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How do people organize their recipes digitally? Software and web solutions are both welcome.

For me, the ideal solution would accept recipes from different sources (copy/paste, or email) in any format, and would automatically generate ingredient lists. It would be available from multiple devices (phone, iPad, computer) and would automatically prepare shopping lists.

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+1 As a professional software developer questions like this always interest me. – Mark Schultheiss Aug 18 '10 at 12:48

10 Answers

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My wife and I love http://www.plantoeat.com/

  • The recipe import is well done and intuitive.
  • The meal planner is easy to use and provides a great view of the week ahead.
  • The grocery list maker is awesome. The Pantry Inventory of the stuff you already have on hand is brilliant!
  • The site looks and works great on an iPhone when shopping. We said "so long" to Grocery Gadget after using it :)
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I'm checking out the P2E trial now - it really does seem to be exactly what I want. – Herb Caudill Mar 21 '11 at 0:30
By the way - there's a mobile version of the site - not an iPhone app, as the website initially made me think. Still, very slick. – Herb Caudill Mar 21 '11 at 0:33
up vote 8 down vote

I'm using Evernote for all my digital recipes, though it doesn't give you any ingredient list. The list is no issue for me though since I prefer going through my cupboard and check up on what I have, what I need and what I'll soon be needing. I find the ingredient lists to make you focus on one meal at the time instead of having a mixed basic setup.

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+1 - I have a tablet in my kitchen running OneNote - it's like a paper recipe card box, only with searching and unlimited space for each recipe, and easier updates / fixes. – Eclipse Jul 10 '10 at 16:38
up vote 3 down vote

The ones I've found for Mac (and that look reasonable) are:

There are definitely others, but those are the ones that I've fiddled with. I think SousChef is my favorite.

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As far as digital storage goes, I can only echo support for SousChef - some great recipes in there to start with and easy to add your own. To be honest, though, pretty much all of the stuff I use frequently is either in an old fashioned cookbook or pinned to my freezer with fridge magnets. – RobM Feb 5 '11 at 15:40
up vote 1 down vote

Just Right Menus is a fledgling one that's very intuitive. I especially like that there are formatting options available for ingredient lists. I prefer to put the ingredient name in bold (like the following) so it's easier to glance at when cooking, but most sites won't let you.

2 cloves garlic

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Interesting. I'm mainly interested in a place to store my recipes - not so interested in a repository of recipes that I may or may not have ever used. – Herb Caudill Jul 9 '10 at 19:51
Most sites allow you to create your own "recipe box". So, even if it's a larger repository of others' recipes, you can add your own & flag others' recipes as "yours". It sounds like epicurious.com would have just what you're looking for. – JustRightMenus Jul 17 '10 at 4:52
up vote 1 down vote

I'm a big fan of the fledgling online onetsp.com. It's a pretty simple user interface and I can make great shopping lists. As a bonus, wherever I have access to the internet I have access to my recipes.

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up vote 1 down vote

i use plain old .txt files, sorted into folders and synced between my computer, ipad & iphone with Dropbox. on my ipad, i mainly access them with Goodreader, which accesses my dropbox folder and syncs wirelessly. so far, it's been pretty great.

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up vote 0 down vote

I've used YummySoup on the Mac which was reasonable. It's HTML import feature is certainly very good. I haven't yet found anything that seems to can be shared between multiple machines/platforms easily unfortunately.

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up vote 0 down vote

I, too, use Evernote. I use 3 folders, Food, Bake, and recipes I make often I move to Food-Favs.

I try to find the print version of the recipe page that I am saving, or select the important part to save.

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up vote 0 down vote

I am using Shopglider, http://shopglider.com/

It is web-based, pretty simple: you keep shopping lists (just list of stuff to buy) and recipes (ingredients) there, can share account between multiple people. Entering ingredients is usually very simple - paste to text field, and site understands that "2 tbsp sugar" is two tablespoons of sugar - creating ingredient list automatically.

Then you decide what to buy next time by selecting items from lists and recipes, and create trip to shops - you can then print it, email it or sync to Windows Phone (last time I checked they don't have iPhone or Android app).

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Do you have a typo in "2 tsp sugar" is 2 table spoons of sugar? I would understand it as 2 teaspoons, and tbsp as tablespoons. – Peter Taylor Feb 5 '11 at 18:19
@Peter - I've edited the answer to suggest changing tsp to tbsp. – Herb Caudill Mar 21 '11 at 0:30
up vote 0 down vote

I'm using Stoveside, http://www.stoveside.com

It doesn't do shopping lists, it's more of a recipe box for all recipes across the internet.

It runs by a bookmarklet in your browser bar, then on any website you click the button to save the recipe. Very handy, for saving great recipes as you often randomly come upon them.

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