diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index 537f102..dff5195 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ MVP is functionally complete (core app + docs + tests).
 - [x] Add frontend error states (invalid URL, parse failure, timeout)
 
 ### Phase 3: Fallback Parsing + Hardening
-- [ ] Add heuristic fallback parser when Schema.org missing
+- [x] Add heuristic fallback parser when Schema.org missing
 - [ ] Add timeout/retry + user-friendly import failure messages
 - [ ] Add logging/telemetry for import success/failure reasons
 
diff --git a/src/backend/routes/import.ts b/src/backend/routes/import.ts
index 0e668ab..c4190ce 100644
--- a/src/backend/routes/import.ts
+++ b/src/backend/routes/import.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { Router } from 'express';
 import { z } from 'zod';
 import { UrlImportService } from '../services/UrlImportService.js';
 import { SchemaOrgRecipeParserService } from '../services/SchemaOrgRecipeParserService.js';
+import { HeuristicRecipeParserService } from '../services/HeuristicRecipeParserService.js';
 
 const importUrlSchema = z.object({
   url: z.string().url('A valid URL is required'),
@@ -11,6 +12,7 @@ export function createImportRoutes(): Router {
   const router = Router();
   const urlImportService = new UrlImportService();
   const schemaOrgParser = new SchemaOrgRecipeParserService();
+  const heuristicParser = new HeuristicRecipeParserService();
 
   /**
    * POST /api/import/url
@@ -28,6 +30,11 @@ export function createImportRoutes(): Router {
         if (draft) break;
       }
 
+      // Fallback: heuristic HTML parser when Schema.org data is missing/invalid
+      if (!draft) {
+        draft = heuristicParser.parseHtml(result.html, result.source_url);
+      }
+
       res.status(200).json({
         success: true,
         data: { ...result, draft_recipe: draft },
diff --git a/src/backend/services/HeuristicRecipeParserService.ts b/src/backend/services/HeuristicRecipeParserService.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1c1711c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/backend/services/HeuristicRecipeParserService.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+import type { CreateRecipeInput } from '../types/recipe.js';
+
+/**
+ * Lightweight fallback parser for pages without usable Schema.org Recipe JSON-LD.
+ */
+export class HeuristicRecipeParserService {
+  parseHtml(html: string, sourceUrl?: string): CreateRecipeInput | null {
+    const title = this.extractTitle(html);
+    const ingredients = this.extractSectionList(html, 'ingredients');
+    const instructions = this.extractSectionList(html, 'instructions')
+      .concat(this.extractSectionList(html, 'directions'));
+
+    const mergedInstructions = this.uniqueNonEmpty(instructions);
+
+    if (!title && ingredients.length === 0 && mergedInstructions.length === 0) {
+      return null;
+    }
+
+    if (ingredients.length === 0 && mergedInstructions.length === 0) {
+      return null;
+    }
+
+    return {
+      title: title ?? 'Imported Recipe',
+      ingredients,
+      instructions: mergedInstructions,
+      source_url: sourceUrl,
+    };
+  }
+
+  private extractTitle(html: string): string | undefined {
+    const h1Match = html.match(/<h1[^>]*>([\s\S]*?)<\/h1>/i);
+    if (h1Match?.[1]) {
+      return this.normalizeText(h1Match[1]);
+    }
+
+    const titleMatch = html.match(/<title[^>]*>([\s\S]*?)<\/title>/i);
+    if (!titleMatch?.[1]) return undefined;
+
+    const raw = this.normalizeText(titleMatch[1]);
+    if (!raw) return undefined;
+
+    // Common site title separators (e.g., "Recipe Name | Site")
+    const split = raw.split(/\s[\-|–|:]\s/);
+    return split[0]?.trim() || raw;
+  }
+
+  private extractSectionList(html: string, sectionName: 'ingredients' | 'instructions' | 'directions'): string[] {
+    const headingPattern = new RegExp(
+      `<h[1-6][^>]*>\\s*${sectionName}\\s*<\\/h[1-6]>\\s*<(ul|ol)[^>]*>([\\s\\S]*?)<\\/\\1>`,
+      'i',
+    );
+
+    const headingMatch = html.match(headingPattern);
+    if (headingMatch?.[2]) {
+      return this.extractListItems(headingMatch[2]);
+    }
+
+    const classPattern = new RegExp(
+      `<(ul|ol|div)[^>]*(class|id)=["'][^"']*${sectionName.slice(0, -1)}[^"']*["'][^>]*>([\\s\\S]*?)<\\/\\1>`,
+      'gi',
+    );
+
+    const candidates: string[] = [];
+    let match = classPattern.exec(html);
+    while (match) {
+      const content = match[3] ?? '';
+      candidates.push(...this.extractListItems(content));
+      match = classPattern.exec(html);
+    }
+
+    return this.uniqueNonEmpty(candidates);
+  }
+
+  private extractListItems(sectionHtml: string): string[] {
+    const listItemRegex = /<li[^>]*>([\s\S]*?)<\/li>/gi;
+    const items: string[] = [];
+
+    let match = listItemRegex.exec(sectionHtml);
+    while (match) {
+      const normalized = this.normalizeText(match[1] ?? '');
+      if (normalized) {
+        items.push(normalized);
+      }
+      match = listItemRegex.exec(sectionHtml);
+    }
+
+    return this.uniqueNonEmpty(items);
+  }
+
+  private normalizeText(text: string): string {
+    const withoutTags = text.replace(/<[^>]+>/g, ' ');
+    const decoded = withoutTags
+      .replace(/&nbsp;/gi, ' ')
+      .replace(/&amp;/gi, '&')
+      .replace(/&quot;/gi, '"')
+      .replace(/&#39;/gi, "'")
+      .replace(/&lt;/gi, '<')
+      .replace(/&gt;/gi, '>');
+
+    return decoded.replace(/\s+/g, ' ').trim();
+  }
+
+  private uniqueNonEmpty(values: string[]): string[] {
+    return [...new Set(values.map((v) => v.trim()).filter(Boolean))];
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/backend/tests/import.test.ts b/src/backend/tests/import.test.ts
index 6e14a76..2d4c25a 100644
--- a/src/backend/tests/import.test.ts
+++ b/src/backend/tests/import.test.ts
@@ -91,6 +91,48 @@ describe('Import API', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it('should use heuristic fallback parser when Schema.org data is missing', async () => {
+    const html = `
+      <html>
+        <head><title>Easy Banana Bread | Example</title></head>
+        <body>
+          <h1>Easy Banana Bread</h1>
+          <h2>Ingredients</h2>
+          <ul>
+            <li>3 ripe bananas</li>
+            <li>2 cups flour</li>
+          </ul>
+          <h2>Instructions</h2>
+          <ol>
+            <li>Mash bananas.</li>
+            <li>Bake at 350°F for 50 minutes.</li>
+          </ol>
+        </body>
+      </html>
+    `;
+
+    vi.spyOn(globalThis, 'fetch').mockResolvedValue({
+      ok: true,
+      status: 200,
+      headers: new Headers({ 'content-type': 'text/html; charset=utf-8' }),
+      text: async () => html,
+    } as Response);
+
+    const response = await request(app)
+      .post('/api/import/url')
+      .send({ url: 'https://example.com/banana-bread' })
+      .expect(200);
+
+    expect(response.body.success).toBe(true);
+    expect(response.body.data.json_ld_blocks).toEqual([]);
+    expect(response.body.data.draft_recipe).toEqual({
+      title: 'Easy Banana Bread',
+      ingredients: ['3 ripe bananas', '2 cups flour'],
+      instructions: ['Mash bananas.', 'Bake at 350°F for 50 minutes.'],
+      source_url: 'https://example.com/banana-bread'
+    });
+  });
+
   it('should return draft_recipe as null for non-recipe JSON-LD', async () => {
     const html = `
       <html>