The Best Free Online Recipe Organizer

(This is not a sponsored post. I have no affiliation to Google or any Google products.)

How do you prefer to store and organize new recipes? I bet if you ask 10 women this question you will hear 10 different responses. Some women use Pinterest, others prefer printing hard copies of recipes, others utilize browser bookmarks, and some enjoy a good old fashioned cookbook. In this post I’m going to explain how and why I use Google Keep for a free online recipe organizer.

Introduction to Recipe Organization with Google Keep

I own a few recipe books that I use from time to time, but I find the majority of new recipes online. I used to simply bookmark the website and tried organizing my bookmarks into different food categories. The problem with this method is that I had to return to the website in order to view the recipe. I’m also not a fan of printing out the recipe, because I like to access ingredient lists on the go through my phone.

Cookbooks

Then Google Keep entered my life and my online recipe organization was changed forever.

Google Keep is a free note-taking app part of Google’s suite of free apps. Keep works seamlessly across devices once you have a Google account. You can categorize notes with labels for easy searching, and you can be share notes with other collaborators. You can add a Google Keep web browser extension, making is super easy to create a new Note to save an online recipe. Notes are editable, so if you make changes to a recipe you can easily edit the recipe to reflect this. Also, notes created from a website store the website link in the note, in case you ever need to return to the website.

How to Create and Store Recipes

Below is an image of an example to create a new Note for my Healthy English Muffin Bread recipe. You start by selecting the text that should be included in the Note (the ingredients and instructions for a recipe). Then select the Keep Chrome extension and the highlighted text will automatically appear in the Note. Next, add a title and click Create Note.

Storing a recipe in Google Keep as an online recipe organizer

Now I store all of my recipes on Google Keep (Google – please don’t ever discontinue Keep!). I add labels to all my recipes so I can easily create meal plans. If I want a crockpot meal this week, I simply select the Crockpot label and view the different recipes available. Similarly if I want Chicken recipes, I look in the Chicken label. 

Recipe organizer and categorization

Using Google Keep for Grocery Lists

I also use Keep for my grocery list and meal plan. Other family members can easily add items to the list or suggest meal ideas. Additionally, the list can be viewed on any device. I particularly like the feature for adding check boxes to the grocery list. This is so helpful when walking through the store and adding items to the cart.

Grocery list in Google Keep

I love Google Keep for my online recipe organizer. What’s your favorite way to store and organize recipes? Comment below!