5 Apps to Make

5 Apps to Make Cooking Easier

They are inexpensive, offer a wide range of choices and even provide recipes complete with audio and video options

PREETAM KAUSHIK

Do you love to cook but not have the time or energy to look up new recipes and count calories? Fret not, for technology can come to your rescue. We live in the digital era, and it should be no surprise that there are apps for meal planning, recipes, and even tracking food. Even if you are someone more comfortable flipping the pages of a traditional cookbook as opposed to downloading apps for recipes, you will be in for a pleasant surprise when you try some of the options listed here.

BENEFITS OF USING APPS IN THE KITCHEN

At first glance, it is easy to mistake these apps as part of yet another fad to make you tech-dependent. A closer look reveals that the benefits outweigh your skepticism about technology in the kitchen!

Ample choices – With cooking or recipe apps, you are spoiled for choice given the kind of database you can access. Most such platforms provide options for keyword searches to help you find the recipe you are looking for within seconds.

Pocket-friendly – Most such apps are available for free downloads and do not cost any money. At the most, there is likely to be a minimal subscription fee. Think of the money you’ll save on buying cookbooks and recipe booklets!

Audio and video instructions – While traditional cookbooks may have text and photos, these apps offer a helpful mix of audio and video instructions. The videos can help you see what needs to be done and reduce the possibility of mistakes. Audio instructions and onscreen text with adjustable font size make these apps a boon for those with vision difficulties.

SOME POPULAR APPS TO TRY

Mealime – This app lets you choose from a selection of customizable meal plans to suit your diet. With both Android and iOS free versions available, Mealime is extremely user-friendly and even lets you exclude food that you don’t like! Once you put in your preferences, it will offer you a choice of recipes with an organized grocery list as a bonus.

Prepear – If you are big on social media, this might be your kind of app. Prepear partners with popular food bloggers and the basic version is free for iOS and Android users. A preset recipe database, recipe filters, and nutrition breakdown are some of the highlights. Manual and online input options along with customizable shopping lists are also available.

Yummly – Available as an app as well as a website, Yummly lets you build a collection of your favorite recipes. There is no subscription fee and you have plenty of filters available to let you find exactly what you want. You can filter out recipes based on the skill required, allergies, and various dietary preferences.

Paprika – Categorized as a recipe manager, this app is available on Android and iOS and comes with a onetime fee. There are no preset recipes or menus and this gives you the maximum flexibility in coming up with your ways of saving and entering recipes. It can create customized grocery lists, save recipes from the web, and set cooking timers.

Eat This Much – Get the dual benefits of a meal planner and a calorie counter in one when you use this app. It comes with a free version and can import recipes quickly. The barcode scanner gives you access to nutritional information from the vast database of packaged foods and restaurants. You can create your meal plans or let the app generate one for you.

The beauty of all these apps is that they are not just for seasoned cooks but are great help to people who are new to cooking. So, what are you waiting for – download one of these apps and whip up gourmet meals in a jiffy!