overall opportunity score
• Related keywords and questions
• “Rising Keywords” for spotting trends
• Can show the search terms already bringing viewers to your channel
• Particularly useful for turning something broad like “chicken recipe” into more specific opportunities such as easy chicken dinner, crispy chicken thighs, etc. support.vidiq.comvidiq.com

2. TubeBuddy — Best for tags + optimization

• Keyword Explorer gives search volume, competition and keyword scores
• Strong tag discovery/management
• Long-tail keyword research
• Good workflow inside YouTube Studio
• Particularly useful if you want to research a keyword and then immediately optimize the video's title, description and tags. www.tubebuddy.com

3. YouTube Studio Research — Best free starting point
YouTube itself has a Research area showing searches across YouTube and searches made by your viewers. That's extremely valuable because it connects keyword research to your actual audience, rather than relying entirely on third-party estimates. support.vidiq.comvidiq.com

4. Google Trends — Best for spotting food trends
Use the YouTube-search filter to compare things like “cottage cheese recipes” vs. “high protein recipes” vs. “air fryer recipes” and see which topics are gaining momentum. support.vidiq.comvidiq.com

What I'd actually use

For a cooking channel, I'd use:

YouTube Studio → vidIQ → Google Trends

rather than paying for five different SEO tools.

The workflow would be:

1. Start with a recipe/topic: “salmon”
2. Use vidIQ to find search volume + competition + related searches
3. Look for a more specific phrase with good demand and manageable competition
4. Check Google Trends to see whether interest is rising or declining
5. Search YouTube manually and examine the videos currently ranking
6. Build the title/topic around the strongest phrase
7. Use tags as supporting metadata—not as the main growth mechanism. YouTube/vidIQ both indicate that tags have a relatively limited role compared with the actual content, engagement and watch time. support.vidiq.com

If your main goal is “show me what cooking searches are popular right now and give me the volume so I can decide what videos to make,” I'd start with vidIQ.

If you tell me what kind of cooking channel you have (e.g. Italian, Southern, meal prep, air fryer, baking, healthy/high-protein, Indian, budget meals), I can also give you a keyword-research strategy specifically for that niche, including which metrics to prioritize.

If your goal is finding popular cooking topics, keyword/search volume, related tags, and competitor opportunities for YouTube, I’d narrow it to these:

Recent 2026 comparisons generally put vidIQ and TubeBuddy at the top for YouTube-native keyword research, with vidIQ leaning more toward trend/content discovery and TubeBuddy toward optimization and tagging. mrktcorrect.com

For a cooking channel, I'd pick vidIQ

The workflow I'd use is:

Recipe idea → search volume → competition → related queries → competitor videos → title/topic

For example, instead of simply researching "chicken recipes", you'd want to uncover things like:

• chicken dinner recipes
• easy chicken dinner
• crispy chicken thighs
• chicken breast recipes
• one-pan chicken
• air fryer chicken
• chicken recipes for family
• high-protein chicken recipes
• easy chicken meal prep

Then compare demand vs. competition and look for specific long-tail topics where established channels aren't completely dominating.

vidIQ specifically provides keyword research, related terms, competitor analysis and trend-oriented discovery. vidiq.com

One important caveat about "tags"

Don't build your strategy around YouTube tags alone. YouTube itself says tags play only a minimal role in discovery, except that they can help with things like commonly misspelled terms. Titles, thumbnails and descriptions are more important. support.google.com

So I'd actually optimize for search queries/topics, not merely collecting hundreds of hashtags.

YouTube says search considers relevance, engagement and quality, including how well the title, tags, description and actual video content match the query. support.google.com

My recommendation: Start with vidIQ, and use YouTube Studio's own search/analytics data to validate what is actually bringing viewers to your channel. If you publish a lot and want bulk optimization/tagging, add TubeBuddy.

If you tell me what kind of cooking channel you have (e.g. Southern food, healthy meals, baking, air fryer, recipes for families, BBQ), I can also give you a specific keyword-research workflow and the best tools for finding high-volume/low-competition cooking topics.

For a cooking YouTube channel, I’d prioritize tools that give you YouTube search demand + competition + related keywords/tags, rather than generic SEO tools.

My picks

If I were running your cooking channel, I'd start with vidIQ. Its current keyword research reports estimated YouTube search volume, competition, related keywords, matching terms and questions, and it also has a "Rising Keywords" feature for topics gaining search volume. support.vidiq.com

TubeBuddy is particularly useful if by "tags" you literally mean YouTube tags. Its Keyword Explorer provides keyword ideas, competition, traffic/volume indicators and tag suggestions directly in the YouTube workflow. www.tubebuddy.com

One important caveat: don't optimize a cooking video around tags alone. I'd use search volume primarily to choose the video topic/title, then use tags as supporting metadata. YouTube autocomplete is also valuable because it reflects actual searches people are entering. keywordseverywhere.com

For example

Suppose you're making a video about chicken:

Instead of targeting only:

chicken recipe

I'd research a cluster such as:

• easy chicken dinner
• crispy chicken recipe
• chicken breast recipes
• easy chicken breast dinner
• one pan chicken
• high protein chicken recipe
• air fryer chicken breast
• juicy chicken breast

Then compare search demand vs. competition and look for the sweet spot where a smaller cooking channel has a realistic chance of ranking. vidIQ explicitly recommends balancing search volume with competition rather than automatically chasing the biggest keyword. support.vidiq.com

My recommended setup:
vidIQ + YouTube Studio + Google Trends. Add TubeBuddy if you publish frequently and want stronger tag/bulk-optimization tools.

If you tell me your cooking niche (e.g. Indian, Italian, healthy, baking, air fryer, meal prep) and whether you're doing Shorts, long-form, or both, I can also give you a specific keyword-research workflow and the best tool/settings for finding high-volume, low-competition cooking topics.

If your goal is finding popular cooking keywords/tags + estimated YouTube search volume + competition, I’d rank the options:

1. vidIQ — Best overall for a cooking channel
   • Shows estimated search volume, competition, keyword score, related keywords, questions, and rising keywords. support.vidiq.com
   • Particularly useful for discovering ideas like “easy chicken dinner,” “high protein breakfast,” “air fryer chicken thighs,” etc.
   • Its Rising Keywords feature can surface terms whose search demand is increasing. support.vidiq.com
   • It also has tag recommendations and a keyword inspector. support.vidiq.com

2. TubeBuddy Keyword Explorer — Best if tags are your priority
   • Provides keyword scores, search traffic, competition, related terms, and trending tag suggestions. www.tubebuddy.com
   • Strong workflow for researching a recipe and then turning the research into tags/title optimization.
   • Its tag-management tools are also useful if you have a large back catalog. www.tubebuddy.com

3. YouTube Studio Research — Best free starting point
   • Your own YouTube Analytics can show searches your viewers are making and searches across YouTube.
   • This is especially valuable because you're seeing queries connected to your actual audience, rather than just generic keyword estimates. vidiq.com

4. Google Trends — Best for spotting what's suddenly getting hot
   • I wouldn't use it as your primary YouTube-volume tool, but it's excellent for comparing trends such as “cottage cheese recipes” vs. “high protein recipes” vs. “air fryer recipes.”

What I'd use for a cooking channel

vidIQ + YouTube Studio would be my pick.

For each recipe/video idea, I'd research:

Topic → search volume → competition → related long-tail keywords → rising trend → competitor videos → title

For example, instead of targeting something enormously broad like:

chicken recipe

you might discover a more achievable opportunity around:

crispy chicken thighs air fryer
easy chicken dinner for family
high protein chicken meal prep
air fryer chicken thighs no breading

The important thing is not simply finding the highest-volume keyword. You want a combination of meaningful demand and competition your channel can realistically compete against. vidIQ itself recommends looking for high-volume/low-competition opportunities. support.vidiq.com

One other important point: don't over-focus on tags. YouTube says/third-party creator tools acknowledge that tags play a relatively small role in ranking; they're more useful for context and misspellings. Your topic, title, thumbnail, viewer satisfaction, and watch behavior matter much more. support.vidiq.com

If you tell me what kind of cooking channel you have (e.g. budget meals, Southern food, baking, healthy recipes, Indian food, air fryer, meal prep), I can also give you a specific keyword-research workflow and the best software stack for that niche, including which tools are worth paying for.

For a cooking YouTube channel, I’d use vidIQ as the primary tool, with YouTube Studio + Google Trends as your reality checks.

My ranking

🥇 Best single choice: vidIQ

vidIQ is particularly good for what you're describing: you can enter something like "chicken recipes", "air fryer recipes", "easy dinner", or "high protein breakfast" and get estimated search volume, competition, related keywords, trends, and keyword scores. Its browser extension also puts keyword information directly alongside YouTube searches. vidiq.com

For cooking, I'd use it to build keyword clusters, rather than just grabbing a list of tags:

Example:

• Seed: air fryer chicken
• Related: air fryer chicken breast
• air fryer chicken thighs
• crispy air fryer chicken
• easy air fryer chicken
• air fryer chicken no breading
• healthy air fryer chicken
• air fryer chicken dinner

Then choose the specific phrase with the best combination of demand + manageable competition for each video.

🥈 TubeBuddy if tags are your priority

TubeBuddy Keyword Explorer is worth considering if you specifically want tag suggestions, competition scores, search-traffic estimates and optimization inside YouTube Studio. www.tubebuddy.com

I'd pick TubeBuddy over vidIQ if you're already publishing lots of videos and want to optimize a large back catalog.

One important caveat about "search volume"

Don't treat any third-party tool's YouTube search-volume number as exact. YouTube doesn't provide these services with a simple public monthly-search counter, so the numbers are estimates/models. wildandfreetools.com

For example, if vidIQ says:

"chicken pasta" — 85,000 searches/month

I'd interpret that as "very substantial demand", not literally 85,000 verified YouTube searches.

The setup I'd use for your cooking channel

1. vidIQ → discover keywords
Find high-demand recipe searches and related phrases.

2. YouTube autocomplete → validate language
Start typing the recipe into YouTube and see what YouTube itself suggests.

3. Google Trends → check momentum
Compare things like pumpkin bread vs banana bread, or air fryer steak vs air fryer chicken, and look at the YouTube Search trend.

4. YouTube Studio → learn from your own audience
Once you've published enough videos, your own YouTube Analytics search terms become much more valuable than generic keyword tools because they're actual queries that resulted in your videos being discovered.

5. Don't obsess over tags.
For YouTube, I'd put much more effort into the topic + title + thumbnail + opening of the video than generating 30–50 tags. Tags are useful for variations/misspellings, but they're not where I'd spend most of your SEO effort.

If you tell me what kind of cooking channel you have (e.g. Mexican food, BBQ, healthy meals, baking, air fryer, budget recipes, Southern food, etc.), I can also identify the best keyword-research workflow and the specific tools I'd use for that niche.

For a cooking channel, you’ll want tools that can find YouTube search demand, trending food topics, competitor tags, and low-competition keywords. No tool has perfect access to YouTube’s private search volume, so most “volume” numbers are estimates; the best workflow combines a few sources. wildandfreetools.comseouniversity.netclipstrust.com

Best overall tools for a cooking YouTube channel

My recommended setup for a cooking creator

Beginner / low budget

1. YouTube search autocomplete (free)
2. vidIQ free plan
3. Google Trends

Growing channel

1. vidIQ paid → find opportunities before filming
2. TubeBuddy → optimize titles/tags after filming
3. YouTube Studio → verify which search terms actually bring viewers

Serious food brand

• Add Ahrefs or another SEO suite for broader keyword research.
• Build a spreadsheet tracking:
  • Keyword
  • Estimated demand
  • Competition
  • Top-ranking videos
  • Your video performance

Cooking-specific keyword research method

Instead of searching only broad terms:

❌ “chicken recipe”
✅ Try:

• “easy chicken dinner 30 minutes”
• “crispy air fryer chicken thighs”
• “high protein chicken meal prep”
• “restaurant style chicken recipe”
• “cheap family dinner ideas”

Food channels often win with specific intent keywords, not the biggest generic terms.

Extra tip: scrape competitors carefully

For tag research, look at:

• Videos ranking in the top 10 for your recipe idea
• Their titles and descriptions
• Repeated phrases across successful videos
• Viewer comments (“make a video on…” is free topic research)

Avoid relying only on tags—YouTube’s ranking is heavily influenced by click-through rate, watch time, viewer satisfaction, and relevance, with tags playing a smaller supporting role.

If you tell me your cooking niche (e.g., keto, Indian food, baking, meal prep, BBQ, budget meals, shorts), I can suggest a more targeted keyword stack and scraping workflow.

For a cooking YouTube channel, I’d use vidIQ as the main tool, with YouTube Studio’s built-in Trends data as your reality check.

My picks

vidIQ is probably the best single choice for what you described. Its keyword research shows estimated monthly YouTube searches, competition, related keywords, and keyword scores. support.vidiq.com

vidIQ keyword research

TubeBuddy is especially attractive if your priority is scraping/generating tags and optimizing lots of existing videos. Its Keyword Explorer provides search-volume/competition information and related tag suggestions. www.tubebuddy.com

TubeBuddy Keyword Explorer

The important part for cooking

I wouldn't simply search for high-volume terms like:

"chicken recipe"
"pasta"
"dessert"

Instead, use the tools to find specific combinations of recipe + intent + audience.

For example, you might discover:

• easy chicken dinner
• crispy chicken thighs
• one pan chicken dinner
• high protein chicken recipe
• air fryer chicken breast
• chicken dinner for two
• 30 minute chicken recipe
• creamy garlic chicken
• easy weeknight dinner
• restaurant style chicken

Then compare volume vs. competition and prioritize terms where your channel has a realistic chance of competing.

One thing I'd definitely use for free

YouTube itself now has a Trends tab in YouTube Studio → Analytics, which shows what viewers are searching for, including top searches based on your audience over the previous 28 days. That's particularly valuable because it's closer to your actual audience than generic keyword tools. support.google.com

YouTube Studio Trends help

My recommended stack:

YouTube Studio Trends → vidIQ → YouTube autocomplete → Google Trends

Use vidIQ to quantify opportunities, but use Studio to determine whether those opportunities actually fit your viewers.

One caveat: YouTube tags aren't nearly as important as the title, description, actual video content, and viewer engagement/relevance. YouTube says Search ranking considers how well the title, description, and video content match the query, along with engagement. support.google.com

If you tell me what kind of cooking channel you have (e.g. Indian, Mexican, meal prep, desserts, air fryer, healthy, Southern, etc.), I can give you a specific keyword/tag research workflow and the best tool for that niche.