These smartphones and tablets that we love – well, you must do if you’re here at Android Headlines – come with a whole lot of abilities, it’s like there superheroes, really. Of course, besides the huge amounts of news, YouTube and games that happen on our devices there can be practical uses for our beloved gadgetry – besides checking the weather. Recently, I’ve been doing a lot more cooking and whilst I enjoy everything I cook – mostly eastern cuisine – my family, especially my girlfriend, don’t always take to it. As such, I need to broaden my horizons on the cooking front. I might be content with eating curries, a thousand types of rice and anything with noodles but my family won’t be, it’s time I learnt to cook other stuff. So, shall we see what I learned? I present to you the Android Headlines list of Top 10 Android Cooking apps!
Of course, as with a lot of lists, I might have missed something out that you thing deserved a place, or an app that works better for you than all the rest. If that’s the case then feel free to leave a comment and let me know! The great thing about this community is that we can all help each other so, please, if you feel I’ve missed something, say so!
1. Allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner
If there’s one app I feel that I could teach my father how to use on his Android phone then it’s this one. Often my father and I will cook and we’ll be lost as to what goes to what we’re trying to cook and the whole affair of what to have for dinner derails and crashes. However, since I’ve – finally – decided to embrace technology in the kitchen things go no more smoothly than with this app at our sides. We can simply search for a recipe and with the instructions and then get down to it thanks to the apps innovative and easy steps to take. The app runs well and is easy to quickly look something up in a pinch. If you’re looking for some extra features there’s always a paid pro version of the app.
2. In the Kitchen: Recipes, Chefs
This one’s from the good folk’s at the Food Network and easily lets you look through hit recipes from the network’s hit chefs, perfect for those that love to watch food being cooked by those that can actually cook – of which I am guilty. The app itself has a clean and simple interface with feature rich content. The app even includes some fantastic tools you might need around the kitchen as well, such as a unit converter – most handy for a Brit like myself. This a solid app that is a must have for someone who likes to cook or wants to become better in the kitchen. The in-app shopping list is another invaluable addition, our cupboards are full of stuff but, never what we actually need to complete a recipe. With this we can make sure we have exactly what we need.
3. Recipe Search – by allthecooks.com
There’s no app out there that has more recipes at your fingertips than this one. Recipe Search, powered by allthecooks.com, delivers a seriously high volume of recipes to you. Recipes are easily sorted by popularity. The app allows you to search by ingredients which means you could always see if there is a recipe for what little you have left in the fridge. Being able to share recipes by e-mail is a nice feature as well, allowing you to send a recipe to anyone – members of the family, friends – is great, too often app silos hold back adoption of content such as this. Another good feature is being able to bookmark recipes within the app, a neat way of creating a cookbook on your phone with little fanfare.
4. 250,000+ Recipes BigOven
This app’s brought to us by the guys at BigOven.com and it’s a really nice one, too. The app does encourage you to sign up up at BigOven.com – it’s free – but doesn’t force you too, which is a breath of fresh air. Even without a free account with them you can view recipes, search by ingredient or course and generally enjoy the content on offer. If you have an account or choose to set one up then it gets a little more fun from then on, you can then add your own recipes to the catalogue, upload photos of anything you’ve cooked. You can also save recipes as favorites as well as adding them to a “Try Soon” list – something that I, myself, could do with as I tend to eat a lot of the same stuff which, obviously, leads to boredom in the kitchen, which is never good. It’s a great app for those that love to cook and also love to share with others.
5. Cocktail Flow – Drink Recipes
Okay, okay, I know, I’m breaking the rules a little bit here, right? Hear me out, with all the knowledge of cooking you’re going to get after reading these recommendations, you’re going to have some drinks to go down with all that excellent food, right?! You can’t be a good cook without knowing how to make a tasty drink – at least not in my book. To this end, Cocktail Flow is an excellent app that allows you to get caught up on the art of drink making. Featuring a wide variety of cocktails which you can search through, favorite and get detailed info on how to make them the app is a one-stop shop for bartenders and those entertaining family and friends alike. Also featured is a neat shopping assistant that can estimate costs of ingredients needed for future cocktails in a number of different currencies, you can also throw whatever drinks you have at the app and it’ll let you know what you can make of what you have. Alcohol isn’t necessarily required here, either, the app breaks up cocktails into sections such as non-alcoholic, shooters, classics and even Christmas varieties of cocktails. All of this makes the app an invaluable assistant in the kitchen and to those who love to indulge.
6. Sweet’N’Spicy – Indian Recipes
If there’s one thing I love, it’s a good curry but, there’s more to Indian cooking than just a hot curry. Being able to cook such recipes is worth knowing, especially for entertaining guests and for some it might take you out of your comfort zone. As I’ve said, I’m guilty for eating the same types of food as well as recipes, if you’re anything like me this app might be a good way to break the mould and try something new in the kitchen. The app itself is very capable, featuring a rich database of Indian recipes, the app also has some creature comforts as well. The app will provide you with alternative recipes of the same dish, great if you don’t like it hot or – like me – like it hotter, the app also outlines allergy concerns as well which, when cooking something slightly exotic is handy to have. Again, this app features a favoriting system under the banner of “My Favorites”, mines full of hot currys, why not start filling up your list now?
7. Betty Crocker Mobile Cookbook
If there’s one household name we associate most with the kitchen it could well be Betty Crocker. Well, Betty fans, rejoice for now you can bring Betty’s cooking with you everywhere thanks to this app. The interface is slick and speedy, in part thanks to the fact that the app doesn’t require a connection to Wi-Fi or 3G as all the recipes are in-app, which is pretty neat if you find yourself out of service a lot. The app has super detailed instructions of its recipes that are easy to follow. If you like Betty Crocker, like to cook, then say no more, go ahead and install this already!
8. My CookBook
This is an app that takes a different direction than the others, there’s no back end service here, it’s you and your own cookery. At first glance this might seem a little cheap but, this is the beauty of this app. For those starting out in cooking, this is not, it’s more aimed at those that feel accomplished in the kitchen or like to experiment. You can easily right down your recipes and keep them nice and handy in the app. Perfect for making sure you don’t forget what it was that made that chicken just that little bit better. It’s a great idea for an app and it works well, there’s also a paid version offering more. If you’ve been cooking for a long time and looking for a way to collect recipes of your staples or create new recipes then this is definitely for you.
9. Epicurious Recipe App
Epicurious is bought to us by the folk’s at Conde Nast – the very same behind Wired – and it’s an excellent, stylish app. It’s a little light of features as, unfortunately it doesn’t allow you to connect to your Epicurious web account but, if you’re looking for recipes that are tried and tested from a quality source then this will do you fine. The app brings a couple of features that help it shine, such as voice search – perfect for when you’ve got your hands dirty along with a ‘Recipe of the Day’ widget, which is nice to see what you could make later on for dinner.
10. Dessert Recipes Cookbook
For those of us that are more likely to bake something than they are to cook a meal this is what you’ve been waiting for. Or, if you’ve just been looking for something to put in the oven for dessert then you’re welcome here, too. You can’t really have a list of cooking applications – much like a three course meal – without a dessert at the end. Well, here you go, this is your dessert so to speak. This app is great if you know you need or want to make a dessert, perhaps you’ve drawn the short straw to make a cake for a dinner party or, perhaps you’re just a sweet-lover like I know I can be. Either way, this app is great and I implore you to install it, and get baking.