diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 856fae5..6f11b4e 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ services:
     environment:
       - DATABASE_URL=postgresql://mealplanner:${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}@db:5432/mealplanner
       - SENDGRID_API_KEY=${SENDGRID_API_KEY}
+      - SPOONACULAR_API_KEY=${SPOONACULAR_API_KEY}
       - LUCKY_CA_URL=${LUCKY_CA_URL:-https://luckysupermarkets.com}
       - LUCKY_STORE_ID=${LUCKY_STORE_ID:-757}
       - SWIFTLY_API_BASE=${SWIFTLY_API_BASE:-https://prod.swiftlyapi.net}
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@ services:
     environment:
       - DATABASE_URL=postgresql://mealplanner:${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}@db:5432/mealplanner
       - SENDGRID_API_KEY=${SENDGRID_API_KEY}
+      - SPOONACULAR_API_KEY=${SPOONACULAR_API_KEY}
       - LUCKY_CA_URL=${LUCKY_CA_URL:-https://luckysupermarkets.com}
       - LUCKY_STORE_ID=${LUCKY_STORE_ID:-757}
       - SWIFTLY_API_BASE=${SWIFTLY_API_BASE:-https://prod.swiftlyapi.net}
diff --git a/scripts/enrich_recipes_spoonacular.py b/scripts/enrich_recipes_spoonacular.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7ebfc14
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/enrich_recipes_spoonacular.py
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Enrich recipes with images and descriptions from Spoonacular.
+
+Reads SPOONACULAR_API_KEY and DATABASE_URL from environment.
+
+Run inside the backend container:
+  docker cp scripts/enrich_recipes_spoonacular.py mealplanner-backend-1:/app/
+  docker compose --env-file .env.test exec backend python /app/enrich_recipes_spoonacular.py
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import os
+import re
+import time
+import logging
+import sys
+
+import requests
+from sqlalchemy import create_engine, text
+
+logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO, format="%(levelname)s %(message)s")
+log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+SPOONACULAR_KEY = os.environ.get("SPOONACULAR_API_KEY", "")
+DATABASE_URL = os.environ["DATABASE_URL"]
+SEARCH_URL = "https://api.spoonacular.com/recipes/complexSearch"
+RATE_LIMIT_SECONDS = 0.5  # 2 req/s — well under 150/day free tier limit
+
+
+def strip_html(raw: str) -> str:
+    return re.sub(r"<[^>]+>", "", raw or "").strip()
+
+
+def search_recipe(name: str) -> dict | None:
+    resp = requests.get(
+        SEARCH_URL,
+        params={
+            "query": name,
+            "number": 3,
+            "addRecipeInformation": True,
+            "apiKey": SPOONACULAR_KEY,
+        },
+        timeout=30,
+    )
+    if resp.status_code == 402:
+        log.error("Spoonacular quota exhausted — stop and retry tomorrow.")
+        sys.exit(1)
+    resp.raise_for_status()
+    results = resp.json().get("results", [])
+    return results[0] if results else None
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+    if not SPOONACULAR_KEY:
+        log.error("SPOONACULAR_API_KEY not set")
+        sys.exit(1)
+
+    engine = create_engine(DATABASE_URL)
+
+    with engine.connect() as conn:
+        recipes = conn.execute(
+            text(
+                "SELECT id, name, image_url, description "
+                "FROM recipe "
+                "WHERE image_url IS NULL OR description IS NULL "
+                "ORDER BY name"
+            )
+        ).fetchall()
+
+    log.info("Recipes to enrich: %d", len(recipes))
+
+    updated = 0
+    no_match = 0
+
+    engine2 = create_engine(DATABASE_URL)
+    with engine2.connect() as conn:
+        for recipe_id, name, existing_image, existing_desc in recipes:
+            log.info("[%d/%d] %s", updated + no_match + 1, len(recipes), name)
+
+            try:
+                match = search_recipe(name)
+            except requests.RequestException as exc:
+                log.warning("  API error: %s — skipping", exc)
+                time.sleep(2)
+                continue
+
+            if not match:
+                log.info("  no Spoonacular match")
+                no_match += 1
+                time.sleep(RATE_LIMIT_SECONDS)
+                continue
+
+            new_image = existing_image or match.get("image") or None
+            raw_summary = match.get("summary", "")
+            new_desc = existing_desc or (strip_html(raw_summary) or None)
+
+            conn.execute(
+                text(
+                    "UPDATE recipe SET image_url = :img, description = :desc WHERE id = :id"
+                ),
+                {"img": new_image, "desc": new_desc, "id": recipe_id},
+            )
+            conn.commit()
+
+            img_ok = "✓" if new_image else "—"
+            desc_len = len(new_desc) if new_desc else 0
+            log.info("  image=%s  desc=%d chars", img_ok, desc_len)
+            updated += 1
+            time.sleep(RATE_LIMIT_SECONDS)
+
+    log.info(
+        "Done — updated: %d  no-match: %d  already-complete: %d",
+        updated,
+        no_match,
+        len(recipes) - updated - no_match,
+    )
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()