Advise on Channels and Categories for Content Heavy Site

I am hoping to get some input from the few ee veterans still here. I have to implement a recipe site and it’s category and entry heavy. I am trying to do as much natively as possible because frankly, a lot of add-ons are dropping out of circulation lately and I don’t want to get caught dependent on anything that won’t stay updated.

Ultimately there will be about 10,000 recipe entries and a lot of category groups. All entries will use the same form fields and be “like” content, so I am constantly torn between more channels or one ‘RECIPE’ channel and more category groups.

My primary struggle, and where I would appreciate more experienced advice, is deciding if the very top level categorizations should be individual channels or not.

They would be: Appetizers, Mains, Sides, Desserts, Baked Goods, Soups & Stews.

In addition, each recipe will have the following category groups: CUISINE (Asian, Indian etc.), MEAL (Breakfast, Dinner etc.), MAIN INGREDIENT (Chicken, beef etc.), SEASONAL (Christmas, Easter etc.).

Thoughts? I am concerned filtering/searching is going to be too messy.

Much appreciation for any help.