Organizing your recipe collection is challenging these days with so many sources of inspiration. Recipes can come from cookbooks, food magazines, random websites, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and much more. Some people even consider the process of collecting recipes an essential part of cooking itself. Below are a few different methods for organizing your recipes.

Option 1: Use a recipe manager software

There are countless recipe manager apps available today, so it’s a matter of personal taste which one you choose. These apps are a powerful way to collect all your recipes in one place - especially if most of your recipes come from online sources. They typically offer easy ways to import recipes along with robust features for categorizing and filtering them. However, they may sometimes struggle with pulling recipes from social media.

Option 2: Create a filing system

If you mainly have recipes from physical books and magazines, a filing system might be ideal. You can also print your online recipes and organize them manually. Although this requires a bit more effort, it’s a good way to organize recipes and you will likely earn some bonus points from your grandmother. To keep your printed recipes in pristine condition, plastic wrappers is a good choice. Label each wrapper with the recipe name or category, and store them in a binder or file box. This method not only protects your recipes from spills and wear but also makes it easy to flip through your collection.

Option 3: Copy and paste into note-taking apps or sheets

If you want full control and don’t mind the extra work, using a Google Sheet or note-taking apps such as Obsidian or Notion is a good choice. This way, you can try the recipes before adding them, have full control over the structure, and avoid relying on a separate platform that might not be around forever. One downside is scaling recipes - something that recipe managers usually handle well. Another advantage is that you can later move to another platform if you want.

Option 4: Use Cooksync

If you like the control of Option 3 but prefer an automated process, Cooksync is an interesting choice. It collects recipes from social media, websites, and soon images, and automatically sends them to your note-taking app of choice. You can also customize the output format. This means you won’t need a separate platform solely for your recipes - you own your data, avoid lock-in, and save time by not having to enter every detail manually. Plus, storing your recipes on your own platform lets you easily add personal notes or adjustments as you go. Cooksync also supports scraping frameworks and guides, which you can integrate into your digital cookbook.

Option 5: Screenshots and bookmarks

Another method - albeit a bit messier - is to take screenshots of recipes on your phone or save bookmarks in your web browser. While this is a fast way to collect recipes, it can quickly become disorganized if not regularly maintained. Consider using a ledger to track your bookmarks and image timestamps.

Hopefully these tips will help you on your recipe-collecting journey!