Debian Linux Handbook

If you don’t want these recommended packages, here’s how to stop them from being installed. Create the following file:

/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/99_norecommends

and add these contents to it.

APT::Install-Recommends "true";
APT::Install-Suggests "false";
APT::AutoRemove::RecommendsImportant "true";
APT::AutoRemove::SuggestsImportant "false";

Then do apt autoremove to remove already installed recommends.