If you like to eat well but don't have the time (or patience) to complicate things in the kitchen, your iPhone and your iPad They can become your best ally. Today there are Apps for easy recipes, menu planning, and step-by-step help that practically take you by the hand, whether you are starting out or you are already comfortable in the kitchen.
In this guide you will find a very complete selection of Cooking apps for iOS focused on simple recipes, practical tips and CompanyYou'll find options with videos, cooking communities, weekly planners, product scanners, and even knife sharpening calculators. The idea is that you can choose the combination of apps that best suits your lifestyle and cooking style.
Easy recipe apps for iPhone and iPad: start cooking without complications
The first group consists of the "all-rounder" cooking apps: those that offer you Thousands of step-by-step recipes, search filters, and extra features such as shopping lists or meal planning. Ideal for everyday use, for improvising dinner with what you have in the fridge, or for preparing something more special on the weekend.
Tasty It has become a classic thanks to its short, highly visual videos. Its official iOS app gives you access to... Thousands of quick, attractive recipes designed for any skill levelIt features video instructions that show everything from the ingredients to the final result. It also has filters to find vegan, gluten-free, low-carb dishes, or recipes for specific occasions.
In addition to videos, the Tasty app includes a section “My Recipes” which acts as a digital cookbookThis allows you to save your favorite dishes and access them anytime. Its advanced search engine lets you filter by ingredients, type of food, region of the world, or special occasion, making it perfect for everyday use as well as meals with guests.
Another very powerful alternative is Kitchen Storieswhich aims for a more "editorial" experience. We're talking about an app with Over 10.000 recipes explained with photos, high-quality videos, articles, and cooking tipsThe app guides you step by step with a very convenient cooking mode, which displays clear instructions. built-in timers and the ability to automatically adjust the quantities according to the portions.
Kitchen Stories also has a A fairly active community where you can share photos of your dishesYou can leave comments, save recipes to personal books, and discover ideas from other users. It has filters to find vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, low-carb, or low-calorie recipes, and is very useful if you want to eat healthier without sacrificing flavor.
If you prefer a 100% community-oriented app, Cookpad It's one of the most complete options. It's basically a a global platform where users share their homemade recipesMany of them are very simple and designed for everyday use. You'll find millions of recipes with photos, detailed instructions, and comments, and you can create your own recipe book by saving your favorites.
Cookpad adds some very interesting social features: you can upload your own recipes, chat with other cooks, exchange tips or save a history of everything you've prepared to your profile. The Premium version offers more advanced search filters, unlimited recipe saving, and an ad-free experience—a welcome feature if you use it daily.
Divine Kitchen It is an app geared towards the Spanish-speaking public that brings together more than 3.000 recipes of Andalusian, Spanish and international cuisineYou'll find everything from traditional, time-honored dishes to more modern and creative recipes, all explained step by step with a special focus on simple, homemade preparations. It also includes many healthy recipes and sweet, savory, and spicy options.
Another very peculiar platform is Cooklangdesigned for those who prefer to have Recipes in a clean, structured, and easy-to-read text formatWhile it may not have the visual appeal of some other apps, it's fantastic if you like to organize your recipe collection neatly and without distractions. It allows you to write or import recipes using simple syntax, follow instructions clearly, and keep your entire culinary archive under control.
If you want advanced organizational features, Paprika It's one of the most highly rated paid apps for cooking enthusiasts. It allows Import recipes from websites, organize your dishes into categories, create automatic shopping lists and plan menus by day or week. Its import engine works very well and converts almost any online recipe into a readable and editable format within the app.
Deglaze It focuses on simplicity: it's a free app that stands out for its clean interface and its ability to import and organize recipes without complicationsIt doesn't try to cover a thousand functions, but focuses on the basics: storing your dishes, quickly retrieving them, and helping you plan meals and shopping without overwhelming you with unnecessary options.
In a similar approach, Spillt It is designed for those who want make the most of what you already have in the pantryThe app suggests recipes based on the ingredients you have in your fridge and cupboard, which greatly helps reduce food waste. Its suggestions are usually very reasonable and can be a lifesaver when you're running late and don't feel like thinking too much about what to cook.
For those looking to go a step further, ReciMe combines recipe organization with meal planning and nutritional trackingYou can save your dishes, automatically generate shopping lists and, in the paid version, control aspects such as calories or macronutrients, ideal if you follow a specific diet or a muscle definition/gain plan.
Smart platforms: personalized recipes and weekly planning
In addition to apps focused on individual recipes, platforms have emerged that use artificial intelligence, product scanner and menu planners To help you eat better and organize your week without going crazy. They're especially useful if you want to take care of your diet or adjust your meals to specific goals.
Yummly She's one of the stars in this field. The app offers Personalized recipe recommendations based on your tastes, allergies, nutritional goals, and even the ingredients you already have at homeThanks to its enormous database of over two million recipes and its filters, it can suggest dishes that fit quite well with what you usually cook and with your lifestyle.
One of its most useful functions is the ability to create your own digital cookbookwhere you save your favorite recipes, whether from the app or imported from the web. Yummly also adds a smart shopping list that groups and organizes ingredientsThis makes weekly shopping much easier. The premium version includes advanced filters, menu planning, and, in some countries, integration with food delivery services.
bigoven She is another veteran of the world of digital recipes, with a library that exceeds the million dishesThe app lets you save your recipes, create meal plans, generate shopping lists, and "recycle" leftovers thanks to its function for Look for ideas using three ingredients you have at homeIt's a simple but effective way to reduce food waste.
In the field of healthy eating, MyRealFood It has a very particular approach. Born around the "real food" community, its app helps you to Identify the nutritional quality of products by scanning their barcodeIn addition to offering a wide variety of recipes based on real food, it also includes a community section where users share dishes, tips, and experiences related to a healthier diet.
Another interesting option for controlling what you eat is MyFitnessPal, focused on the nutrition and exercise monitoringIts strength lies in detailed food logging, with a massive database showing the calories and nutrients of each product. While not a typical recipe app, many of its features complement other cooking apps very well, especially if you're looking to lose weight or improve your body composition.
Samsung food It is a free platform available for iPhone and Android that acts as command center for your everyday cookingIt allows you to save recipes, plan complete menus, generate automatic shopping lists, and view nutritional information for dishes. It also integrates a culinary community and offers inspiration based on your preferences, which is helpful when you don't know what to cook.
If what you want is an app heavily focused on menu organization, Recipe Keeper works as a Super flexible meal planner and recipe managerYou can add recipes by hand, import them from web links, scan PDF documents, or even use photos of handwritten recipes. Then, these dishes can be placed on a calendar to plan your weekly menu and, with a few taps, turn everything into a shopping list grouped by ingredients.
Specialized apps: healthy cooking, children's cooking, vegan cooking, and allergy management
Beyond general-purpose apps, there's a whole universe of Apps designed for very specific needs: children's menus, vegan cooking, allergy control, or healthy recipes Focused on specific goals. They are a great help if there are children, intolerances, or particular eating habits at home.
ekilu (formerly known as Nooddle) is one of the most comprehensive healthy recipe apps on the App Store. It brings together More than 2.000 recipes sorted by preparation time, ingredients, and nutritional goals such as fat loss or muscle gain. The free version offers a good catalog, while the paid subscription unlocks extra features and more content.
Along the same lines of “cook with what you have”, the old app Nooddle also focused on Suggest quick recipes in less than 20 minutes using the ingredients you specify.Their goal is to help you save money, avoid wasting food, and still enjoy a delicious dinner without spending hours in the kitchen. It's a philosophy that remains very much alive in Ekilu and other similar apps today.
For those who follow a vegetarian or vegan dietThere are several interesting options. Oh she glows It offers around 150 plant-based recipes endorsed by author Angela Liddon, with filters to search by ingredients and illustrated steps. It's a paid app, but the content is carefully curated and designed for those who want to eat vegan without sacrificing flavor.
Vegamecum It's another exclusively vegan app that focuses on Recipes without animal-derived ingredients and with energy information for each dishThis is very useful if you're starting this lifestyle and want to ensure your diet is balanced. All the recipes are explained step by step and designed to make daily life easier for those who don't consume animal products.
If there are small children at home, Little Ideas It's an almost indispensable tool. It's designed for parents and caregivers of children between 2 and 7 years old It offers over 650 simple recipes developed by nutritionists. It includes daily menus, lunchbox suggestions, tips for overcoming common eating problems, and filters to adapt recipes to allergies, preferences, or available time.
Allergies and intolerances require extra care, and that's where we come in. ALL I CAN EAT. This app allows Select the type of allergy (such as salicylic acid, sorbitol, or gluten) and see which foods or dishes are safe. for that person. Use a color-coding system: green for dishes that are fine, yellow and orange for potential discomfort, and red for options that should be avoided altogether—very handy when cooking for guests with dietary restrictions.
Regarding healthy recipes in general, in addition to MyRealFood, many generalist apps include specific sections. For example, Tasty, Yummly and Kitchen Stories include Filters for healthy, low-calorie, gluten-free, vegan or vegetarian dishesso you won't have to discard the app every time you want something light or suitable for a specific diet.
Apps to help you get more organized: shopping lists, planning tools, and recipe books
Cooking delicious food is great, but the reality is that daily life is earned with good shopping lists, well-planned menus, and organized recipesSeveral apps on this list stand out precisely for that reason: they help you turn your ideas into concrete dishes, without forgetting any ingredients and without improvising too much.
We have already mentioned Paprika, BigOven, Yummly or Recipe Keeper, which stand out in the section of menu planning and automatic shopping listsYou can drag your recipes to a weekly calendar and, with one tap, get all the ingredients grouped by categories (vegetables, dairy, pantry, etc.), ready to go to the supermarket without a long trip.
If you want a nice, tidy place to store your own creations, the app Cook works as a A highly visual and easy-to-use digital recipe bookYou can write down your dishes, add photos, detail each step, and share your recipe book with whomever you like. It's ideal for compiling family recipes or your best creations without fear of losing them on a loose piece of paper.
In the same vein, both Spillt as Deglaze and Cooklang They are great allies for those who value have all your recipes well organized and accessible from your mobile phoneEach one does it in its own way: with minimalist interfaces, structured text or simple import from the web, but they all share the goal of making opening a recipe quick and distraction-free.
The apps themselves, which focus on kitchen robots, such as Thermomix CookidooThey also greatly reinforce this aspect. Cookidoo connects your iPhone or iPad to your Thermomix TM6 and gives you access to over 70.000 step-by-step guided recipeswith instructions displayed directly on the robot's screen. You can also plan your weekly menu in the app, mark favorite recipes, create custom lists, and sync everything using Cook-Key.
Another example of good organization is the one itself Samsung food, which integrates automatic shopping lists, menu planners, and tools for making informed decisions Regarding food. Even if you're an iPhone user and don't have a Samsung ecosystem, the app works just as well and can become your gastronomic "command center".
Apps for specific cases: children, cooked meats, and impromptu dinners
There are very specific situations where an app can make a difference: perfecting the doneness of meat, improvising a dinner with whatever's in the fridge, or entertaining the little ones with dishes adapted to them.Here are some interesting tools that are worth knowing about.
Steak Mate It is designed to solve a very specific problem: Knowing how long to cook a steak depending on the type of meat, thickness, cooking method, and desired donenessYou enter the cooking time, the app calculates it, and notifies you when it's time to turn the meat over or remove it from the heat. It's perfect if you're someone who always overcooks or undercooks the meat.
When the problem is just the opposite, that is, you have little time and few ingredients, apps like Carrot They save the night. With them you can Note what you have in the fridge and pantry and the app suggests possible disheswhich you can also filter by difficulty or how healthy they are. Ideal for impromptu dinners or for those who haven't done their shopping in time.
We have already talked about Little Ideasfocused on infant nutrition, but the role of the social networks such as Pinterest, TikTok, Instagram or Facebook in the explosion of interest in cooking. Many of the viral dishes you see there end up being collected in a more organized way on apps like Tasty, Yummly or Cookpad, where it's easier to save them and recreate them whenever you want.
As chef Adria Marina pointed out, these platforms have made it so that the kitchen is perceived as something more accessible and approachableBy showing simplified processes in video that anyone can imitate at home, recipe apps have gone a step further, turning those videos and photos into everyday work tools with lists, menus, allergy filters, and other practical features.
This ecosystem is completed by other apps such as AllRecipes Dinner Spinner, which stands out for Display the recipes best rated by the community in a feed and accompany them with step-by-step videos. It can even use your location to recommend nearby supermarkets where you can buy certain ingredients at the best price, which is really useful if you live in a big city.
With all these applications, both general and specialized, Your iPhone and iPad can become a true kitchen assistantThey inspire you with new ideas, help you adjust dishes to your tastes and restrictions, organize your weekly menu, generate shopping lists and, in the end, make cooking at home much simpler, more fun and varied, even if you have little time and are not a professional chef.
