diff --git a/.github/workflows/flink.yaml b/.github/workflows/flink.yaml
index aaa9f884..6d015d6c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/flink.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/flink.yaml
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@ jobs:
         python -m pip install --upgrade pip
         python -m pip install -r dev-requirements.txt
         python -m pip install -e .[flink]
+        python -m pip install -U ${{ matrix.recipes-version }}
 
     - name: Set up min.io as a k3s service
       run: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/unit-test.yml b/.github/workflows/unit-test.yml
index 9d4c51ae..1036f633 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/unit-test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/unit-test.yml
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ jobs:
       run: |
         python -m pip install --upgrade pip
         python -m pip install -r dev-requirements.txt
-        python -m pip install -e .
+        python -m pip install -e ".[flink]"
         python -m pip install -U ${{ matrix.recipes-version }}
 
     - name: Test with pytest
diff --git a/pangeo_forge_runner/commands/bake.py b/pangeo_forge_runner/commands/bake.py
index 4fffca99..f9638f9b 100644
--- a/pangeo_forge_runner/commands/bake.py
+++ b/pangeo_forge_runner/commands/bake.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 import re
 import string
 import time
+from importlib.metadata import distributions
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import escapism
@@ -173,6 +174,10 @@ def start(self):
         """
         Start the baking process
         """
+        if not "pangeo-forge-recipes" in [d.metadata["Name"] for d in distributions()]:
+            raise ValueError(
+                "To use the `bake` command, `pangeo-forge-recipes` must be installed."
+            )
         # Create our storage configurations. Traitlets will do its magic, populate these
         # with appropriate config from config file / commandline / defaults.
         target_storage = TargetStorage(parent=self)
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 46c72688..b498f94e 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
     install_requires=[
         "jupyter-repo2docker",
         "ruamel.yaml",
-        "pangeo-forge-recipes>=0.9.2",
         "escapism",
         "jsonschema",
         "traitlets",
diff --git a/tests/integration/flink/test_flink_integration.py b/tests/integration/flink/test_flink_integration.py
index 963d78f3..84e13799 100644
--- a/tests/integration/flink/test_flink_integration.py
+++ b/tests/integration/flink/test_flink_integration.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 import time
 from importlib.metadata import version
 
+import pytest
 import xarray as xr
 from packaging.version import parse as parse_version
 
@@ -20,6 +21,10 @@ def test_flink_bake(minio_service, flinkversion, pythonversion, beamversion):
         recipe_version_ref = str(pfr_version)
     else:
         recipe_version_ref = "0.9.x"
+        pytest.xfail(
+            f"{pfr_version = }, which is < 0.10. "
+            "Flink tests timeout with this recipes version, so we xfail this test."
+        )
 
     bucket = "s3://gpcp-out"
     config = {
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_bake.py b/tests/unit/test_bake.py
index 40da0a4d..9ea12079 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_bake.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_bake.py
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 import json
 import re
 import subprocess
+import sys
 import tempfile
-from importlib.metadata import version
+from importlib.metadata import distributions, version
 
 import pytest
 import xarray as xr
@@ -11,6 +12,45 @@
 from pangeo_forge_runner.commands.bake import Bake
 
 
+@pytest.fixture
+def recipes_uninstalled():
+    """Uninstall `pangeo-forge-recipes` for `test_bake_requires_recipes_installed`."""
+    # first confirm that it's installed to begin with
+    assert "pangeo-forge-recipes" in [d.metadata["Name"] for d in distributions()]
+    # and capture the version, which we'll reinstall after the test
+    recipes_version = parse_version(version("pangeo-forge-recipes"))
+    # now uninstall it
+    uninstall = subprocess.run(
+        f"{sys.executable} -m pip uninstall pangeo-forge-recipes -y".split()
+    )
+    assert uninstall.returncode == 0
+    assert "pangeo-forge-recipes" not in [d.metadata["Name"] for d in distributions()]
+    # and yield to the test
+    yield True
+    # test is complete, now reinstall pangeo-forge-recipes in the test env
+    reinstall = subprocess.run(
+        f"{sys.executable} -m pip install pangeo-forge-recipes=={recipes_version}".split()
+    )
+    assert reinstall.returncode == 0
+    # make sure it's there, and in the expected version
+    assert "pangeo-forge-recipes" in [d.metadata["Name"] for d in distributions()]
+    assert parse_version(version("pangeo-forge-recipes")) == recipes_version
+
+
+def test_bake_requires_recipes_installed(recipes_uninstalled):
+    """`pangeo-forge-runner` does not require `pangeo-forge-recipes` to be installed,
+    but `pangeo-forge-recipes` *is* required to use the `bake` command, so test that
+    we get a descriptive error if we try to invoke this command without it installed.
+    """
+    assert recipes_uninstalled
+    bake = Bake()
+    with pytest.raises(
+        ValueError,
+        match="To use the `bake` command, `pangeo-forge-recipes` must be installed.",
+    ):
+        bake.start()
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "job_name, raises",
     (