Smartphones are one of greatest inventions—EVER. Let’s face it, we would be lost without these miniature, hand-held computers. They not only service as communication devices, but they tell us when it’s time to wake up, remind us of upcoming appointments, give us the best route to a destination, and even tell us whether or not to bring an umbrella! But, have you seen the number of apps in the app store these days? It is overwhelming, to say the least. Apps are supposed to make our lives easier and more convenient, but which ones do the job and which ones are a waste of time? We have compiled a list of 8 cooking apps that we think are worth the time.
1 – PAPRIKA RECIPE MANAGER
$4.99 on iTunes or Google Play
Paprika Recipe Manager for Android, iPad or iPhone will help you organize your very own digital cookbook. It is user-friendly and simple, yet even professional chefs will be happy to download this power-house. It has a built in browser for searching recipes online to clip and save within the app.
Once your recipes are entered, you can sort them into categories. The app will generate grocery lists by selecting the recipes you want to make, allowing you to meal plan with for the week or month and make minimal trips to the store. Paprika Recipe Manager has many built-in features that we found to be very helpful: timers within the recipes that you click as you are cooking, you can cross off ingredients when you’re done with them, the ability to scale ingredients to match your family/party size, and more. Plus, it offers offline access.
2 – ALLRECIPES DINNER SPINNER
FREE on iTunes or Google Play
Allrecipes Dinner Spinner for Android, iOS or Windows Phone uses a fun spinning system to introduce users to the recipe they want. You use spinners to look up the menu types, main ingredients and prep time you wish to cook, then Allrecipes presents you with a set of recipes that fall within your guidelines. The app also has detailed instructions and videos.
This app not only gives you access to the amazing amounts of member-shared, tried and true recipes, but also photos, ratings and reviews from the 30 million plus home cooks, just like you! Allrecipes Dinner Spinner also functions as a recipe box, shopping list and more, all for FREE.
3 – HOW TO COOK EVERYTHING – COOKING BASICS
$7.99 on iTunes
Only available from iTunes, this app from the New York Times columnist Mark Bittman’s, “How to Cook Everything” series has easy-to-follow, photo-illustrated recipes and tips that will make any novice cook feel confident in the kitchen. You will be cooking belly pleasing meals in a snap with assistance of this app.
This is perfectly suited for today’s young (and not so young) people to learn essential skills in the kitchen. Boasting 1000 photos, 185 recipes and audio and video tips from Bittman himself, it speaks today’s language of technology meets everyday life.
For the more experienced kitchen dweller, “How to Cook Everything” is also available on iTunes. Still easy-to-use, this is first-of-its-kind app based on the best selling cookbook is similar in set-up to Cooking Basics, but for more advanced cooks.
4 – FOODLE – NUTRITION FACTS
$4.99 on iTunes
We are a world on the go and we need things in our life to fit that mold. Foodle is a great app for tracking nutrients on the go. This app can help you keep your dietary intake in check while maintaining a busy schedule.
Foodle has a food journal, a nutrient browser, a category selector-to show and hide certain foods that may or may not be in your diet, a favorite food list, a search window and even unit conversions for easy calculations. Take command of your health with the ease of Foodle.
5 – KITCHEN CALCULATOR
$2.99 on iTunes
How many pints are in a quart? What is 177 degrees Celsius in degrees Fahrenheit? Kitchen math can be daunting and let’s face it, your meal hangs in the balance! Ever make a mistake doubling the salt in your favorite recipe? Eww… The Kitchen Calculator Pro can take all of the guess work out of kitchen conversions.
The Kitchen Calculator Pro app will easily convert and scale a recipe in a moment. You can double or half a recipe with confidence. It will convert weight measurements to volume taking into consideration what the ingredient is, for example, a cup of powdered sugar does not weigh the same as a cup of brown sugar and the app calculates that for you.
6 – SUBSTITUTIONS – BAKE & COOK
$4.99 on iTunes
This bundle is made up of three apps. The first is the Substitutions app. It contains over 1200 ingredient substitutions that are searchable from a wide range of different categories including alcohol, gluten-free and vegan
The Conversion app converts dry and liquid volume, temperature and weight measurements. It will also covert between volume and weight for several baking ingredient categories.
The Cooking Times app has over 1000 time and temperature recipes in several different categories.
7 – TENDER – FOOD & RECIPES
FREE on iTunes or Google Play
Are you familiar with the single’s app, Tinder? Then you will hit the ground running with this amusing and fun recipe app called Tender – Food & Recipes. You create an account or sign up with Facebook and then the app presents you with photos of recipes from around the internet. You choose whether to add a recipe to your cookbook by swiping right to keep or left to pass. It’s fun and you might just find a new recipe to try for dinner this week!
8 – COOKPANION
FREE on Facebook
The Cookpanion® Facebook app combines powerful food planning tools with the social capabilities of Facebook. You can share recipes, grocery lists, and meal plans; see what your friends are cooking; and discover trending recipes!
This is not a mobile app…yet. The developers are promising a mobile version, but for right now this is an app for Facebook. We love this concept and hope it’s developed to its full potential.
