Recipe Spellbook
Open web app
Import guide

Getting your recipes out of everywhere else.

Five ways in, ranked by how little work they take. Start at the top and only go down the list if the one above doesn’t fit what you have.

Photograph the page

A cookbook spread, an index card, a printout stuck to the fridge. The text becomes structured fields you can check before saving. Works best with the page flat and the whole recipe in frame.

New in 1.7

Cooking from a printed book? Scan the ISBN barcode on the back cover first. The book joins your cookbooks with its title, author and cover, and every page you photograph is filed into it.

Import a file

Exports from other recipe apps land here, along with PDFs, ZIP archives, HTML, Markdown and plain text. Tap +, choose File, and drop the whole export in one go rather than one recipe at a time. You review everything before it saves.

Use any AI as a converter

For anything in a shape nothing else reads: a spreadsheet, a long email, a screenshot of a group chat. Copy the prompt from the app, paste it into the AI assistant you already use along with your recipe, then paste the answer back.

Convert the recipe below into this JSON shape. Return JSON only, no commentary. { "title": "...", "servings": 4, "prepMinutes": 15, "cookMinutes": 30, "ingredients": [{ "quantity": "1 cup", "item": "flour", "group": "Batter" }], "steps": ["..."] }

Type it in

For the recipe that only exists in your head. Ingredient groups, step headers and timers are all there while you type, so it’s as useful as an imported one.

Switching apps

From Paprika

Recipe Spellbook reads Paprika’s .paprikarecipes export (the Paprika 3 format), photos included. Large libraries import in the background.

  1. Export from Paprika. Use Paprika’s export and choose the Paprika format. You get a single .paprikarecipes file containing every recipe.
  2. Move the file to the device you’ll import on: AirDrop, email it to yourself, or save it to cloud storage.
  3. In Recipe Spellbook, tap +, then File, and pick the export.
  4. Review and import. Untick anything you don’t want, then tap Import.
What comes along
  • Titles and descriptions
  • Ingredients
  • Directions
  • Photos
  • Categories, as tags
  • Ratings
  • Notes
  • Source links
  • Prep and cook times
  • Servings

From other recipe apps

Export from the app you’re leaving, then tap + → File in Recipe Spellbook and pick the export.

  • Mela .melarecipes or .melarecipe Categories become tags.
  • Recipe Keeper .zip or .html export The ZIP export includes photos.
  • Crouton .crumb export Ingredient sections are kept.
  • Cookmate (My CookBook) .mcb export Categories and photos come along.
  • MasterCook .mxp export Fixed-width layouts are parsed for you.
  • Plan to Eat .csv export Titles, ingredients, directions, tags and times.
  • Mealie JSON export Whole backups or single recipes.
  • Tandoor JSON export Keywords and ingredient details are kept.
  • CopyMeThat .html export Every recipe in the file is found.
  • Samsung Food / Whisk JSON data download Same format for older Whisk exports.
  • Living Cookbook .fdx export Ingredients and procedures are structured.
  • Cooklang .cook files @ingredients, #cookware and ~timers are read.
  • Meal-Master .mmf or .mk files Hundreds of recipes per file is fine.

What the app reads

SourceHowKeeps photos
Recipe websitesPaste a linkYes
Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, PinterestPaste a linkYes
Printed cookbooksScan the ISBN, then photograph pagesYes
Photos, screenshots, handwritingCamera or galleryYes
Paprika, Mela, Recipe Keeper, Cookmate, CroutonFile importYes
MasterCook, Plan to Eat, Mealie, Tandoor, CopyMeThat, Samsung Food, Living Cookbook, Cooklang, Meal-MasterFile importVaries by export
PDF cookbooks and printoutsFile importText only
Spreadsheets, emails, anything oddAI converterNo
Recipe Spellbook JSON backupsFile importYes

Moving to a new device

Use Transfer data to move your whole library from one device to another with a QR code. No account needed.

Moving out is as easy as moving in

Export the whole library as JSON whenever you want, with or without images. It’s the same format the importer reads, so a backup is also a working copy.