It’s no surprise that keeping your recipe collection organized is difficult, with cookbooks heaped on the shelf, handwritten recipe cards jammed in the kitchen drawer, and apparently limitless recipes pinned to Pinterest. Finding the right approach to ensure everything is well organized is no easy job, especially with recipes from so many different sources and in so many various forms.
When you don’t have a system in place to keep things organized, it’s easy for important recipes to get lost in the shuffle and clutter to accumulate in the kitchen. So, how do you finally get your recipe collection organized?
It’s best to organize your recipes by breaking them down into a few basic steps:
1. Organize Recipes Electronically
The advent of technology isn’t limited to social media alone. You best use it to make your life around the kitchen a tad bit simpler.
According to Samantha Damico, the founder of The Tidy Life Blog, “ I like to keep a place on my phone where I can find my recipes quickly when I’m at the grocery store. In addition to saving you time, this will also come in handy when you need to reference what size or how much of an ingredient you need.”
And we definitely agree with her. Here are a few tips on how to do so:
1. Take screenshots of the recipes and save them in a folder on your phone. You can quickly pull them up whenever you want.
2. Write down the recipe on your Notes app to make sure you never forget a single ingredient.
3. Bookmark your favorite cookbook pages for future reference.
2. Decluttering is king
You might want to clean up a little before continuing. Examine all you have in front of you with a critical eye. Are there any recipes that you no longer require? Sort through your recipes and pick which ones to retain and which to discard.
Begin with physical recipes and work your way up to your digital recipe library. Are you clinging to recipes that you’ve tried but didn’t enjoy? What about those dishes you’ve always wanted to try but never got around to?
It’s pointless to plan a dish that you’re not interested in. Try to stick to your tried-and-true recipes—the ones you can’t imagine not having—or ones you’re thrilled to try. You’re finally ready to get to the good stuff now that you’ve decluttered your recipe collection.
3. Categorize Your Recipes
The next stage is to come up with a plan on how to organize your recipe collection. Make a list of categories that you may use to categorize your recipes in this way. Here are some suggestions for how to organize your recipes:
- Meal type: breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, appetizers, sides, snacks, drinks
- Diet: low carb, keto, vegetarian, Whole 30, paleo
- Cuisine: Italian, Mexican, Thai, Chinese, Greek
- Main ingredient: chicken, beef, pasta, fish
- Cooking method: InstantPot, air fryer, slow cooker, casseroles, sheet pan, grill
- Season or holidays: Thanksgiving, summer bbq, fall soups, cozy winter recipes
- Time to prepare or difficulty: 30 minute meals, 10 ingredients or less, one pot meals
4. Determine the Best System
You’ve made it to the end of the process! It’s time to put all of your planning into action. The last step is to decide on the organizing system you’ll employ based on the approach and categories you’ve chosen—then put it all together!
