Top “Ten” Recipe Websites
These are my opinions only.
(10 being the least favorite; 1 being my favorites)
What I based my decisions on:
Ease of Printing
Specialty Diets (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, Etc)
Recipes that are from scratch vs. those that use processed (brand name) ingredients
Has recipes with food that I’d actually make/eat (simple, “down-home” cooking recipes)
Variety of food
Ease of browsing
Non-Recipe only content (has articles, video how-tos, etc)
Free vs. paid content
10: Cooks.com; my recipes.com
These are my least favorites –
They have a variety of food; not easily browsed or printed; failed at the specialty diets; on a good note, they do seem to have a fairly decent recipe base/variety of food I’d actually make/eat.
9: meals.com; kraftrecipes.com, campbells, Pillsbury, verybestbaking.com, Pepperidge farms, bettycrocker,Duncan Hines, etc.
I will use these when I can’t find what I’m looking for on other sites
These are the sites that use processed foods as ingredients – their own foods (understandably, they want to sell their products).
The specialty diets are lacking for most of these sites. Gluten-Free seems to be the main one they have; other food allergy issues, not so much
Yummily is a “collection” site – they gather the links to recipes; lists them & re-direct to that website to see the recipe.
They all seemed to have very few, if any, specialty diet recipes – except for a few gluten-free.
Epicurious.com/finecooking.com are higher end recipes – not a lot of recipes that I’d make/eat; this one of the better websites if you are looking for super “fancy dinner” food.
I liked these recipes; browsing was fairly easy; tablespoon.com had a great cooking-for-2 section (2 meals for a single lady); there were a good number of specialty diet recipes other than gluten-free. Printing also seemed easy.
These two are also higher end food; browsing & printing seem to be quite easily. I like that there is a great deal of non-recipe content; they also have many “base” recipes available – stocks, sauces, etc to use in your cooking.
I like these two for “fancy dinner” recipes as well.
If you are a “foodie” and you enjoy websites (& magazines) dedicated to food, these two are great reading!
This is a recent find for me; I really like this website. Fairly easy to navigate; there is a good number of non-recipe content articles & information. They also link to blogs with recipes & non-recipe content alike. Printing was quite simple here as well.
Specialty diets for gluten-free & dairy-free; has a good selection of recipes to check out; egg-free, not so much; overall, they have a good variety of specialty diet recipes.
godairyfree.org is just that – a collection of recipes for those who cannot have dairy. Their website had a lot of non-recipe content on living dairy-free. It is easy to navigate & to print. The “Dairy List” is especially helpful if you are living a dairy-free life.
This is a great “down-home” & simple recipe collection; recipes created by home cooks & their families through the years.
There is a good variety of specialty diet recipes
One of my favorite features is that you can create your own cookbook.
There is a great community of cooks; you can register for the website & interact with them within in specific “discussion groups” – they have a group for just about everyone. Click on their “community” tab to link to the groups.
Browsing & printing are easy; if you register you can save (“pinch”) recipes to go back to later.
If you have a recipe to share, the process is easy; just type in ingredients and directions; share pictures of each step if you have them & save.
If they had the option to amend each recipe to a smaller serving (eg: 4 servings to 1 serving) this would be my #1 choice.
Their premium membership ($$) includes:
Ad-Free Browsing
Free Membership Gift Codes
Unlimited Downloads of e-cookbooks
Premium recipe Box
Personalize Recipes
Menu Calendar & Grocery List
Photo Albums
Pricing is fairly reasonable: $3.99 for 3 months; $14.99 for 1 year (includes free apron) & $28.00 for 3 years (also receive the free apron); there other “perks” include the above premium perks & a free gift code; 3 years has 3 gift codes.
I like this for the variety of recipes you can find; both simple/”down-home” and “fancy dinner” recipes.
Browsing and printing are easy; searching also is easy. You can search by recipe, chef and/or show.
Their other than recipes content is excellent; videos, a restaurant guide, etc.
There is also a store where you can purchase just about anything a home cook would like.
This is the web based version of the magazine. My mom received the magazine for years; I thoroughly enjoyed reading everyone. The website has the majority of the recipes online. Some will only be visible to those who have registered; you can also subscribe to their magazines through the website as well.
The other than recipes content is a good selection, including a “cooking school” (online classes look to be about $15 each). There are online cooking school & a search to see if there are cooking school classes in your local area.
Browsing & printing are easy; the specialty diets is lacking for some areas; there is currently only one vegan recipe; the greatest number is gluten-free; dairy-free comes in 2nd. Vegetarians will have an easier time as there are many vegetarian recipes available.
My biggest dislike for this website is the pop-up each time you log onto their website. This is just an inconvenience, there is no bearing on the actual website – you can just close it.
1: allrecipes.com; americastestkitchen.com, cooksillustrated.com & cookscountry.com (companion sites)
americastestkitchen.com, cooksillustrated.com & cookscountry.com (companion sites)
These are my favorites
The three companion websites above are paid ($$) subscriptions; about $5 a month per website; an annual, multi-site cost is $70. You can also register for a 14-day trial. In addition, there are some free items, but very few.
Cooks Illustrated & Cook’s Country also have magazines you can subscribe to.
If you’ve not seen America’s Test Kitchen, go to their website & watch some of the episodes you can access for free. The premises behind the websites/show/magazines are the science behind cooking & how to take a recipe & make it the best recipe ever. I’ve used several recipes & have not been disappointed.
The specialty diets will struggle to find anything for these websites.
Other than recipes content is excellent – they have equipment testing/reviews & taste testing.
Allrecipes.com
This is an excellent website if you are a single lady in that they offer the option of changing a recipe from multi servings to one (or two) servings; it adjusts the recipe & you’ll be able to make just one serving.
There is a good representation of specialty diet recipes on All Recipes.
The website is free, but there is also a subscription section (Go Pro)” $9.95 for 6-months; $17.50 for 1-year & $22.95 for 2-years. They, like Taste of Home have a “cooking school”. Courses are priced between $6 & $30 – most are $15.
They have a “menu planner” – cost is part of the above “Go Pro” cost.
There is a great variety of recipes – international and “down-home” cooking.
In the video section of the website are many videos on the recipes & techniques
There are so many recipe websites available if you search recipe websites – from ethnic specific websites to general recipe collections; I hope this list helps you in your search for recipes to use.
Do you have a favorite recipe site that I don’t have listed? Comment below & let me know what you like about it.
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