Prepful
Android's built-in ways to save a recipe
Nothing to install. Each one is good at one thing. Menu names can differ a little between phone makers.
Chrome bookmarks. On the recipe page, tap More (the three dots next to the address bar), then Add to bookmarks. Find it again under More > Bookmarks, where a search bar at the top helps once the list is long. You're saving the website, so you scroll past the ads and the life story each time you cook.
A downloaded page in Chrome. On the recipe page, tap More, then Download. The page opens later from More > Downloads, even without a connection, which helps in a grocery store with bad signal. You need to be online to save it, and it's still the whole web page.
A notes app. Tap Share and pick Google Keep or whichever notes app you use, and the link lands in a note. Handy for a running "Recipes to try" note, but the note holds the link, and you still open the website to read the recipe.
A screenshot. The fastest way to grab a recipe from anywhere, including a TikTok caption or an Instagram post. On most phones, press Power and Volume down at the same time. On Android 12 and up, tap Capture more in the preview to keep scrolling and get the whole recipe in one long image. The catch is finding that screenshot again among a thousand others.
Copying the text with Google Lens. Open the screenshot in Google Photos, tap More, then Google Lens, and tap and select the words to copy them. Good for pulling an ingredient list out of a picture, but you still need somewhere to paste it.
| Method | Saves the ingredients as text | Works for TikTok and Instagram | Turns into a shopping list |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome bookmarks | Only inside the web page | No, it saves the link | No |
| Downloaded page | Only inside the saved page | No | No |
| Notes app | Only if you paste it in yourself | Only as a link | No |
| Screenshot + Google Lens | As a picture, copyable with Lens | Yes, if the recipe is on screen | No |
| Prepful | Yes, as a written ingredient list | Yes, from a link or a screenshot | Yes, one list for the whole week |
Save any recipe from the Share button
Works in Chrome, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. About ten seconds.
Open the recipe: a page in Chrome, or a video or post in TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube.
Tap Share. If the app shows its own share menu first, look for More or Other apps to open Android's share menu.
Choose Prepful from the list of apps.
Prepful pulls out the ingredients and steps and saves them as a written recipe, with a link back to the original.
Don't see Prepful in the share menu? Scroll through the full list of apps. Some apps hide Android's share menu behind More or Other apps. If Prepful still isn't there, update it from Google Play.
Rather paste a link? Copy it, then open Prepful and go to Recipes > Add > Import a Recipe. Platform details are in the guides for TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and any website.
Turn your recipe screenshots into recipes
For the camera roll you already have, plus cookbook pages and handwritten cards.
Open Prepful and go to Recipes > Add > Upload a Photo.
Pick the screenshots for one recipe, up to six at a time (ingredients on one, steps on the next is fine), or take a photo of the page.
Prepful reads the text in the pictures and writes out the ingredients and steps.
Check the amounts, then save. Delete the screenshots if you like; the recipe is now text.
A long scrolling screenshot counts as one picture, so a whole recipe page usually fits in one. More tips for blurry photos and handwriting in how to save recipes from a photo.
Recipes someone texted you
If a recipe arrives as a block of text in Messages, WhatsApp, an email, or an old note, press and hold to copy it, then go to Recipes > Add > Paste a Recipe. Prepful sorts it into ingredients and steps, so it lands in the same searchable list as everything else. The same works for a recipe ChatGPT wrote for you; see how to save recipes from ChatGPT.
Then actually cook it
Saving is the easy half. Put a few saved recipes on days this week and their ingredients go onto one shopping list, with repeats combined. See how to meal plan with the recipes you've saved, how to make a grocery list from recipes, and how to organize the recipes you already have.
If it doesn't work
Prepful needs Android 7.0 or later. A link won't import if the post is private, has been removed, or never contains the recipe (a finished-dish video with "recipe in comments"). In that case, screenshot the recipe wherever it is and use Upload a Photo, or copy the text and use Paste a Recipe. Prepful is also on iPhone and the web, and your recipes are the same everywhere you sign in. On an iPhone too? See how to save recipes on iPhone.
Comparing recipe apps? See the best apps to save recipes from social media.