Prepful
Instagram's own ways to save a recipe
Built into the app, nothing to install. Each one keeps the post, not the recipe.
Save it to a collection. Tap the bookmark icon under the Reel or post. To sort it, add it to a collection like "Dinners to try". Your saved posts and collections are private, and you'll find them on your profile: open the menu, then Saved. It's still a list of posts you'll have to rewatch for the amounts.
Download the Reel. On a public account's Reel, tap Share, then Download, and it goes to your camera roll with an Instagram watermark. Creators can turn downloads off, and Reels from private accounts can't be downloaded. What you get is a video file, so the amounts are still wherever the creator said or typed them.
Screenshot the caption. Fast, but it ends up in a camera roll full of screenshots, and a long caption takes two or three.
| Method | Keeps the amounts | Survives a deleted post | Easy to find later |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saved collection | Only inside the post | No | Scroll your Saved tab |
| Downloaded Reel | Only what's said or shown | Yes, as a video | Somewhere in your camera roll |
| Caption screenshot | Yes, as a picture | Yes | Somewhere in your camera roll |
| Prepful | Yes, as a written ingredient list | Yes, the recipe is saved as text | Search your recipes by name |
Save it as a recipe: share directly from Instagram
The fastest way, ten seconds, no copying or pasting.
Open the Reel or post with the recipe in the Instagram app.
Tap the paper-airplane Share icon.
Choose Prepful from the share sheet.
Prepful reads the caption, and the audio when the caption is short, to pull out the ingredients and steps.
First time on iPhone? If Prepful isn't in your share sheet yet, tap More, then Edit, then tap the green + next to Prepful. On Android, Prepful is already listed there, no setup needed.
Paste the link
Works the same everywhere, including on desktop.
Tap the Share icon on the post, then Copy link.
Open Prepful, then go to Recipes > Add > Import Recipe.
Paste the link and tap Import Recipe.
Review the recipe Prepful pulled out, then save it to your library.
Works the same way for Reels, carousel posts, and regular photo posts, as long as the caption or the video includes the recipe.
What Prepful keeps from an Instagram post
Everything lands as text you can read and search.
The caption, and the audio when it matters. Prepful reads the caption first. When the caption is short, it also listens to the Reel, so amounts that are only said out loud usually make it into the ingredient list.
A link back to the creator. The saved recipe keeps the creator's handle and the original post as its source, so you can jump back to watch a tricky step and the creator still gets the view.
Ingredients ready for your shopping list. Add the recipe to a day this week and its ingredients go onto your shopping list, scaled to the servings you planned.
When the recipe isn't in the caption
Three common cases, and what to do with each.
"Recipe at the link in my bio." Follow the link to the creator's website and save that page instead. Website recipes usually have exact amounts, and the creator gets the visit. See how to save recipes from any website.
"Comment RECIPE and I'll DM it to you." When the message arrives, it's usually a link to the creator's site. Save that link the same way.
The recipe is written on the carousel slides. Prepful reads the caption and audio, not text inside the images. Screenshot the slides, then go to Recipes > Add > Upload a Photo and add up to six of them at once. More in how to save recipes from a photo.
How to print a recipe from Instagram
Instagram has no print button. The easiest way is on a computer: open the post on instagram.com in a web browser, select the caption text, copy it, paste it into a document or note, and print that. If the recipe is on the creator's website (often the link in their bio), print it from there instead: most recipe sites have a print button on the recipe card.
Then actually cook it
A saved recipe only helps if it makes it onto a plate. Put it on a day this week and it joins your shopping list with everything else you planned. See how to meal plan with the recipes you've saved and how to make a grocery list from recipes.
If it doesn't work
A few things stop an import: the account or post is private, the post is a finished-dish photo with no ingredients or steps anywhere in the caption or video, or it's been deleted. If a link fails, check that the post is public and actually contains a recipe, not just a photo of one. You can also copy the caption and paste it in Recipes > Add > Paste a Recipe.
Curious how Prepful compares to other recipe-saving apps? See Prepful vs ReciMe, the closest match on import platforms, or the best apps to save recipes from TikTok and Instagram.