The Essential Recipe Apps Every Home Cook Needs

Whether we�re drinking some fine wine with a fish course or sampling some tasty snacks with a few beers, food and drink tend to go hand in hand. Ultimately, a bit of grub alongside a few alcoholic tipples generally goes down a treat. Sometimes, though, nailing the perfect cocktail recipe can be achievable but cooking the best food to go with it isn�t. Thankfully, that�s where recipe apps come in handy.

Most people turn to a variety of apps in today�s app-obsessed climate. Some people conduct banking queries or swipe right on Tinder, while others explore the variety of options from the food and drinks sector. In terms of food, recipe apps have enabled people to master dishes at home and introduce new ingredients to people in the process. Most of these types of apps offer step-by-step instructions and enable people to gain an understanding of the food they�re eating. Alongside this, some apps help pair the ideal food and drink together and enable someone to create the ultimate dinner party menu in the process.

The offering in this space is certainly impressive, especially when you factor in some of the big names which are featured in apps that are available for download in the App Store or Google Play. For example, alongside having slot games based on the popular TV show Hell�s Kitchen, Gordon Ramsay and other celebrity chefs, like Mary Berry, have recipes featured on the BBC Good Food app. Offering over 10,000 recipes at the time of writing, the app also includes user-submitted dishes alongside the aforementioned celebrity chefs and their recipes. You can save your favourites and share them with family and friends, too.

Be part of a community

Thanks to its commenting features which allow home cooks to gain instant feedback from fellow users, Cookpad and its more social media-oriented offering is another great option. Whether you want to gain feedback on a Guinness stew you�ve prepared, or you need to produce a dish with allergies in mind, the app and its community of users will help you gain the feedback you need to make an informed decision. Cookpad is updated on a regular basis, too, allowing users to make use of new tools and features all the time.

Hundreds of thousands of recipes

With its detailed offering of recipes from around the world, BigOven is another excellent recipe app that is downloaded by millions. You can take snapshots of your favourite cook-ups, create grocery lists, and even type in three ingredients that you have in your kitchen and then the app will get back to you with a recommended dish. Epicurious serves up an extensive selection of recipes, too, as does SideChef and its round-up of the best dishes from respected food bloggers and chefs.

For vegetarians and vegans

We all need to eat less meat, which is why apps like Green Kitchen are a good option for people who are either keen to cut down on their meat intake or for anyone who is a full-time vegetarian or vegan. The app boasts a comprehensive selection of the best meat-free dishes, alongside a range of snack recipes that could pair nicely with an alcoholic beverage. Green Kitchen features pictures, active checklists and clear directions. Oh She Glows is another fantastic product for vegans in particular, with the app offering over 140 plant-based recipes at the time of writing.

The best of the rest 

Other widely-used recipe apps include Paprika and its ability to collate recipes in one handy place, Kitchen Stories and the helpful instructional videos the app offers, and Yummly with its superb search engine.