Prompt library · Food photography
Ten tested prompts for menus, delivery apps and food blogs — backlit steam, frozen pours, rustic bakes and dark moody desserts. Every image is the unedited output of the prompt next to it, with the model and price shown.
Great food prompts read like a stylist’s shot list: the dish with two or three specific ingredients visible, the plate and surface, the light, and the angle. “Overhead flat lay of a berry tart on cracked ceramic, hard afternoon light” beats “delicious tart, professional photo” every time. Angle words matter most in food: overhead (90°), three-quarter (45°) and straight-on each imply a different genre — flat lays for spreads, 45° for bowls and plates, straight-on for burgers and stacked desserts.
Backlight is the classic food trick: light from behind makes steam, oil and sauces glow. Say it explicitly — “backlit, steam rising, glowing rim light” — and add the mood: bright and airy for delivery apps, dark and moody for restaurant brands. All ten examples below were generated on BananaBanana with the exact model labeled on each card; prompts transfer between Nano Banana 2, Pro and Lite unchanged.
Every image below is the unedited output of the prompt on its card — no cherry-picking across dozens of attempts, no retouching. The model badge shows exactly what generated it and what it cost.
Food photograph of a steaming bowl of shoyu ramen with a soft-boiled egg, nori and spring onions, shot at a 45-degree angle on a dark wooden counter. Strong backlight makes the steam glow against a moody dark background, chopsticks lifting noodles mid-air, shallow depth of field.
Overhead flat lay of a rustic mixed-berry tart with one slice cut, on a cracked cream ceramic plate over a weathered light-blue wooden table. Scattered fresh raspberries, a dusting of powdered sugar and a vintage fork beside it. Bright natural daylight, crisp shadows, food-blog style.
Rustic food photograph of a freshly baked sourdough loaf with a deeply scored, flour-dusted crust, on a worn wooden board with a linen cloth. Warm side light from a nearby window, crumbs scattered, one cut slice showing an open airy crumb, artisan bakery mood.
High-speed food photograph of bright green matcha being poured from a small ceramic pitcher into a glass of cold milk, the pour frozen mid-air with tiny droplets suspended. Clean sage-green seamless background, soft studio light, minimal modern café aesthetic.
Overhead food photograph of a generous mezze spread: creamy hummus swirled with olive oil and paprika, falafel, warm flatbread, olives and a tomato-cucumber salad in mismatched ceramic bowls on a stone table. Warm golden hour light from the side, hands reaching for bread at the frame edges, convivial documentary style.
Dark and moody food photograph of a slice of layered chocolate cake with glossy ganache dripping down, on a black ceramic plate. Single hard side light against a near-black background, a fork breaking into the tip of the slice, crumbs on dark slate, fine-dining dessert menu style.
Bright and airy food photograph of a watermelon, feta and mint salad in a shallow white bowl, shot at a slight overhead angle on a sun-washed marble table. Hard summer light with sharp shadows, a glass of sparkling water beside it, fresh Mediterranean mood.
Minimalist food photograph of six pieces of nigiri sushi arranged in a diagonal line on a long charcoal stone slab, garnished with a single shiso leaf. Soft directional light from the left, deep shadows, dark background, high-end omakase restaurant style, straight-on low angle.
Vibrant street-food photograph of three grilled vegetable tacos on soft corn tortillas topped with pickled red onion, cotija cheese and lime wedges, served on a metal tray lined with paper. Bright punchy daylight, colorful turquoise table, casual taqueria energy, 45-degree angle.
Extreme macro food photograph of a golden croissant torn in half, revealing dozens of paper-thin honeycomb layers, tiny flakes falling. Warm backlight rakes across the caramelized surface, dark bakery background softly out of focus, texture-driven editorial shot.
Overhead for spreads and flat lays, 45° for bowls and plates, straight-on for stacks and slices. One angle word changes the whole genre of the shot.
“Backlit, steam glowing” or “backlight rakes across the glaze” — light from behind is what makes food look hot, fresh and glossy.
Crumbs, scattered berries, a used fork, hands at the frame edge — one line of controlled imperfection keeps AI food from looking like a stock render.
“Bright and airy, hard daylight” for delivery apps and health food; “dark and moody, single side light” for restaurants and desserts. Say the mood explicitly.
10 promptsTen tested prompts for e-commerce hero shots, flat lays, splash photography and macro detail — each shown with the unedited image it produced and the exact model that made it. Copy any prompt, swap in your product, generate.
Browse prompts
10 promptsTen tested vertical prompts — landscapes, abstracts and macro worlds composed for a phone screen, with room for the clock and icons. Every image is the unedited output of the prompt beside it.
Browse prompts
7 promptsSeven tested prompts for Veo 3.1 and Gemini Omni Flash — aerials, macro slow motion, neon tracking shots and native-audio dialogue. Every clip on this page is the unedited output of the prompt above it.
Browse promptsThe narrative prompt structure every example on this page uses.
Read the guideDraft food styling ideas at $0.03 before committing to finals.
Read the guideTurn a hero food shot into a steaming looping clip with Veo.
Read the guideYes — you own the images you generate on BananaBanana and can use them commercially. For menu accuracy, generate from a reference photo of your actual dish so the output matches what the kitchen serves.
Nano Banana 2 at $0.06 handles most food work — steam, gloss and produce all render convincingly. Use Pro when texture is the hero (macro bakes, pours, ganache) or when you need 4K for print menus. Lite at $0.03 is ideal for iterating on styling and angles.
Fix the scene language once — same surface, same light, same angle wording — and only swap the dish line of the prompt. For strict visual continuity, reuse the same reference photos of your plates and table across every generation.
The structure (dish, surface, angle, light, mood) transfers anywhere, but the results shown here are from Google’s Nano Banana models specifically — other generators will interpret the same words differently.
Every new account starts with a free $0.10 balance — enough to test three image prompts before paying anything. No subscription, no credit card, crypto top-ups from $1.