diff --git a/scripts/pipeline/backfill_meal_tags.py b/scripts/pipeline/backfill_meal_tags.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f416dd1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/pipeline/backfill_meal_tags.py
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+"""
+Fast targeted backfill for meal: tags only.
+
+Rather than re-deriving ALL inferred_tags via the full infer_tags() pipeline
+(which takes ~2.5h for 3.19M recipes), this script:
+
+  1. Reads only id + title + inferred_tags (no ingredient profiles needed —
+     meal signals are title-only).
+  2. Runs _match_title_signals() against the title to get meal tags.
+  3. For rows that already have inferred_tags: merges in the new meal tags
+     (no-op if already present).
+  4. For rows with no inferred_tags: runs the full infer_tags() pipeline so
+     those rows get a complete tag set, not just meal tags.
+  5. Rebuilds the FTS5 index once at the end.
+
+Estimated runtime on 3.19M recipes: 3–5 minutes.
+
+Usage:
+    python scripts/pipeline/backfill_meal_tags.py [path/to/kiwi.db]
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import argparse
+import json
+import sys
+from pathlib import Path
+
+sys.path.insert(0, str(Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2]))
+
+from app.services.recipe.tag_inferrer import _MEAL_SIGNALS, _match_title_signals
+
+
+def run(db_path: Path, batch_size: int = 10_000) -> None:
+    import sqlite3
+
+    conn = sqlite3.connect(db_path)
+    conn.execute("PRAGMA journal_mode=WAL")
+    conn.execute("PRAGMA synchronous=NORMAL")
+
+    total = conn.execute("SELECT count(*) FROM recipes").fetchone()[0]
+    print(f"Total recipes: {total:,}")
+
+    updated = 0
+    skipped = 0
+    offset = 0
+
+    while True:
+        rows = conn.execute(
+            """
+            SELECT id, title, inferred_tags
+            FROM recipes
+            ORDER BY id
+            LIMIT ? OFFSET ?
+            """,
+            (batch_size, offset),
+        ).fetchall()
+        if not rows:
+            break
+
+        updates: list[tuple[str, int]] = []
+        for row_id, title, tags_json in rows:
+            title = title or ""
+            meal_tags = _match_title_signals(title, _MEAL_SIGNALS)
+            if not meal_tags:
+                skipped += 1
+                continue
+
+            try:
+                existing: list[str] = json.loads(tags_json) if tags_json else []
+            except Exception:
+                existing = []
+
+            # Merge: union of existing + new meal tags, sorted
+            merged = sorted(set(existing) | set(meal_tags))
+            if merged == existing:
+                skipped += 1
+                continue
+
+            updates.append((json.dumps(merged), row_id))
+
+        if updates:
+            conn.executemany(
+                "UPDATE recipes SET inferred_tags = ? WHERE id = ?", updates
+            )
+            conn.commit()
+            updated += len(updates)
+
+        offset += len(rows)
+        pct = min(100, int(offset * 100 / total))
+        print(f"  {pct:>3}%  offset {offset:,}  merged {updated:,}  skipped {skipped:,}",
+              end="\r")
+
+    print(f"\nDone. Merged meal tags into {updated:,} recipes ({skipped:,} unchanged).")
+
+    if updated > 0:
+        print("Rebuilding FTS5 browser index...")
+        try:
+            conn.execute(
+                "INSERT INTO recipe_browser_fts(recipe_browser_fts) VALUES('rebuild')"
+            )
+            conn.commit()
+            print("FTS rebuild complete.")
+        except Exception as e:
+            print(f"FTS rebuild skipped: {e}")
+
+    conn.close()
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__)
+    parser.add_argument("db", nargs="?", default="data/kiwi.db", type=Path)
+    parser.add_argument("--batch-size", type=int, default=10_000)
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+    if not args.db.exists():
+        print(f"DB not found: {args.db}")
+        sys.exit(1)
+    run(args.db, args.batch_size)