diff --git a/mealie/core/exceptions.py b/mealie/core/exceptions.py
index 89ed9538e..077a8644d 100644
--- a/mealie/core/exceptions.py
+++ b/mealie/core/exceptions.py
@@ -46,3 +46,11 @@ class UserLockedOut(Exception): ...
 
 
 class MissingClaimException(Exception): ...
+
+
+class IncompleteData(Exception):
+    """
+    This exception is raised when a user sends incomplete data to the API
+    """
+
+    pass
diff --git a/mealie/routes/recipe/recipe_crud_routes.py b/mealie/routes/recipe/recipe_crud_routes.py
index c5946c49b..377897e30 100644
--- a/mealie/routes/recipe/recipe_crud_routes.py
+++ b/mealie/routes/recipe/recipe_crud_routes.py
@@ -84,6 +84,13 @@ class RecipeController(BaseRecipeController):
         elif thrownType == exceptions.NoEntryFound:
             self.logger.error("No Entry Found on recipe controller action")
             raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail=ErrorResponse.respond(message="No Entry Found"))
+        elif thrownType == exceptions.IncompleteData:
+            missing = ex.args[-1]
+            self.logger.error("Incomplete data provided to API route:", missing)
+            raise HTTPException(
+                status_code=400,
+                detail=ErrorResponse.respond(message=f"Field '{missing}' missing on the body of this API request"),
+            )
         elif thrownType == sqlalchemy.exc.IntegrityError:
             self.logger.error("SQL Integrity Error on recipe controller action")
             raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail=ErrorResponse.respond(message="Recipe already exists"))
@@ -360,7 +367,13 @@ class RecipeController(BaseRecipeController):
 
     @router.put("/{slug}")
     def update_one(self, slug: str, data: Recipe):
-        """Updates a recipe by existing slug and data."""
+        """
+        Updates a recipe by existing slug and data.
+
+        Requires all the fields of the recipe to be passed in the body
+
+        If you wish to update parts of the recipe only, use a PATCH request to this route
+        """
         try:
             recipe = self.service.update_one(slug, data)
         except Exception as e:
diff --git a/mealie/services/recipe/recipe_service.py b/mealie/services/recipe/recipe_service.py
index 381793eb3..a5dcf7f77 100644
--- a/mealie/services/recipe/recipe_service.py
+++ b/mealie/services/recipe/recipe_service.py
@@ -36,6 +36,15 @@ from mealie.services.scraper import cleaner
 
 from .template_service import TemplateService
 
+MANDATORY_FIELDS = [
+    "name",
+    "user_id",
+    "household_id",
+    "group_id",
+    "recipe_ingredient",
+    "recipe_instructions",
+]
+
 
 class RecipeServiceBase(BaseService):
     def __init__(self, repos: AllRepositories, user: PrivateUser, household: HouseholdInDB, translator: Translator):
@@ -144,6 +153,7 @@ class RecipeService(RecipeServiceBase):
         if not additional_attrs.get("recipe_instructions"):
             additional_attrs["recipe_instructions"] = [RecipeStep(text=self.t("recipe.recipe-defaults.step-text"))]
 
+        assert all(f in additional_attrs for f in MANDATORY_FIELDS)
         return Recipe(**additional_attrs)
 
     def get_one(self, slug_or_id: str | UUID) -> Recipe:
@@ -369,7 +379,7 @@ class RecipeService(RecipeServiceBase):
 
         return new_recipe
 
-    def _pre_update_check(self, slug_or_id: str | UUID, new_data: Recipe) -> Recipe:
+    def _pre_update_check(self, slug_or_id: str | UUID, new_data: Recipe, strict: bool) -> Recipe:
         """
         gets the recipe from the database and performs a check to see if the user can update the recipe.
         If the user can't update the recipe, an exception is raised.
@@ -382,6 +392,7 @@ class RecipeService(RecipeServiceBase):
         Args:
             slug_or_id (str | UUID): recipe slug or id
             new_data (Recipe): the new recipe data
+            strict: if the data provided must contain ALL fields, or can be incomplete
 
         Raises:
             exceptions.PermissionDenied (403)
@@ -389,6 +400,11 @@ class RecipeService(RecipeServiceBase):
 
         recipe = self.get_one(slug_or_id)
 
+        if strict:
+            for field in new_data.__class__.model_fields:
+                if field in MANDATORY_FIELDS and getattr(new_data, field) is None:
+                    raise exceptions.IncompleteData("Incomplete recipe", field)
+
         if recipe is None or recipe.settings is None:
             raise exceptions.NoEntryFound("Recipe not found.")
 
@@ -402,7 +418,7 @@ class RecipeService(RecipeServiceBase):
         return recipe
 
     def update_one(self, slug_or_id: str | UUID, update_data: Recipe) -> Recipe:
-        recipe = self._pre_update_check(slug_or_id, update_data)
+        recipe = self._pre_update_check(slug_or_id, update_data, True)
 
         new_data = self.group_recipes.update(recipe.slug, update_data)
         self.check_assets(new_data, recipe.slug)
@@ -419,7 +435,7 @@ class RecipeService(RecipeServiceBase):
         return self.group_recipes.update_image(slug, extension)
 
     def patch_one(self, slug_or_id: str | UUID, patch_data: Recipe) -> Recipe:
-        recipe: Recipe = self._pre_update_check(slug_or_id, patch_data)
+        recipe: Recipe = self._pre_update_check(slug_or_id, patch_data, False)
 
         new_data = self.group_recipes.patch(recipe.slug, patch_data.model_dump(exclude_unset=True))
 
diff --git a/tests/integration_tests/category_tag_tool_tests/test_organizers_common.py b/tests/integration_tests/category_tag_tool_tests/test_organizers_common.py
index 733bdebd2..7f558bd9a 100644
--- a/tests/integration_tests/category_tag_tool_tests/test_organizers_common.py
+++ b/tests/integration_tests/category_tag_tool_tests/test_organizers_common.py
@@ -109,6 +109,7 @@ def test_organizer_update(
             item[key] = update_data[key]
 
     response = api_client.put(route.item(item_id), json=item, headers=unique_user.token)
+    print(response)
     assert response.status_code == 200
 
     response = api_client.get(route.item(item_id), headers=unique_user.token)
@@ -175,7 +176,7 @@ def test_organizer_association(
     ]
 
     # Update Recipe
-    response = api_client.put(api_routes.recipes_slug(slug), json=as_json, headers=unique_user.token)
+    response = api_client.patch(api_routes.recipes_slug(slug), json=as_json, headers=unique_user.token)
     assert response.status_code == 200
 
     # Get Recipe Data
@@ -223,7 +224,7 @@ def test_organizer_get_by_slug(
             {"id": item["id"], "group_id": unique_user.group_id, "name": item["name"], "slug": item["slug"]}
         ]
 
-        response = api_client.put(api_routes.recipes_slug(slug), json=as_json, headers=unique_user.token)
+        response = api_client.patch(api_routes.recipes_slug(slug), json=as_json, headers=unique_user.token)
         assert response.status_code == 200
 
     # Get Organizer by Slug
diff --git a/tests/integration_tests/user_recipe_tests/test_recipe_crud.py b/tests/integration_tests/user_recipe_tests/test_recipe_crud.py
index b87200fc6..d98152019 100644
--- a/tests/integration_tests/user_recipe_tests/test_recipe_crud.py
+++ b/tests/integration_tests/user_recipe_tests/test_recipe_crud.py
@@ -470,6 +470,11 @@ def test_read_update(
     assert response.status_code == 200
     assert json.loads(response.text).get("slug") == recipe_data.expected_slug
 
+    recipe_incomplete = recipe.copy()
+    del recipe_incomplete["group_id"]
+    response = api_client.put(recipe_url, json=utils.jsonify(recipe_incomplete), headers=unique_user.token)
+    assert response.status_code == 400
+
     response = api_client.get(recipe_url, headers=unique_user.token)
     assert response.status_code == 200
     recipe = json.loads(response.text)