Cooking at home is both healthier and more cost-effective. I’ve compiled a list of the best recipe apps for your iPhone or iPad to help you prepare delicious meals tailored to your preferences, cravings, and ingredients available. Cook up a storm today!
1. JustTheRecipe Easy cooking: Your personal digital cookbook
If food is your love, JustTheRecipe is for you. This all-in-one app is an ideal companion for anyone who wants to enjoy scrumptious food without getting lost in the pool of information included in recipe blogs. JustTheRecipe app cuts down all the fluff and gives you easy access to the two most essential elements of a cooking recipe – ingredients and instructions. Hop on to cooking straight away!
The platform allows you to create a digital cookbook to save and group your favorite recipes into collections. This can include your recipes, too. In addition, there is complete freedom to customize ingredients or the making process per your taste. Moreover, you can include fancy images and special notes to make your digital cookbook even more enjoyable.
In the premium version, the app allows you to take printouts of your recipes. Moreover, you can adjust the servings of these recipes based on the number of guests. This way, you can easily avoid cooking more or less than the required quantity. The in-built AI-powered unit converter further simplifies your cooking.
- Direct access to ingredients and instructions
- Personalized cookbook
- Simple and intuitive interface
- Extra benefits on premium
- No cons found
Price: In-app purchases start at $1.49)
2. Tasty – Recipes, Cooking Videos: Experiment with savory cuisines
As the name suggests, Tasty is your one-stop app for all things delicious! It’s got over 4000 recipes at your fingertips presented in a nifty step-by-step instruction mode. This means they’re super easy to replicate. Trust me, given my clumsiness and lack of culinary skill, if I can do it, anyone can!
I love the ‘My Recipes’ page, which functions like your mobile cookbook. It’s ideal for those who love the nostalgic charm of hardbound cookbooks passed down through the generations.
The search tool is incredibly powerful and lets you filter by ingredients, cuisine, and social occasion. So, you’re never lost for what to cook up!
The detailed personalization makes Tasty one of the best free recipe apps for the iPhone. You can find hundreds of recipes that match your dietary needs, such as vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and more.
Further, one of my favorite features is “What’s in Your Kitchen.” This lets you find recipes based on what ingredients you have. Just select three ingredients you have, and the app will recommend recipes based on that.
- Great for beginners
- Extensive collection of recipes
- Caters to varied dietary needs
- Find recipes for ingredients you have
- Some recipes are not accurately categorized. For instance, you might see an egg recipe in the vegetarian section.
Price: Free (In-App Purchase – Monthly $3)
3. DishCapture: Best for Saving Any Recipe, From Anywhere
We were excited to test this newly launched app, which is already gaining traction with early users. DishCapture grew out of a very relatable moment: four friends fighting over the last piece of chocolate cake and everyone wanting the recipe. That sparked a bigger question for them: why were their favorite recipes still scattered across their homes and kitchens, buried in screenshots, saved Instagram and Facebook posts, websites, printouts, cookbooks and old family recipe cards?
What we liked is that DishCapture was created by a non-techie home cook who simply wanted a solution, not by a big software company trying to invent another recipe app. It feels like an app built to solve a problem many home cooks genuinely have.
DishCapture uses the technology of AI to help capture a recipe from a screenshot, photo, Instagram, Facebook or TikTok post, website URL, pasted text or dictation, then turns it into a clean, editable recipe stored in one searchable library. You can even photograph a handwritten or printed family recipe card and preserve it forever.
One feature we particularly liked is that DishCapture retains the original recipe and its source, so users can always return to where the recipe came from. The keyword search is also genuinely useful: search by an ingredient such as “banana,” a cooking method such as “steam,” or even a personal word such as “Mom.”
We found that recipes could be edited, organized, printed and easily shared. They even solved the issue of touching your phone or tablet with sticky fingers by introducing hands-free cooking controls, which help users move through recipe instructions with simple voice commands.
Another feature worth watching is the smart, shareable shopping list that DishCapture plans to launch soon. It is designed to take into account ingredients users already have in their fridge or cupboards, helping avoid unnecessary purchases, and the finished list can even be shared with someone else doing the shopping.
- Captures recipes from photos, screenshots, social media, websites, and text
- AI converts recipes into clean, editable recipes
- Powerful keyword search
- Easy to edit, organize, print, and share
- Hands-free cooking mode
- No strict meal categories like breakfast, lunch, or dinner
- No nutritional or calorie information
4. BigOven Recipes & Meal Planner: Best cooking community
When it comes to cooking inspiration, BigOven has got you covered with big ideas! No more digging through old cookbooks or frantically searching online to find something to cook. Just collect your favorite recipes in this app from all your favorite sites and organize them in folders to quickly find them later on.
The highlight is the vibrant community of home cooks who share your passion and keep you motivated to stay in the kitchen. You can find your favorite community members and their recipes on your home screen. Plus, read reviews left by others and get notified of comments or questions on recipes you’ve posted.
Further, you can enjoy even more benefits when you upgrade to the ad-free BigOven Pro membership. For instance, you can upload unlimited recipes and find more that cater to your diet and lifestyle with ingredient-by-ingredient nutritional insights and advanced search filters.
Additionally, create custom folders to store recipes for any occasion. And plan and share a week’s worth of meals across multiple BigOven accounts.
- Keeps all your recipes in one place
- A vibrant community of cooking enthusiasts
- Feature-rich
- Compatibility issues with certain websites
Price: Free (Pro starts at $1.99)
5. Fit Men Cook for healthy recipes
I think we are well past the gender stereotype of only women doing the cooking. So here’s a recipe app that primarily caters to men who want to stay fit. While working out is essential, the root of your health is in the kitchen. Get dozens of meal ideas in varied categories, such as post-workout snacks, low-carb lunches, etc.
This app will change your mind if you think that healthy food is tasteless or boring. It guides you with easy-to-make nutritious meals that will help you stick to a healthy diet without spending a lot of compromising on variety.
Along with step-by-step instructions, it helps with meal planning, grocery shopping, and macro counting for bodybuilding or weight loss. All in all, a remarkable tool that will inspire you to take charge of your health.
- Encourages healthy eating
- Recipes for different diet plans and fitness needs
- Specially catered to men
- Great for cooking newbies and pros alike
- A bit pricey
Price: $3.99 (Additional in-app purchases start at $0.99)
6. Paprika Recipe manager 3
If you love collecting recipes the way I do, you need this app in your life! It’s perfect for organizing every aspect of your meals, from grocery lists and meal plans to recipes from your favorite websites. It beautifully syncs across devices so that you can access it anytime, anywhere.
What’s more? You can import from other apps such as MacGourmet, YummySoup!, MasterCook & Living Cookbook. Lastly, keeping things organized and sharing recipes is a breeze. It’s straightforward to use and makes it convenient to catalog all your food needs in one app.
Given the all-around utility, I’m sure you’ll use Paprika for years to come, which makes it well worth the one-time price!
- Comprehensive app
- Highly customizable
- Well-designed and functional
- Manual entry for personal recipes
Price: $4.99
7. SuperCook Recipe by Ingredient
How many times have you found a tempting recipe only to realize you’re missing some key ingredients? Say goodbye to that sinking feeling and try this smart recipe app that suggests meals based on what you already have.
To get started, navigate to the pantry page of the app and choose all the ingredients you have from a list of over 2000. Categories include fruits, vegetables, meats, oils, sauces, spices, and more. Then, SuperCook will work its magic by curating the perfect recipes that match your ingredients.
When you run out of something, remove it from your pantry to automatically adjust your recipe recommendations.
This app boasts millions of recipes from thousands of websites in 20 languages. It’s inspired my creativity in the kitchen and is a must-have for anyone who wants to cook more.
- Super easy to use
- Recipes in 20 languages
- Helpful for people with dietary restrictions
- Lack of unique or innovative recipes
Price: Free
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