Cookbook and Recipe Software Review

Cookbook and recipe software can help you to create a meal plan for days, weeks or months in advance. Some software even creates your shopping lists based on your upcoming meal plans. You have the option of choosing recipes for special occasions, recipes based on nutritional needs, by specified ingredients and by how difficult it is or how much time it will take to prepare. Whatever your needs may be, cookbook and recipe software will help you plan and prepare mouthwatering meals.

The best cookbook and recipe software products we reviewed are Living Cookbook, Cook'n Recipe Organizer and MasterCook. In addition to our reviews, please take a look at our articles on cookbook and recipe software for even more hints, tips and recipes.

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Cookbook and Recipe Software: What to Look For

The following are the criteria we used to evaluate cookbook and recipe software.

Recipe Manager
Cookbook software should include quite a few recipes. You should also have the ability to easily import your own recipes or recipes you find online. It should be simple to edit recipes if you need to make changes to ingredients or cooking time. Having your recipes categorized will allow you to search for menu items quickly and easily. It is also important to have the search-by-ingredient feature that will allow you to find recipes with the ingredients you have on hand.

Menu Planner
The best menu planners allow you to plan breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for days, weeks and even months. They are customizable to meet the needs of different diets and track your food inventory. Additionally, you should be able to make a categorized shopping list using this software, to make your trip to the grocery store quick and easy.

Feature Set
In addition to providing a recipe manager and a menu planner, cooking and recipe software should include features such as the ability to download recipes from the internet as well as the ability to adjust serving sizes on recipes. It is also nice to have the option to print out recipe cards and full cookbooks as well.

Help & Support
You should not have any problems finding a list of FAQs for the best cookbook and recipe software. You should be able to contact the manufacturer quickly and easily if needed. We appreciate those companies that offer tutorials, phone support and an email address the most. However, having a user forum is also a good idea so that users can exchange information with one another.

When choosing cookbook and recipe software, decide what your needs are. If you are a gourmet cook, you will appreciate features that allow you to edit recipes and change serving sizes. While if you are someone who doesn't cook for many people you may find that using a more basic cookbook and recipe software will suit you best. Whichever you choose, enjoy the experience of creating a meal from scratch, instead of hitting the fast food place on your way home from work.