Organizing Your Recipes

Any cook worth their mettle has a collection of recipes. Whether they’re for dinners, appetizers, desserts, drinks, or something else, there’s probably a stack of index cards somewhere in your kitchen—lovingly “decorated” in a multitude of colorful food splatters.

Two people in a kitchen using a laptop with a recipe as they prepare dinner.

While this way may have worked great for your grandma, there are easier ways to knock those dinners off your to-do list and make them more easily accessible for everyone. Here are some of the ideas we’ll cover:

Use a recipe binder.
Go digital.
Make a journal.
Build a Pinterest board.
Make a photo album on your phone.
Use a pre-made template.

Use a recipe binder with sheet protectors. If your recipes are splattered with bits of oil, egg whites, or any other number of ingredients, you’re not alone. If you want to protect them but you’re not really a savvy digital person, put them in plastic sheet protectors that are easy to clean while you cook. Buy a two- or three-ring photo album binder (a photo album will do just fine), transfer your recipes to 4×6 notecards if they’re not already there, then put your recipes in the binder. If you’d like, you can further organize your recipes by putting adhesive tabs on the pages to help with quick flipping.

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Go totally digital. If the thought of using old-school binders and sheet protectors makes you cringe, go digital! Use a good organizer app to help keep your recipes in order, reduce clutter in your kitchen, and even plan meals on-the-go. It’s accessible anywhere! Here are a few functions to look for in a recipe organizer app:

Scan recipes from cookbooks, magazines and handwritten notes.
Import recipes from websites.
Share recipes with family and friends.
Create a shopping list.
Meal planning calendar.

“There’s probably a stack of index cards somewhere in your kitchen—lovingly “decorated” in a multitude of colorful food splatters.”

Make a recipe journal. A journal isn’t only a place to put your thoughts at the end of the day. You can keep a journal for recipes. Instead of throwing an index card or piece of scrap paper into a recipe tin or the back of your recipe book, write it down in your recipe journal or, better yet, use an online tool made especially for organizing recipes in journal form.

Build Pinterest boards. A journal isn’t only a place to put your thoughts at the end of the day. You can keep a journal for recipes. Instead of throwing an index card or piece of scrap paper into a recipe tin or the back of your recipe book, write it down in your recipe journal or, better yet, use an online tool made especially for organizing recipes in journal form.

Make a recipe photo album on your phone. Sometimes all you have handy when getting a recipe from a friend is your phone. Or you’ve found a recipe online that looks tasty, and you want to try it later, so you screenshot it to write down later but never get to it. Eventually, you have a collection of recipes in your phone’s photo album, and it’s too overwhelming to want to write them all down in your recipe book. Rather than taking time to write everything, take pictures of the rest of the recipes in your book and make a photo album on your phone. Not only are all your recipes in one place, but they’re also easily accessible, easy to share, and (if you have it set up) backed up on the cloud.

A cutting board with dried chiles and chopped garlic next to a laptop.

Use a pre-made recipe template. Why re-invent the wheel? Just use a premade recipe template (there are lots of free and premium templates out there). Then it’s as easy as plugging in your favorites, and then storing it all in the cloud for easy access! Now everyday meal planning, holidays, parties, and romantic dinners for two are a breeze.

Knowing how to organize recipes doesn’t have to be difficult, you just have to know your options. Of course, our list of suggestions for organizing recipes isn’t comprehensive, so feel free to find what works best for you, your kitchen, and your weekly meal plans.