7 Brilliant Ways To Organize Your Recipes (2024)

If you spend more time trying to find a particular recipe than you do actually cooking it, don't miss this post! Check out 7 great ways to organize your recipe collection here.

Jill Nystul·March 4, 2020


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Keeping things organized can be tricky for me at the best of times (I’ll go ahead and blame ADHD for that one!), and that’s especially apparent when it comes to my recipe collection! It barely even qualifies as a collection because it exists in so many different places.

I have recipes from magazines on my fridge, printed recipes in my office, digital recipes that I’ve pinned on Pinterest, handwritten cards in an old recipe book… and that’s just off the top of my head! Organizing my recipe collection has been on my to-do list for a long time now, and I’m finally ready to do something about it! :-)

So today, both for my own benefit and hopefully yours too, I’ll be sharing 7 ideas for ways to organize your recipes. From binders to boxes to journals and beyond, you’re sure to find the right fit for you in the list below!

7 Of The Best Ways To Organize Your Recipes

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1. Recipe Binder

Keep it simple-yet-stylish with this recipe binder set! The binder comes with recipe cards, page protectors, and tabbed dividers included, so all you have to do is copy over your recipes and arrange them to your liking!

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2. Recipe Tin

Interested in a storage solution that’s cute enough to keep out on the counter? Look no further than this adorable recipe tin!

Along with the tin, you’ll also get blank recipe cards in a matching style, plus tabbed dividers that will help you organize your collection into categories.

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3. Recipe Journal

If you enjoy journaling, then check out this recipe journal! At around 7 x 9”, it’s not too big or too small, and offers enough pages for you to record up to 100 different recipes!

One thing that sets this journal apart is the format of the recipe pages. Each one has spots to jot down a star rating, difficulty, servings, notes, and more! If you are the type who likes to annotate your recipes, this is a great option for you.

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4. Accordion File

If you’re more interested in organization than aesthetics, or don’t want to copy your recipes out by hand, then check out this recipe accordion file. The tab dividers are already labeled with different food categories, so all you need to do is sort your recipes into it!

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This is a great option if your recipes are in a variety of formats, like magazine pages, printed recipes, handwritten notes, etc.

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5. Leather Binder

This binder offers similar features to the one I mentioned as #1 in this list, but the leatherette cover makes it a bit more gift-worthy. You’ll still get recipe cards, page protectors, and tabbed dividers with this one too!

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6. DIY Binder

Both our production manager Brittany and our photographer Kaitlyn use a binder to keep their recipes organized, but with a DIY twist! They print recipes they find online, slip them into sheet protectors, and put them in a simple 3-ring binder outfitted with tab dividers.

Brittany also mentioned that the sheet protectors are great at protecting her recipes from spills and splatters! If she spills anything on them, they are easy to wipe clean.

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7. Prepear

The last option I wanted to highlight is an app called Prepear, which I only learned about very recently! It has all the bells and whistles you could hope for, including the ability to save recipes from anywhere, upload your old favorites, and organize them to your liking in your own digital cookbook.

With Prepear, you can also plan your meals for the week AND it will make a shopping list for you based on the recipes you’ve chosen! (And don’t worry, you can add anything else you need to buy to that shopping list too, eliminating the hassle of having multiple shopping lists.)

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[bonus_tips]Bonus Tip: Take Photos Of Your Most Treasured Recipes!

  • Unfortunately, my mom’s box of handwritten recipe cards went missing sometime during her most recent move.
  • Even though many of the actual recipes had been copied down by me and my siblings in other places, we felt devastated by the loss of her handwritten cards.
  • That’s why I highly recommend scanning or photographing your most treasured recipes, especially the handwritten ones!
  • Back up those files somewhere safe, just in case the real ones ever get lost.

[/bonus_tips]

How do you organize your recipes?

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7 Brilliant Ways To Organize Your Recipes (2024)

FAQs

7 Brilliant Ways To Organize Your Recipes? ›

Start by creating broad categories such as “Breakfast,” “Appetizers,” “Main Courses,” “Desserts,” and “Beverages.” These overarching categories will serve as the foundation for organizing your recipes. Subdivide into subcategories. Within each broad category, further divide your recipes into specific subcategories.

What are the 7 common recipe categories? ›

Recipe Categories
  • Breakfast recipes.
  • Lunch recipes.
  • Dinner recipes.
  • Appetizer recipes.
  • Salad recipes.
  • Main-course recipes.
  • Side-dish recipes.
  • Baked-goods recipes.

How should I categorize my recipes? ›

Start by creating broad categories such as “Breakfast,” “Appetizers,” “Main Courses,” “Desserts,” and “Beverages.” These overarching categories will serve as the foundation for organizing your recipes. Subdivide into subcategories. Within each broad category, further divide your recipes into specific subcategories.

How do I organize a large recipe collection? ›

The first option is to organize recipes is to file them by type in a recipe binder. I keep some of my tried and true recipes in a binder. These are the recipes I've had and used for years, and even though they are in my electronic database, I kept a hard copy.

What are the seven 7 parts to a well written recipe? ›

  • Using BLUE write the seven components to a recipe in the boxes provided. Underline the component. Look them up on my webpage under “7 Components to a Recipe”.
  • 7components'16.
  • INGREDIENTS: AMOUNTS: DIRECTIONS: EQUIPMENT: TEMPERATURE: TIME:
  • YIELD:
  • 7 Components to a Recipe.

How do chefs organize recipes? ›

One of the most common ways of keeping recipes organized is with recipe binders. Rather than keeping recipe books to flick through for recipe referencing, chefs will have the recipes they need collated in binders. This means that they can quickly and easily find necessary items without other recipes getting in the way.

Is there an app to organize my recipes? ›

RecipeBox is your ultimate kitchen companion. Built with the at-home cook in mind, RecipeBox allows you to save your favorite recipes in one place. It's your all-inclusive kitchen assistant. With RecipeBox, you can organize recipes, plan your upcoming meals, create your grocery list, and even grocery shop in the app.

How do you arrange meals? ›

7 Steps for Quick and Easy Menu Planning
  1. Post an ongoing grocery list where it's easy to see. ...
  2. Ask for meal ideas and share the work. ...
  3. List your favourite seasonal meals ideas. ...
  4. Find out what's on hand and what's on special to plan your meals. ...
  5. Start planning! ...
  6. Eat healthy meals and snacks! ...
  7. Save time on meal planning.
Jan 23, 2019

How do you organize cookbooks and recipes? ›

You should organize cookbooks in a way that makes sense to you. But experts recommend grouping cookbooks by cuisine (such as Indian, Italian, or Mexican), with separate sections for books on specific topics, such as grilling, seafood, or poultry.

What is the best free recipe app? ›

The best free recipe apps are now at the palms of food lovers' hands.
  • SideChef. ...
  • Tasty. ...
  • BBC Good Food. ...
  • Food Network Kitchen. ...
  • Mealime Meal Plans & Recipes. ...
  • Cookpad. ...
  • Kitchen Stories. Used On Apple iOS, Amazon, App Gallery, and Google Play. ...
  • BigOven. Used On Apple iOS, Google Play, And On Web Browsers.
Oct 12, 2022

What categories should be in a recipe book? ›

Divider pages include: -Breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner - Vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, meat dishes, vegan main dishes - Kids, family recipes - Appetizers, soups, salads, sides, - Deserts, puddings, cakes, biscuits, tea, breads, pastries, baked goods - Snacks, spreads and dips…

What are two examples of ways to organize your recipe collection? ›

Recipe binder: Use a three-ring binder with dividers to organize your printed or handwritten recipes. You can categorize them by meal type, cuisine, or any other system that makes sense to you. Recipe box: If you prefer a more compact option, use a recipe box with index cards or recipe cards.

How do I start a recipe collection? ›

Take these steps to make it happen.
  1. Brainstorm family recipes. Think of some of your favorite recipes that you loved growing up. ...
  2. Collect the recipes from relatives. ...
  3. Curate the collection and write them up. ...
  4. Design or find a consistent format. ...
  5. Cook (and take pictures).

What are the 7 basic ingredient categories used when baking? ›

Food Ingredients– The different ingredients used in baking are flour, refined flour or maida, sugar, shortenings, leavening agents, eggs, water, salt, milk and milk derivatives.

What are the main categories within a recipe? ›

Recipe Categories: Grouping recipes into categories such as appetizers, main dishes, side dishes, desserts, and beverages can make it easier for readers to find what they're looking for.

What are examples of recipe categories? ›

Divider pages include: -Breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner - Vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, meat dishes, vegan main dishes - Kids, family recipes - Appetizers, soups, salads, sides, - Deserts, puddings, cakes, biscuits, tea, breads, pastries, baked goods - Snacks, spreads and dips…

What are the categories of food meals? ›

New To You, Or Tried-and-True?
  • Big salads.
  • Meat/Poultry + veggies.
  • Fish + veggies.
  • Pasta/grain dishes.
  • Beans/lentils.
  • Soups.
  • Quick meals (scrambled eggs, quesadillas, tacos, etc.)
Mar 1, 2022

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