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Organizing Recipes Hall Of Fame: Electronic Recipe Organizer Edition

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Along with the traditional paper ways to organize recipes, electronic recipe organizer software and apps are now becoming all the rage.


organize recipes and cookbooks challenge
It is easier to do this now than ever, since you can easily take your laptop or IPad into your kitchen with you (like the picture above) to use while you cook, so you can follow the recipe without ever having to print it out.

This hall of fame post shares some tips from readers on how they use various software programs, both free and paid, to organize their recipes.

If these ideas inspire you I'd encourage you to read the Organize Recipes Challenge, take the steps for yourself, and share your results with me here. I'd love to add you to the hall of fame!

Plus, if you've used a program for organizing recipes on the computer I'd love to hear what you thought about it, good or bad, to help everyone else know what some good programs are out there for this task.

So, without further ado, scroll down to see the tips and hints that have already been shared.

Lots of different options for how to #organize recipes digitally with both apps and electronic recipe organizer products {on Home Storage Solutions 101} #RecipeOrganization #OrganizingTipsuse this Pin it button to save to Pinterest

Top photo by Lachlan Hardy

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BigOven App Review

by Julie

Recipes

Recipes

Julie says:

I use Big Oven. I can access it on the web, laptop or smartphone. You can enter recipe. It will calculate amounts for different portions. I have used this feature to scale up some soup recipes for our church's soup dinners.

It will also create shopping lists.

It has thousands recipes online.

My favorite feature is when I'm stumped on what's for dinner, I enter in only 3 ingredients and it gives me lots of suggestions.

Taylor says

This app is available on iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire, NOOK, and Windows Phone.

It is a free app, but there is a paid upgrade to the pro version.

You can get it through the following referral links:
Photos courtesy of BigOven, showing the iPhone app screenshots

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How To Organize Recipes With The Cozi Family Organizer

by Stacey V.
(Woodinville, Wa)

Stacey shared her tips for organizing recipes on the computer.

Stacey says:

For me this week's challenge was partly simple because I have been collecting and adding recipes to allrecipes.com for quite awhile. That was working really pretty well for me in keeping the recipes organized.

For the recipes we used a lot, I would print them out in 4x6 card size and kept them tidy in a little box.

Fast forward to this challenge. I recently got a new laptop and on that laptop there was an app downloaded called the Cozi Family Organizer. I already was familiar with the app a little bit because I had it on my phone.

So, in checking it out further on my computer, a few weeks ago, I found an area for meal planning... brilliant, I thought so I began planning meals.

Along with the meal planning there is a "recipe box" where I can compile recipes and then simply drag the recipe over to the appropriate day I plan to make that recipe.

So, I began adding all those recipes I have stored on allrecipes.com by copy and pasting all the info from the recipe on the site to my Cozi recipe box. It is really easy!

There is also a part to link a recipe from the internet right onto the Cozi recipe page... if that makes sense. For all my hand written recipes, I just simply added them into Cozi.

I'm loving it!! No longer do I need a book (however I may print them all out to keep in a folder anyway).

From the meal planning part you can also easily add those items to a shopping list and if you have the app on your phone it makes it brilliantly easy and very organized for shopping.

I have my meals planned out three weeks in advance right now and know exactly what I need at the store... Love that part!! I'd love to add a photo but I have nothing to take a photo of :)

***Update: After discussion on Facebook about some of the pitfalls of organizing recipes on the computer (see below for some more thoughts on this) - Stacey asked me to add this point about Cozi. She says:
One thing to add about the Cozi family planner, since it is also stored on a website you can have it on many devices or computers. If your computer crashes or something, no worries it is still stored on the website :)

Taylor says:

Thanks so much Stacey for sharing this great review for the Cozi electronic recipe organizer. It also sounds like a great way to plan your family's weekly meals!

Other people have also gushed about Cozi to me, for example when discussing family calendars, so this is definitely a FREE program everyone should at least check out.

The Cozi app is available for both Apple and Android products.

You can get it through the following referral links:

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ChefTap Recipe Organizer App Review

by Donna
(PA)

Donna says:

Cheftap Recipe Organizer App is a recipe saving app. I love it because anywhere online that you see a recipe that you like you just click the 'share' option, and then choose 'cheftap', and it downloads it into the app.

You can then revise it, if you'd like, assign a category to it, etc.

Too many nice features to mention on here. But I have downloaded various recipe saving apps, and this one, by far, is the best one out there. It does everything I need it to do.

Taylor says:

This app is free, but there is a pro upgrade. It is available for both Apple and Android products.

You can get the app through these referral links below:

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I Keep My Recipes In A Word Document Becomes Technologies Can Become Obsolete

by Lisa

Lisa shared this idea with me on the site's Facebook wall, and graciously allowed me to use it here in the hall of fame too.

I think Lisa brings up a great point you've got to consider with all electronic recipe organizer programs -- becoming obsolete.

Lisa says:

I had some great recipe programs but they eventually wouldn't work with new operating systems. Now I just type them into Word. I printed out the kids their own book of family recipes when they turned 18.

Taylor says:

I'm glad you brought this up Lisa, because it is an important consideration.

I like choosing programs where you can migrate your information from one version to the next, but that still takes time and there is inevitably one version that is too old for it to be converted. That is a major flaw with organizing in this way.

However, many people think the advantages of being able to keep all your recipes together and organized, without paper, is worth it. It is just something you've got to decide if you're willing to deal with!

***Update: Another reader, Chris, wrote in to say this about using a Word document though. She said, "I had a lot of my recipes typed in a word document. One day the computer crashed and I lost them all!"

That's a good point as well Chris, but that is why we also need to back up our computers. I sound, I know, when I say that, like I have it all together but I actually learned this the hard way myself. Back ups are important everyone! Otherwise you sit there and cry when you lose everything, not just your recipes. Ask me how I know! ***End Update

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I Use MasterCook Recipe Software To Organize My Recipes

by Sarah C.

Hi! First, thank you so much for this Challenge! If nothing else, I now have an organized kitchen - always the most difficult area for me!

I use MasterCook to organize my recipes. It has everything you've recommended, and you can import recipes directly from the web or with copy and paste.

The author and source of each recipe can be recorded as well.

You can print out a recipe to take to the kitchen if you don't want to take the computer, and you can print out the recipes to save in a paper binder.

I think the recipes can be printed on recipe cards as well.

Well, I'm off to go admire my wonderful kitchen before I start the next challenge. You are my hero!

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Even More Reviews & Opinions About Recipe Apps:

This is a huge topic, and there are so many available programs this page was getting too long, especially with so many people writing in to share their reviews of the same app over and over again.

So, there are even more helpful resources on the site dealing with this topic than just what you see here. Here's the links to more of these pages to give you even more ideas of apps and web-based programs you can use for organizing your recipes, plus making grocery lists and meal planning.

They include:


Are You Inspired To Use An Electronic Recipe Organizer Now?

organized home challenge
I hope the hall of fame submissions above have given you some ideas for organizing recipes on the computer or digitally using your phone.

If you want to get your home and life organized this year I'd encourage you to join the 52 Week Organized Home Challenge, where we tackle every room and major item in the house over the course of the a year to declutter and get everything in order.

Plus, if you love apps, make sure to check out even more great organizing apps in the HSS101 App Store.

Finally, if you've tried another app or program for your recipes I'd love to hear about it. You can share your review here.

Lots of different options for how to organize recipes digitally with both apps and electronic recipe organizer products {on Home Storage Solutions 101}use this Pin it button to save to Pinterest

Some links on this page are affiliate links, meaning that if you purchase a product through them I receive a small commission which helps me provide this information to you for free, plus support my family. My integrity and your satisfaction are very important to me so I only recommend products I would purchase myself, and that I believe would benefit you. To learn more please see my disclosure statement.

Related Pages You May Enjoy

Home Organization Challenge Hall Of Fame

Getting Rid Of Paper Clutter Hall Of Fame

Go From Electronic Recipe Organizer Reviews Hall of Fame To Home Page

Comments for Even More Reviews & Opinions About Recipe Apps:

Click here to add your own comments

yum print
by: Cynthia

I use yum print and love it.

Recipe organization
by: Edel

I originally had most of my recipes in Word documents that I linked into another document to create a recipe book for printing. I've been using Out of Milk for my pantry inventory and grocery list.

I've recently started using Cozi, which so far I like, although I'm still in the populate-the-program stage. I've only experimented with adding recipes to the grocery list, but I'm not thrilled with the fact that the same item, e.g. onions, are not grouped together to give the total you need to buy, rather than having to scroll down through lists of ingredients.

I'm planning on sticking to both systems for the moment for several reasons: 1) program obsolescence; 2) I live with a pair of seriously smart-phone-phobic people, so it's daunting pulling it out and getting the eye rolls and sighs of disgust; and 3) I'm from the generation that grew up with paper and graduated to computers as an adult, and I find I tend to prefer writing things down.

My digital recipe file and planner
by: Anonymous

Plan to Eat is great!

Bento app
by: Rethia Syahril

For my recipes I used application called Bento. It's an application with database form so you can create whatever form you like. Although the application also provide recipe form. Since I used Macbook Pro, iPad mini and iPhone, the application can be synchronize to all. I usually put the recipes that I've tried and like. This application isn't free one, so we have to bought it even though it's worth it.

use my spring pad
by: Katy

I have tried a few, wasn't totally happy. Now I just use my spring pad and LOVE it.

HotPot app
by: Ali

I have an app called HotPot that lets you enter a recipe, tell it how many portions the original recipe makes and then it will adjust the quantities for you if you need a greater or smaller quantity.

Save and organize recipes with screenshots
by: Anonymous

I am new to collecting recipes, however, since I just got an ipad I found taking screen shots of the recipe I would like to try is easy. Then I file them in a photo folder and organize them by name, i.e. Pasta dishes, Rice dishes. You get the idea! When it comes to securing the information in my ipad I sync with icloud. It's free and I have my recipes available in my ipad when cooking.

snapshot recipes to an app?
by: Becky

I snapshot a lot of recipes from Facebook. Is there an app where you can copy these from my iPhone pictures to an app?

Check out Chef Tap (Android and Desktop)
by: Jeannie

I use Chef Tap recipe app. They have a free version and a prime one for unlimited sync. I sync it between my tablet, phone, kindle and desktop. I love having it, since I have so many different places with recipes.

I love Copy Me That
by: Sarah S

I use Copy Me That to organize my recipes. I love how it automatically saves recipes from any website and formats them for me.

I also use the meal planner and shopping list.

Copy Me That
by: Linda North

I use Copy Me That (copymethat.com). It comes with a Chrome Browser extension. When you find an on-line recipe you want, you just click on the extension and it copies the recipe for you! No cut and paste necessary. It also has apple and android apps, so you you can see your recipes on your phone or tablet easily in the kitchen. It offers meal planning and shopping list, but I don't use them. And Oh, BTW it's FREE!

One Note
by: Marjorie Hildebrandt

Lately I have been using Microsoft One Note to made a digital binder of recipes I find online. I copy and paste them into one of the tabs that I have created: appetizers, entrees, vegetables, desserts, beverages, breakfasts, crockpot, salads, etc. The nice part is I can share it with my daughter/daughters-in-law with the click of the mouse. As I try the recipes I easily delete the ones I don't like and star the ones that were hits!

what app can I use to add my own recipes?
by: Anonymous

I need help in finding an app that allows me to add MY OWN recipes, I don't want to grab random recipes off the internet.

any apps that will print recipes onto 3x5 cards?
by: Deb

Because of rapidly changing technology I am one of those people who fears committing too much to one recipe manager. My fantasy would be, for those recipes I deem essential, to be able to print it out directly onto a recipe card. Does anyone know of a method for doing that?

Is there anything that works with a computer, NOT an app?
by: Drusiila

I want to save organize and declutter my cookbooks but I do not have a hand held app thing, I only have a computer. I keep clicking on your links and none of them are for a computer. Does this mean I have to hand write everything?

use Dropbox for recipes on your computer
by: Julie

I put documents I don't want to lose in Dropbox. Works great.

Big Oven is fantastic
by: The10ECFan

Big Oven is a fantastic recipe manager/grocery list app. Incorporates all your own recipes plus offers over 250,000 recipes.

Google documents
by: William

I've been storing recipes electronically since 1986, primarily using Word (or other word processing applications).

The main advantage is that I can keep track of modifications I make over the years (good and bad) while keeping the original. I've started migrating individual recipes to Google documents for easier sharing (easy to email a link).

Used font of my own handwriting with Photoshop Elements and made recipe cards
by: Linda

Thanks for the great review. A couple of years ago I took on the task of redoing my recipe box. I do a lot of digital scrapbooking so I have a font in my own handwriting. Using Photoshop Elements I copied all of my recipes onto recipe cards. I then printed them out and laminated them. I now have them in 2 coordinated recipe boxes that match my cards.

backing up Word document
by: Sue

I used to save a lot of internet recipes, and would put them in a Word document, but when it got too much would transfer it to a little travel drive stick or a disc and that way they will not disappear. It is time consuming but a good way to save them for later reference.

Love Master Cook
by: Jo K

Love this program, I've used it for many years.

The feature for changing how many servings is great. If your recipe is for 4 people and you have 6 more to feed you put in 10 and it changes the amounts of ingredients. Wonderful!

type them and back up with Carbonite
by: Carols

I take my favorite recipes, type them, and leave them in a folder on my computer marked "Recipes." I've taken them and put them in one of those expandable file folders and labeled each section, appetizers, breakfast, bread, casseroles, desserts, meat, etc. I can take that one folder with me wherever I go and have all my recipes with me. I have Carbonite so I can just take my tablet.

Cozi app
by: Jennifer

I also use Cozi for my recipes. I like that I can have the recipe and shopping list all in the same place. I have my meal plan in my calendar for a six week rotating cycle so I just look at the calendar to see what is on the menu for that week, then look up the recipe and add the ingredients I need to my shopping list. It is also great because my husband has Cozi on his phone as well so he can look at his phone and see what I need at the grocery store and then stop by on his way home from work.

Paprika is my favourite recipe manager app!!
by: lstrench

Paprika costs a bit of money and even more for my Mac but it is worth while! It easily can add receipts from online. There is meal planning, grocery, lists, converters.

I paid the extra money for my iMac and I am working on entering my old family recipes too, so eventually I will be paper free. Maybe there will be a few exceptions for books that I use so many recipes from.

The best part is I always have my recipes with me, synched at all times on my phone, iPad and iMac/MacBook Pro!!

Thank you for the tips on purging the "I want to make recipes but never get around to making...they still need to go!

Home Cookin
by: Mary

I've tried many of the bigger, more expensive apps, spending lost of money and I always come back to Home Cookin. It's a simple easy program to use (on my desktop, so far no phone app), and it has everything I need. The creator is always helpful and responds quickly when I have a question or suggestion.

I love Plan to Eat
by: Gayle

I've been using Plan to Eat for over two years. Never thought I'd use my laptop for recipes. You can easily import recipes from the web or manually enter your own recipes. Plan your menus and then it gives you your shopping list (you can even designate different stores for items). One month free trial, then you can either pay by the month or subscribe for a year. They always have a Black Friday sale where you can get a one year subscription for half price. Love it!

Dedicated email address for recipes
by: Anonymous

I set up a dedicated email address and then when I see recipes I either want to try or have tried I take a picture on my phone and email it to myself with the name of the recipe in the subject line. With google you can then label the recipes i.e. Main, starter, dessert, salads, tried and tested, favourites, miscellaneous. When you are looking for a specific recipe you can use one of the words in the title of the recipe, or search the labels etc. The best part is then when you are on holiday you always have all your recipes at hand. Once the email has been sent you can delete the picture as google mail is saved in the cloud.

Copy Me That
by: Peggy W.

I use Copy Me That. The PC page icon looks like two spoons. I use it a lot to get recipes from FaceBook. All you have to do is go to the webpage with the recipe, click the "spoons" icon, and a recipe page show up with everything pretty much in the right place. At this point I "confirm" it. Then I tap the "pencil"/edit icon on the new recipe page and make any corrections I want to make. Tags can be added for future searches like Asian, Tex/Mex, spicy, comfort food, low-cal version, etc. Ingredients are automatically in the search.
This program also has a shopping list feature. In addition, other recipes can be downloaded from the "community". Other folks can be "followed", but I have not found out how to find the website of one of their recipes or how to copy it. New recipes can be entered. Even with that, I really enjoy using Copy Me That. It takes less time to copy and complete a recipe in MY format than any other way I've seen so far.
Initial download and use is free. There is a charge for upgrading. I don't remember what the newer features are.

Pepper Plate
by: Tammy

I have been using Pepper Plate for a few years. I like that it syncs with an app but it is also available on a desktop computer. Lots of features and it's free.

Crash
by: Anonymous

If you are worried about your computer crashing and lose your files, every time you update your word recipe file, just email a copy to yourself and leave it in your inbox. Put Recipe list in the subject field and you can easily find it later on any computer. I do this with important files like resumes, etc.

Saving Word Documents to Google Drive
by: Kathy

You can upload your word documents to google drive. Google drive, in Chrome, allows you to create folders and files, so even if your computer crashes, you never lose your recipes. And you can share them with others. There are so many things you can do in Google Drive, but sharing my recipes and photos is one of the best. They also have their own version of Word, called Google Docs, so you can create the document right there and not have to upload. Either way, I love it.

Totally inspired!
by: datadoll

An avid cook, avid recipe collector and wannabe geek, I have joined this challenge. I cooked my 1st Thanksgiving dinner from the turkey to the pumpkin pie at age 11, that was 1961. I started writing and collecting hand written recipes then.In 1968 I purchased my 1st cookbook that of course is still in my collection. Soon after, I began purchasing cookbook after cookbook. They are my favorite reading material. It wasn't until 1995 that I started collecting digitally.

Needless to say, this challenge is going to be massive for me, but I will do this. I cannot guess how long it will take. I shuddered while I was reading the comments as I realized that I truly am more of a recipe hoarder than collector.

I will be sure to take pictures and submit them. I am sure to qualify for the hall of fame for most discarded and deleted recipes.

RecetteTek!!
by: Lirpa

I can't believe you haven't mentioned RecetteTek!! It is the *only* app I have ever paid for--and I didn't even need to because IT'S FREE, but I love it so much I wanted to support the developer. I'll look at Paprika to be sure, but it sounds like it has none of those issues. I used it on Android, I can export to friends with either website links or PDFs, it imports recipes without me even leaving the website! It's similar to pressing the "pin" button. I also have a "to try" category that I love to put future recipes and ideas into until they're tried. It calendars, shops, and scales recipes up or down. It backs up my recipes so I'll never lose them! Please try it and support the awesome developer! I've been using it for over 3 years after a grueling recipe-app-search and have never looked back!

I use Office OneNote
by: Fatemeh

I use Microsoft Office One Note notebooks to organize my recipes, and all of my other notes and work, mainly because it has the familiar paper notebook with sections feel to it but with unlimited space and sections and notebooks that you can add and it uses no paper. I haven't completely sorted my recipes yet, but I plan to convert my final One Note cook book into a pdf version for printing and also to keep it from becoming obsolete, which is a good idea for word documents as well. I've only just found this site and I love it so much already that I want to try all the challenges all at once! I've been struggling with my recipes and meal planing for some time now, thanks a lot for your great ideas and solutions. I've been de-cluttering my life for years now, and I only have a few milestones to go, wish me luck, or better, please pray for me😊 thank you again, a lot.

What I use
by: Anonymous

I use Plan to Eat, and the Pantry app for apple.

Backing up recipe files
by: Kathy S.

I try to periodically transfer all my files (pictures, recipes, misc.) to flash drives. Hopefully that won't become obsolete any time soon.

Too much work to type in recipes
by: Sxfreder

I too used to copy/paste my recipes into a word doc. Eventually it become too overwhelming for me so I stopped. I now have folders in my email for recipes. They are organized by type of recipe. I am also considering updating the word doc to include a shortcut to the recipe online. I think I can handle that much work. Not sure which option will work better as I have lots of recipes in my word doc and I don’t put anything into my word doc unless I’ve tried the recipes and rate it as "great."

MasterCook - Love this app/software
by: Anonymous

I just recently started using this as well. So far love it. It has all the same features you have previously mentioned but one feature that caught my eye is that it can also help convert a recipe to be healthier.

Accessing recipes on my Facebook timeline - use One Note intead
by: Cathy

I am 61 years old and not real tech savvy. While on Facebook I would find recipes I thought I'd like to try, and the recipe would state to save it to my timeline for future reference. That part I figured out, but then I realized that as time went on I had to look through a lot of "stuff" to find my recipes. Some I never could find again. I knew that I had to figure out a way to consolidate my recipes into one place for easy access. I discovered I had a program called "One Note" on my computer. After quite a bit of trial and error I discovered all I had to do was copy and paste the recipes into my "One Note" program. I even have a section in the program for other info I want to find easily. When I want to use a recipe from there I just print it out, for now. I am currently contemplating transferring recipes I want to use into my Kindle Fire, because I just take that into the kitchen with me, put it on a "plate stand", the little ones with feet, used for decorator plates, and follow the recipe right off it. That however is going to be a whole new challenge.

Copy Me That
by: Anonymous

You forgot the best recipe app of all! Copy Me That! It's available for iPhone, iPad, Android, and online or a combination of any or all of these! I copied all my Pinterest recipes into this app! I share it with everyone I know. And they all love it!

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