Better Recipe Websites

February 18, 2010 6:01 PM

Trying to improve my cooking skills, but every recipe website I've looked at is terrible. Anything better out there? How about OS X recipe apps?

As my wife gradually domesticates me, I find myself becoming more and more adventurous in the kitchen. Lately, when I have an ingredient (say, potatoes, ground beef, squash, etc.) I look it up on a recipe site and see if I can be more imaginative than burgers or baked potatoes. But it seems like the motivation on most recipe websites is to make that as hard as possible. There are better ones out there right? That aren't full of advertising, horrible IA, or useless search engines?

Or even better: some kind of Mac app loaded with recipes. All of the ones I've managed to find seem to be empty, with the purpose that you fill them with your own, but while I'm at the point where I sometimes modify an existing recipe, I'm not quite making my own yet.

Am I being too wishful, or is there better? Should I just bite the bullet and buy regular dead-tree recipe books?

posted by nostrich to food & drink (31 answers total)

The Pioneer Woman's cooking section is pretty great. Lots of step-by-step photos for beginners. She's also started Tasty Kitchen, which is a community-based recipe site.
posted by BlahLaLa at 6:05 PM on February 18, 2010 [3 favorites]

Cooks Illustrated has fantastic recipes, no advertising, and a reasonable search engine. I can't recommend them highly enough -- when you're starting to gain some skills in the kitchen, they will teach you a lot.

(I primarily read the dead-tree edition myself but the web site has much the same content.)
posted by xil at 6:09 PM on February 18, 2010 [9 favorites]

Like you, I tried to stick to the internet for finding every day recipes, and discovered it really wasn't working out for me. While I like cooking complicated things maybe once a week, I couldn't find anything that was different, fast, and good that could be feasibly cooked on most days.

Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything is the book you want. You can look up an ingredient and find a handful of simple, good recipes to use, and most list several small variations that lead to a big difference in flavor. After you use that book for a month or so you'll probably get a lot better at making up your own variations, too.
posted by Nattie at 6:10 PM on February 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

Simply Recipes is pretty excellent in always having high quality recipes. Because all of the recipes are tested by her and her family (there's no community aspect) they aren't really any "duds". There are very clear categories on the side (beef, chicken, main course, appetizer, quick dinners etc.) and also a google powered search function that works fairly well.
posted by kylej at 6:12 PM on February 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

Re: Cooks Illustrated, yes it's pretty awesome, but it does lean toward more involved, fancier recipes. If you look up an ingredient on the site you get bombarded by a ton of recipes that are generally great, but it's time-consuming to dig and find one that's relatively simple.

The one thing that I use CI for more than anything is the results of their taste tests and product comparisons.

You can get an annual subscription to the website, which has pretty much everything, for $30-something iirc; I got one around Christmas-time and haven't regretted it. Since most of their books are around $30 (though they are sometimes on sale for $15) and each have much less content than the website, I probably won't bother with their books ever. But I use Bittman's book much, much more frequently.
posted by Nattie at 6:13 PM on February 18, 2010

Smitten Kitchen is pretty awesome.
posted by contessa at 6:14 PM on February 18, 2010 [3 favorites]

I've had much more luck with food blogs than with recipe aggregating websites, especially if it's a blog about a specific cuisine. I would definitely not write off good cookbooks though.
posted by pravit at 6:15 PM on February 18, 2010

Food blogs are often my main resource for finding recipes. Sites like cooks.com and allrecipes that simply store recipes are usually a last resort for the reasons you mentioned.

Here are a couple of food blogs that cover different styles of cooking and many different ingredients. Both sites have search bars at the top to make searching for a specific ingredient easier.

Simply Recipes

Closet Cooking He tends to buy multiples of an ingredient and then improvise many dishes based on it. Then he takes mouthwatering pictures of it. This might be close to what you're looking for.
posted by millions of peaches at 6:20 PM on February 18, 2010

The Art of Simple Food, by Alice Waters. It's so good you won't regret buying the book.
posted by sallybrown at 6:27 PM on February 18, 2010 [3 favorites]

Tastespotting is a personal favorite, although sometimes the recipes are pretty complex (and sometimes untranslated!). You can search the website by a specific ingredient, too. Tastespotting runs the gamut of super easy to ridiculously complex, so there's something for everyone. Good luck!
posted by ThaBombShelterSmith at 6:45 PM on February 18, 2010

Seconding Pioneer Woman Cooks, Simply Recipes, Smitten Kitchen.

I also like the Amateur Gourmet (recipe page here): I don't often use his recipes, but I like how he talks both about his successes AND failures, and he also links to lots of other good cookbooks and blogs.

If you are looking for ways to improvise with an ingredient, check out the Flavor Bible. I have not read it, but Gluten Free Girl's book review is here. It sounds like a great idea book for you: look up an ingredient, and it lists other flavours and ingredients that go well with it.

Have fun :)
posted by SarahbytheSea at 6:51 PM on February 18, 2010

Previously, previously, previously.
posted by Jaltcoh at 6:58 PM on February 18, 2010

When I have a few ingredients and need ideas for what to make, I enter them into Food Blog Search. It searches a ton of recipe blogs, and most reputable ones show up first in the results. I've found a lot of good recipes--and great blogs!--through Food Blog Search. You can refine your search to vegetarian-only, although I've never done that so I can't speak to how well it works.
posted by ethorson at 7:10 PM on February 18, 2010

Do you have a Nintendo DS? If so, run don't walk to go pick up a copy of Personal Trainer: Cooking. It's not a game, but more like an interactive cookbook. It will walk you through each step of a recipe with pictures, and sometimes video.

Tons of fun to use, and so far everything I've made with it has turned out pretty tasty.
posted by Caravantea at 7:31 PM on February 18, 2010

Should I just bite the bullet and buy regular dead-tree recipe books?

Yes. As an entry-level cook, using the internet as your primary source for cooking ideas is like cutting your ingredients with a dull knife. The problem is that it is hard to find anything that is encyclopedic and consistent on the internet. You'll be forever trying recipes written by different people in different ways, and tested to various levels or not, and never know quite what to expect.

I also think that How to Cook Everything is the right book for you, even though it is only my third-favorite cookbook (after Anyone Can Cook and The New Best Recipe).
posted by grouse at 8:11 PM on February 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

I'm more likely to start with a dish in mind than an ingredient on hand, but I've come to trust Epicurious. They serve up stuff from both Bon Apetit and the much-missed Gourmet, so you're in pretty good hands there. Plus, they allow user ratings, so you have a good idea of what you're getting in to.
posted by Gilbert at 8:27 PM on February 18, 2010

foodgawker
posted by Unred at 9:00 PM on February 18, 2010

I was in the same boat a few months ago and now I am a decent cook. I improve with each meal I prepare. My favorite recipe website is allrecipes.com. It is pretty much a community of people that post recipes for everyone. It has a review and rating system to give users a better idea of what's hot/not. As for OSX Apps I prefer MacGourmet. It helps me
organize new recipes and syncs with a similar iPhone app. Hope it helps!!
posted by Junior687 at 9:18 PM on February 18, 2010

I swear by Cooks Illustrated.
posted by jockc at 9:46 PM on February 18, 2010

I'm going to add a second for Cooks Illustrated. Especially as you are looking to improve your skills because cooks has an effortlessly recommendable section before each recipe explaining the various methods they tested before arriving at this particular one and why. (You have to click that button at the top of each recipe that says "article.")
posted by Suciu at 9:46 PM on February 18, 2010

Also, if you're going the dead tree route, it's quite easy to recommend the (most comprehensive) CI printed book: The New Best Recipe
posted by Suciu at 9:49 PM on February 18, 2010

I love love love All Recipes.

The recipes are good, but the real gem here are the user comments. A recipe that might turn out so-so as posted can turn out AMAZING if you read the comments left by other members, which basically gives you feedback from hundreds of test cooks before you try any recipe. The site also has a really good Recipe Box feature that is completely free, and you can search by recipe title or by ingredients. I've had tons of success with the site - hope you like it!
posted by keribear at 10:17 PM on February 18, 2010

"... Should I just bite the bullet and buy regular dead-tree recipe books?"

Yes. To a surprising degree, dead tree cookbooks are still the way most cooks learn to cook well, and are still how many "foodies" communicate their amassed knowledge and views of food, commercially.

But look, don't stop with just buying a few cookbooks. Buy a quality cookbook stand (or 2, or 3), so that you can prop your selected receipts for the meal open, conveniently and readably, and keep them protected from splatters, while making them.

Cookbooks you read improve your cooking some. Cookbooks you use improve your food.
posted by paulsc at 12:59 AM on February 19, 2010 [1 favorite]

Nthing Pioneer Woman Cooks, Simply Recipes, Smitten Kitchen, and Tastespotting.

You might also like Learn to Cook Like Your Grandmother

It's a blog that covers the basics, with pretty good instructions. Right now, the blog author is pimping his e-book hardcore, which can be pretty annoying. However, the basic, easy to follow recipies are worth the selling spiel to me.

Good luck!
posted by mmmbacon at 6:46 AM on February 19, 2010

I like No Takeout. It's not so much a recipe site as a dinner site. It tells you what to buy at the store, what to do when you get home from the store, and even tells you when to open the wine and pour yourself a glass. It also tells you what order to make things in (start the veggies before cooking the meat), which is helpful for me since I seem incapable of getting all the meal items finished at the same time.

Sign up for the daily emails.
posted by booth at 8:25 AM on February 19, 2010

I usually just use recipes from publications I trust. ie the guardian website and Gourmet Traveller.

but yes you should also invest in a few physical cook books. I hav ea few that I use all the time for various favourites.
posted by mary8nne at 8:34 AM on February 19, 2010

The New York Times Recipes for Health are good. I also like 101 Cookbooks, and even Martha Stewart's Recipe Finder. Cook books are good for solid ideas and recipes, so find one you like. But I like the web for something different that I've never tried before. Also, I'm sure you've already tried it, but epicurious.com is alright. I have an adblocker on, so I don't usually see any ads, but I do like the comments that people give about a recipe, and the highly rated ones usually do turn out great. (And they have an iphone app if that appeals to you).
posted by bluefly at 8:47 AM on February 19, 2010

–nytimes dining column
–a solid book or two

–Watching cooking shows is amazingly useful for starting cooking. I don't know what's available nowadays, but Good Eats by Alton Brown is really nice.
posted by polymodus at 8:57 AM on February 19, 2010

Seconding grouse and other dead-tree advocates. Another advantage of cookbooks is that they're usually by a single author, which means the recipes tend to be pretty consistent in reflecting that author's taste. Once to get to know their preferences, you can automatically adjust their recipes to suit your preferences.

I have some cookbooks I really love, but right off the bat I know I need to:
• leave out the salt
• double the garlic
• reduce the amount of liquid

or whatever, as required. This is very helpful when trying new recipes from the book.

Also, I find the format of some cooking blogs is annoying - too much scrolling, too many pictures of food in the pot (duh, I know what boiling spaghetti looks like), too easy to miss directions scattered among the photos. Also, I'm not parking my laptop anywhere near the stove, so I run back and forth a lot. (I hate printing stuff - if I'm going to kill a tree, I'll buy a book.)

Online recipe-hunting can be fun, but I actually think it's best suited to more experienced cooks who can read a recipe and predict pretty accurately how it's going to turn out. I'd suggest you start with a few cookbooks and build up your skills first.

To get cookbooks for free/cheap, your public library can be a great resource for screening lots of books for free. Many thrift stores sell books, and I've stumbled across a few gems for peanuts. Used bookstores are more expensive, but have a better selection. Good luck!
posted by Quietgal at 9:52 AM on February 19, 2010

Nthing dead trees. I like Donna Hay's books a lot. All of the good cookbooks I have I've tried out from the library before, done a couple recipes and liked them, and picked up the book. A big issue for me is photos; if a cookbook doesn't have photos of what we're making, I have a hard time deciding if I want to make a recipe or not.
posted by craven_morhead at 10:05 AM on February 19, 2010

Nthing Cook's Illustrated Best New Recipe. IMO, the best cookbook for a beginning to moderately skilled cook.
posted by seventyfour at 10:16 AM on February 19, 2010