Over the years, I’ve amassed quite a collection of recipe books. There’s the meat one, the veggie one, the 15-minute meals one, the five-ingredients one, the student one, and the slow cooker one. I could go on, but I’m probably already in danger of boring you.
To begin with, these hardback gems took pride of place in the kitchen by the cooker, but now that I’m in ownership of more than a couple of dozen of these books, they’ve been relegated to a shelf in the study. Sad times.
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This is part of a regular series of articles exploring the apps that we couldn’t live without. Read them all here.
This shift in recipe book location has coincided with an increasing trend to find recipes by searching online. My wife and I have our favorite go-to recipe websites, and we fairly diligently bookmark the ones that we know we’ll go back to again. But this got me thinking: surely there’s a better way to keep all my mouthwatering recipes organized and accessible. Thankfully, there is, and it’s called BigOven.
The BigOven app aims to make cooking simple. By providing a massive library of well over one million recipes, users have all the inspiration they need right at their fingertips. Recipes are only the beginning, though. After ‘hearting’ your favorites and creating your own library, you’re ready to plan meals and create grocery lists. All of this boosts enjoyment and helps to reduce food waste.
A one-stop shop for recipes
BigOven has an engaging homepage feed that lets you scroll through a range of different types of recipes. With bright and colorful images, you’ll quickly find yourself clicking through links and being presented with clear and easy-to-follow ingredients and methods. Additionally, nutritional information is built into each recipe, and there’s space to add your own personalized notes should you cook the meal and find that a little tweaking is required.
Two excellent features let you capture recipes either on websites or from photos that you’ve taken. The first requires the built-in Clipper tool, which lets you quickly and effortlessly collect your recipes into one place. The second uses the RecipeScan tool, which is ideal to use if you see a recipe in a magazine or newspaper. All of these recipes can also be shared with friends and family because there’s something so wonderful about sharing meals you’ve enjoyed with loved ones.
Meal plan like a pro
If you’re anything like me, better meal planning is one of those dreams that I always have but never quite get around to doing anything about. I’m not hugely creative in the kitchen and often find myself reverting back to a few simple favorites. A lot of this is on account of not having the right ingredients in the house when I want to cook.
BigOven has completely transformed my approach to meal planning. All I have to do is navigate to the recipes I want to make on any given week, use the ‘Add to grocery list’ button, and boom, I have a perfectly curated list that gives me everything I need to buy at the supermarket.
My only word of warning is that the quantities of ingredients added are based on the number of people each recipe serves. To make your life easier, you’ll therefore only want to pick recipes that fit your family size, or be prepared to multiply amounts when you’re at the shop.
Go all in with BigOven
BigOven is available on a wide variety of Apple and Android devices, including phones, tablets, and even watches. I would say that the best experience is on a small to medium-sized tablet, but if you want the convenience of a phone, then it’s good to know that’s available as well.
The app is free to download, but only the Pro version offers an ad-free experience. Paying the monthly premium will also give you access to recipes that cater to your diet and lifestyle with ingredient-by-ingredient nutrition insight and advanced search filters. If you’re serious about integrating BigOven into your meal planning, then you should definitely make the investment.
BigOven Pro membership costs $2.99/£2.49 per month, or if you’re happy paying $24.99/£19.99, then you’ll get an annual membership for a saving of 30%.
Download BigOven on iOS or Android and revolutionize your cooking experience.
