Organizing your recipes online? Of course, there’s an app for that

4/20/2014

Even though I work with recipes professionally, I’ve been hesitant to go completely digital with recipe organization. I’m used to working from books. Recently, however, I realized it was time to evolve.

A basic search of recipe apps and programs will turn up a ton of options. While most will allow you to “clip” and save recipes found online, some allow you to add your own notes and photos, generate grocery lists, and even compile meal-planning calendars. At least one will help you re-create your physical cookbook library online, and still others offer scanning and transcribing services for those handwritten recipes you inherited.

Here are several favorites. Remember that these apps are constantly evolving and may offer different features and prices.

● Paprika

What it does: Easy-to-follow app for meal planning, recipe browsing, collection, creation, and management. Download recipes from anywhere on the Web, and store them on Paprika. In the kitchen, the app helps you track your progress, allowing you to cross off ingredients and highlight current steps; it also helps to automatically scale ingredients and insert timers in steps. Paprika also includes a smart grocery list function to pull ingredients from a chosen recipe into a simple shopping list, along with meal plans and calendar functions. Cloud Sync seamlessly synchronizes recipes, lists and meal plans between devices.

In a nutshell: A great all-around app, whether you’re new to this or not.

Platforms and price: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android, Kindle Fire, Nook Color; $4.99.

● Big Oven

What it does: Another great beginner website. The library contains more than 250,000 recipes, and you can also import your own. Pro membership allows for scanning, in which you photograph your recipes and they are transcribed through OCR (optical character recognition) scanning and human deciphering; you can also enter recipes manually. Pro membership also includes Web clipping, note adding, and nutrition information.

In a nutshell: Don’t have the time to manually input handwritten recipes? Use the transcription service.

Platforms and prices: Website, iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire, Nook, Windows Phone, Windows; free for basic, $2.49 a month or $19.99 a year for Pro membership.

● Eat Your Books

What it does: It’s your personal online cookbook library. Use the website’s indexing tools to locate the cookbooks and magazines you already own, along with blogs you follow to create an online bookshelf, then use the website to quickly search for recipes — by name, ingredients, occasion, food type, ethnicity, book title, or author — when you need them. Use the Bookmarklet to add any online recipe to your collection, and tag books and recipes to organize them. The website also includes a shopping list function and a forum where you can chat with other members and see their ratings on books and recipes.

In a nutshell: All my cookbooks on my phone? I’ll take it!

Platforms and prices: Website; free for up to five books (and/​or magazines and blogs), $2.50 a month unlimited, $25 a year unlimited.

● Pinterest

What it does: Intuitive and easy-to-use visual tool for collecting and storing various interests, not limited to food. The idea is to “pin” — or bookmark — these ideas (recipes, foods, ingredients, etc.) to various “boards.” Boards can be organized in any way, such as generic “recipes,” holiday-specific courses and seasonal dishes, and dietary needs. Pin recipes from anywhere on the Web to your boards, which can either be private or publicly shared with other pinners.

In a nutshell: I can share with anyone, and it’s easy to “pin” recipes and ideas.

Platforms and price: Website, iPhone, iPad, Windows, Android, Kindle, Nook; free.

● Evernote Food

What it does: A great app for Evernote users that lets you organize and document both recipe and restaurant information and experiences. The app links to a number of recipe sites, and it is easy to “clip” and save recipes, then record your meals start to finish through photographs and notes. You can also save restaurants — places you’ve been to or ones you’d like to try — and use your location to find restaurants nearby.

In a nutshell: Recipe organization and restaurant guide rolled into one.

Platforms and prices: iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android; free for the basic app, premium is $5 a month or $45 a year.

● MacGourmet, MacGourmet Deluxe

What it does: Use it to create, organize, edit, and share recipes. MacGourmet also includes shopping lists and note functions. Create your own categories, and add images and notes to customize recipes. Use the Potluck feature to find recipes based on ingredients you have on hand. You can import or clip recipes from other sites, and you can scale servings as you like. MacGourmet Deluxe includes a nutrition database. The Mealplan feature generates shopping lists, menus, and related plans for any meal. The Cookbook Builder allows you to create your own look, including text, image, and divider pages; a table of contents template, and PDF options.

In a nutshell: I love the idea of the cookbook option, so I can create my own collections as gifts or for friends.

Platforms and prices: Apple only; $24.99 (MacGourmet software), $49.95 (MacGourmet Deluxe software), $3.99 for Gourmet (for iOS) app for iPhone or iPad.