Have you ever searched online for recipes, maybe to use up a certain ingredient, and got so many poor results that you ended up not even cooking it because after 15 minutes of browsing, you found that every recipe called for something you didn’t have (or like)? You’re not alone! There are literally billions of recipes online, and finding one that’s right for you, your timing, your preferences, and the rest of the family is no easy task.
That’s why I like using recipe aggregators -- websites that comb through the recipes on the internet that meet your requirements. Rather than searching any one recipe collection (such as AllRecipes, New York Times Cooking, or Epicurious, which are awesome in their own right), these aggregator platforms search hundreds or even thousands of recipe sites and blogs to match you to the perfect recipes. You’re able to specify all sorts of parameters; beyond searching ingredients, you can often specify cuisines, limit cooking time, include diet types, and exclude certain ingredients.
Yummly
Yummly is the ultimate personalization experience, which has pros and cons -- it’s got over 2 million recipes tagged by several criteria. But as it tries to appeal to absolutely everyone, it can get overwhelming. In addition to ingredient inclusions and exclusions, you can filter by cooking goals, cuisines, taste (salty/sour/spicy etc.), meal type, diet, nutrition goals (such as low sodium, low sugar, or high fiber) and more. Your search can return hundreds of results, so you may need to refine a few times. Here, I got 65 results from my search for “curry,” specifying Thai cuisine, high fiber, and vegan. Yummly also lets you create an account, plan meals, and save recipes for later. And you can share on social media.
Edamam
This company is mainly B to B for nutrition analysis and recipes, but they also offer a free consumer tool. I use this one a lot because while it’s super comprehensive, the user experience is short and sweet, and every recipe has a nutrient analysis. All 1.7 million recipes are tagged for diet type (even immunity supporting) and allergens, and you can opt to specify the number of ingredients as well as a desired range of calories per serving. My very specific search for Banana Bread, suitable for Paleo, up to 12 ingredients, and between 200 and 400 calories per serving yielded 9 results.
Foodgawker
This site contains recipes that are all foodie-submitted; they have strict guidelines for quality (even the photos) so you can be sure you’re getting good recipes. You can search by keyword, exclusions, and filter by one or more of 32 categories, allowing you to pin down a perfect recipe in a few seconds. Rather than being stored on their own site, you’re directed to the creator’s own blog or site. Here are 212 results for my search for “fig” in the “flatbread & pizza” category, for example. I love this because I’ve discovered hidden gem food blogs that relate perfectly to my own style of cooking and eating.
Healthy Aperture
If you like the Foodgawker concept and have a specific dietary preference and/or restriction, such as low FODMAP or Paleo, check out Healthy Aperture, which is moderated by dietitians and shows you only healthy recipes (with stunning visuals) that meet your specific food preference or style. Here are my 861 results for “bars” that do not contain eggs, for example. Unfortunately it does not allow for multiple filters (yet!).
Finding Vegan
You don’t have to be a vegan to love this site. It is your gateway to delicious, beautiful plant-based recipes and meals. This one does not offer pre-selected filters, but you can use tags to narrow down what you’re looking for. For example, tonight I want to make something with lentils and sweet potatoes. I searched “lentil sweet potato” and found 89 recipes. I then added “curry” to the search and found 16. It’s easy to change around the keywords to narrow, expand, and quickly land on a match.
