Top 8 Recipe Manager Apps iPhone

For those of our readers that use mobile apps in the kitchen, we needn’t tell you just how convenient it can be to find a nice recipe management service. The Internet represents a wealth of info about anything and everything, including recipes: it used to be the case that I’d visit sites and print off recipes and keep them in a binder, but then you always end up with crumpled and stained pieces of paper, covered each time with flour and other mess. Thankfully, there is a huge market for cooking apps out there, many of which place the emphasis on creating some kind of personalized cookbook that can be accessed and added to or amended whenever you see fit, then of course accessed in the kitchen when cooking. There are even apps that allow you to scan in and save your favorite recipes from pieces of paper or cookbooks, which is an excellent way to gather a proper collection. I will admit to using the iPad rather than the iPhone when cooking or baking (the screen size) helps, but here we look at some recipe manage apps on the latter.

8. ChefTap (Free)

We’ll start out with ChefTap which is perhaps the best looking of the recipe manager apps I’ve come across so far for the iPhone, with its clean, mean, green interface. Many of these recipe apps play to specific strengths, and that of ChefTap is definitely its ability to pull links to recipes online and arrange them for you to browse at a later date. It’s perfect for those who like using Pinterest or fill their bookmarks with recipes from the web, and the app allows you to pull all of this stuff with a few simple taps. ChefTap started like of Android and the Web, I believe, but has since been made available for iOS devices which is very good news. – Download from iTunes

7. Zest (Free)

Zest is a fairly simple recipe manager apps that allows you to automatically import thousands of recipes from around the web, then add your own recipes from other sources. There is an emphasis on photos here, with the interface itself reduced to something more minimal and without all the clutter. Another great feature of this app is its dedicated cooking mode which has been specifically designed for use in the kitchen, so that you get the best layout when browsing around for recipes or clipping them from the web, but then can read the recipe properly having turned on the cooking mode when in the kitchen. – Download from iTunes

6. AllRecipes (Free)

The AllRecipes Dinner Spinner app removes some of the emphasis on collecting and managing your recipes and instead focuses on finding the recipe that suits you. It has been one of the go to apps for some time when looking for new recipes, since it allows you to actively choose which ingredients you want to cook with then filters out all the rest. This is particularly great for those times when you don’t want to go to the store, but perhaps don’t have as much in the fridge or the cupboard as you’d like to. Simply input the ingredients you do have and the app will do the rest! – Download from iTunes

5. My Recipe Book ($0.99)

If you’re looking for a simple option that does the basic things well, the My Recipe Book app is worth checking out. It allows you to import recipes from the web into the app and add to your collection, then sort them using a range of different variables such as cooking time, keyword and a whole lot more. The app even has a grocery list feature that places key ingredients into a checklist for you to take with you when visiting the store. – Download from iTunes

4. Pepperplate (Free)

Pepperplate can be placed alongside Basil as one of the best recipe manager apps you can use on a tablet. While Basil is only available on the iPad, Pepperplate is on a range of different platforms including the iPhone. The app has built in timers to help you maintain some kind of control of things in the kitchen, as well as a meal planner feature and the abiliy to create grocery store lists.- Download from iTunes

3. Evernote Food (Free)

You may have realized by now that we here at Top 8 are huge fans of Evernote and everything it brings to the table in terms of productivity. What you may not be aware of is that the developers behind Evernote have also come up with a range of different spin-off apps, so to speak, that take the same functionality and apply it to different areas. One of those is Evernote Food which, as you may have guessed, offers you complete control over your kitchen notes and recipes. Evernote Food takes a more visual approach than some other recipe manager apps, allowing you to dump recipes into a so-called recipe box and then drag them around as though they were sheets in a binder. The web clipper makes it easy to add favorites from the Internet, and there is even a n emphasis on snapping photos of your culinary creations to create your own personal cookbook. – Download from iTunes

2. Paprika ($4.99)

Paprika is probably the single cooking or recipe app that I’ve used more than others, simply because it’s so well designed and convenient. While there seems to be a frustrating emphasis among the cooking apps out there on iTunes today of promoting sites, images or quick ideas, Paprika seems not to be interested in all that stuff. With it, you can easily find recipes from websites like Epicurious, Gourmet or Cooks Illustrated and then save these. The app combines these features with the ability to create and check off grocery lists, plan menus and a whole lot more. And of course, everything you do on Paprika can be synced to your other devices: this is perfect because you can use your iPad to read from the recipe in the kitchen and then take the shopping list with you on your iPhone when going to the store. – Download from iTunes

1. BigOven (Free)

While I’m a big fan of Paprika and it really is the most comprehensive and efficient of all the recipe manager apps out there, BigOven is often preferred simply down to the fact that it places an emphasis on large collections of recipes and finding new ones. It is the best app out there if, for example, you already have a library of printed recipes or cookbooks and want to digitize as much of that as possible. It also gives you access to well over 350,000 recipes to choose from. If you are a part time baker that likes the idea of organizing your recipe collection then the BigOven basic free app should be good enough for you. If, on the other hand, you use it a lot and want more from the app, I’d suggest investing in a Pro Membership at around $20 a year – this will upgrade the app and give you a lot more to work with in the kitchen. – Download from iTunes