Best Recipe Apps and Ideas for Thanksgiving 2024

Thanksgiving is coming up, and you’re not the only one who doesn’t know how to cook the long list of requests from your friends and family. In such tricky situations, people look for the best recipe apps online.

Roasted turkeys, yams, salads, casseroles – people on cooking duty this Thanksgiving are in for a really hard time and probably have already started preparations. From cooking pros to amateurs looking to impress their friends and families, everyone needs well-guided recipes to ensure their dishes are delicious (or at least edible). 

However, browsing through hundreds of recipes in cookbooks can be quite a struggle. It’s time-consuming to find the right recipe to make, and sometimes, you might lose track of the pages. In such cases, recipe apps can be a super helpful solution, and every solution opens doors to new business opportunities.

Recipe apps have exploded in popularity in recent years. From amateurs looking to learn the basics to seasoned chefs searching for inspiration, recipe apps cater to cooks of all skill levels. 

So whether you’re on cooking duty this Thanksgiving or a business owner who wants to make a recipe app, this blog has everything you need. We’ll be discussing the best recipe apps in 2024. We’ll also cover some exciting ideas you can utilize to build one of the best apps for recipes.

8 Best Recipe Apps for Thanksgiving 2024

Here are some of the best recipe apps that are poised to make an impact this Thanksgiving:

1. BBC Good Food

When it comes to variety, BBC Good Food has no rival. Regardless of your tastes or dietary needs, you’re sure to discover new favorite recipes within this vast collection.

Many of the recipes come straight from the long-running BBC Good Food magazine. That means they’ve been kitchen-tested by professionals and optimized over decades of readership. The app also features user comments on each recipe, often sharing tweaks or warnings about potential issues.

Once you find recipes you love, save them for offline access later. Everything includes easy-to-follow instructions written in simple language. You can even enable Alexa to access your saved recipes hands-free!

With such a massive and free resource for recipes, this is the best recipe app on this list. It’s perfect for spice lovers, vegetarians, bakers – you name it.

Key Features:

• Massive recipe selection
• Saved offline access
• Plain English instructions
• iOS and Android

2. Tasty by Buzzfeed

Tasty takes a more crowdsourced angle for home cooking inspiration. This app comes from Buzzfeed’s popular food website and YouTube channel. With over 6 billion (and counting) YouTube views, Tasty has earned its reputation as the largest food network online.

The Tasty app compresses its many recipes into an intuitive mobile experience. Take advantage of ratings, reviews, and tweaks suggested by expert cooks who have tried the recipes. You can also filter according to your diet or access special collections.

For instance, try the “5-Ingredient” collection for easy weekday meals. Or browse the “Vegetarian” category for meatless inspiration. Whatever you’re looking for, Tasty likely has a recipe.

Key Features:

• Crowdsourced ratings and tips
• Dietary filters (vegan, etc)
• Specialty recipe collections
• iOS and Android

3. G-Forward

While not primarily being a recipe app, G-Forward deserves your attention. It takes a unique approach to bringing communities together around food. This app allows people to share grocery items with neighbors in need.

Users create grocery lists that are visible to their local community. Then other app members can donate funds or directly purchase requested items. There’s built-in location tracking so you can coordinate grocery drop-offs.

During tough times like job losses or illnesses, G-Forward makes it simple to receive help anonymously. Alternatively, chip in to help neighbors going through hardships. With over 12,000 grocery orders funded already, G-Forward aims to empower communities in Thanksgiving 2024.

Key Features:

• Share grocery lists
• Donate funds toward items
• Schedule contactless deliveries
• iOS and Android

4. Paprika

Tired of bookmarks leading to cluttered browser windows full of recipes you once looked at? Paprika collects recipes from anywhere online into one simple, readable format.

This app has a built-in browser. As you discover recipes online, simply click the “save” button to store them in Paprika. It will automatically separate ingredients and directions so everything stays organized. No more flipping back and forth between tabs to follow a recipe!

An added bonus is Paprika’s automatic shopping list creator. Add the ingredients for your chosen recipes to a shareable grocery list. With a few taps, you’ll have everything you need for the week. For the busy home cook, this app is great for keeping things streamlined.

Key Features:

• In-app browser
• Automated recipe formatting
• Digital shopping list
• iPhone and Android

5. Kitchen Stories

For those who learn best from watching, Kitchen Stories has you covered. This app combines recipes with simple instructional cooking videos.

Founded in 2014, Kitchen Stories set out to bridge the gap between static cookbooks and more engaging YouTube-style cooking shows. While not every recipe has a video, they all contain clear step-by-step images.

The recipes themselves emphasize dishes with minimal ingredients. They mainly come from Kitchen Stories’ in-house cooking experts. However, you can also easily add ingredients to a shopping list before your next grocery run.

Overall, Kitchen Stories brings recipes alive through engaging visuals. For visual learners tackling trickier techniques like breadmaking or cake decorating, it can be a valuable asset.

Key Features:

• Instructional cooking videos
• Guided step-by-step images
• Built-in shopping list
• iOS and Android

6. Allrecipes Dinner Spinner

You know the feeling. It’s already 6 pm and you still don’t know what to cook for dinner! Plus you need to use up some leftovers and random ingredients from the fridge. Allrecipes Dinner Spinner is the best recipe app for hectic nights like these.

Powered by Allrecipes’ community of millions of home cooks, this free app offers over 50,000 recipes. So whether you have chicken, asparagus, quinoa, or artichokes overflowing in your fridge, Dinner Spinner likely has a tasty solution.

While it contains ads, the upside comes from its intelligent search function. Simply enter whatever ingredients or protein you want to use up, and suitable recipes pop up automatically. When you’re tired, busy, or just feeling uninspired about cooking, this app helps you DIY a tasty dinner in no time.

Key Features:

• Over 50,000 recipes
• Search by ingredient
• Community-sourced recipe ideas
• iOS, Android, Kindle

7. Yummly

We’ve all agonized over deciding just what to cook for dinner. Enter Yummly, your personal cooking assistant. This app is uniquely tailored to your tastes thanks to an intelligent algorithm.

During the initial setup process, Yummly asks you to select your favorite cuisines and least favorite ingredients. From then on, its suggested recipes match those preferences. It’s like having your own AI-powered chef providing customized ideas!

Yummly also draws recipes from popular sites, though it compiles everything into its own interface. While some of its pop-up messages can be annoying, the custom recommendations make it feel more personal than some other apps. If you want a helper that “gets” your tastes, Yummly fits the bill.

Key Features:

• Personalized for your cuisine preferences
• Aggregates recipes from many sites
• iOS and Android

8. Oh She Glows

Vegan and plant-based diets are growing more popular by the day. Yet finding recipes that fit these lifestyles isn’t always easy. That’s where Oh She Glows comes to the rescue.

This app brings the best of the best from the award-winning Oh She Glows blog. Both the blog and app provide vegan recipes focused on whole foods and plants. Expect delicious recipes like sweet potato lentil chili, gluten-free pumpkin muffins, or cauliflower Thai curry.

While not free, Oh She Glows contains over 150 recipes with beautiful photography. The friendly voice and personal touch come from founder Angela Liddon. For those seeking plant-powered inspiration, this app delivers the goods.

Key Features:

• 150+ vegan recipes
• Whole food plant-based
• Stunning food photography
• iOS and Android

Read More: How to Build a Shopping App like TEMU

Top Recipe App Ideas for Businesses

Now that we have enough reference points, here are some ideas that’ll enable you to make the best apps for recipes:

1. Personalization Features

Personalization will continue trending across industries, and recipe apps are no exception. Adaptive algorithms and artificial intelligence allow apps to customize suggestions for each individual.

By asking users to input tastes, dietary needs, cooking abilities, and more, your app can serve up relevant recipes. Getting personal makes customers feel valued and saves them time searching.

Build profiles by:

• Asking users to rate recipes they try so the app continuously learns preferences
• Letting users exclude ingredients or cuisines
• Recommending recipes based on past positive ratings

Personalization features help users discover new recipes they’ll truly enjoy.

2. Go Mobile with AR

Users prefer accessing recipes exclusively on their mobile devices. You can add mobile capabilities, like augmented reality (AR), to your recipe app.

AR overlays digital images onto the physical world via a device’s camera. Use cases for recipe apps include:

• 3D virtual ingredients that respond to touch
• Animated cooking instructions
• Visual indicators for tasks like meat temperatures

AR can combine with AI to become an intelligent cooking assistant, providing immersive instructions. Integrating this tech early will enable you to build the best app for recipes.

Read More: AR Apps for Business – Use Cases and Benefits For 2025

3. Focus on Nutrition

Balancing taste and health matters more than ever to consumers. Set your app apart by emphasizing nutrition at every step.

Cater to wellness demands with features like:

• An integrated calorie counter
• Options to filter for dietary needs like vegan or keto
• Abilities to compare nutrient levels across recipes
• Health score grades based on fat, carbs, etc.

Helping users meet targets for calories, carbs, and more removes friction. Combining this data with personalized recipe suggestions makes choosing healthy options simple.

Read More: How to Develop a Winning Custom Fitness App in 2025?

4. Provide Grocery Integration

Seamlessly connecting recipes with grocery lists streamline cooking. Recipe app users consistently rank grocery features as most desirable.

Bridge the digital to in-store divide by:

• Auto-generating shopping lists from recipe ingredient lists users can easily add items to
• Partnering with local stores for discounts linked through the app
• Enabling in-app grocery delivery with integrated payment

By handling meal planning details from recipes to ingredient acquisition, your app becomes indispensable.

Read More: How to Develop a Grocery Shopping and Delivery App?

5. Prioritize Beginners

Cooking amateurs are embracing recipe apps as accessible culinary tutors. Ensure your app overtly welcomes beginners looking to gain confidence.

Engage newbie chefs with:

• Difficulty or experience filters so users can progress from easy to advanced
• Step-by-step video guidance for technique-driven dishes
• Kitchen helper SOS features to answer questions mid-recipe
• Quizzes or games for learning fundamentals

Make a recipe app that helps beginners feel capable in the kitchen.

Read More: How to Develop an On-Demand Delivery App

6. Bake Hyper-Personalized Cakes

Few things feel more personal than a custom birthday cake made just for you. Bring that joy of customization into users’ kitchens with interactive cake builders.

Let users customize cakes by:

• Selecting cake, filling, and frosting flavors
• Choosing shape, text, and decorations
• Adjusting servings and dimensions
• Seeing a realistic 3D render of the result

Helping users bake custom desserts can help your application stand out as the best recipe app.

Build the Next Best Recipe App with Cubix

If you’re preparing for Thanksgiving 2024, we hope you found the best recipe app for your needs. But if you want to build a recipe app that’s unique and appeals to food lovers, experienced chefs, and amateur ones, these app ideas will be super helpful.

However, turning these app ideas into reality is a completely different ball game. App development is a complex, time-consuming, and resource-intensive process. If you lack the team or technical capabilities to build a recipe app that offers futuristic features like the ones mentioned above, partner with Cubix.

We’ll provide you with the teams and expertise to build a recipe app that’s truly yours.

Till then, Happy Thanksgiving!

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