The recipe library is one of the most satisfying parts of SimpliHome to build up. Once you have 30–40 recipes saved, meal planning becomes a five-minute weekly exercise rather than a daily stressor.
The key is making it as easy as possible to add recipes. SimpliHome has one-click importing from all the major recipe sites — you paste a URL, and SimpliHome does the rest.
#The Recipe Library
Go to Recipes in the main navigation to see your household's recipe library.
Each recipe card shows:
- Recipe name and photo
- Cuisine type
- Cooking time (if added)
- Dietary/allergy flags
- Which mealtime it suits (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
- Whether it's a household favourite
You can filter by cuisine, allergy, mealtime, and favourites to quickly find what you're looking for.
#Option 1: Import From a Recipe Website
This is the fastest way to build your library. SimpliHome can import recipes directly from:
- BBC Good Food (bbcgoodfood.com)
- Jamie Oliver (jamieoliver.com)
- Joe Wicks / The Body Coach (thebodycoach.com)
- Good Housekeeping (goodhousekeeping.com — UK and US)
- MOB Kitchen (mob.co.uk)
To import a recipe:
- Find a recipe on any of the supported sites in your browser
- Copy the URL from your browser's address bar
- Go to Recipes in SimpliHome
- Click Import Recipe or paste the URL in the import field
- SimpliHome fetches the recipe and imports:
- Recipe title and description
- Ingredient list with quantities and units
- Step-by-step instructions
- Nutritional information (where available)
- Photo
- Review the imported recipe, make any adjustments, and save
Importing takes 5–15 seconds. If a site's structure changes and the import doesn't work perfectly, you can edit the recipe after import to fix any issues.
#Option 2: Add a Recipe Manually
For recipes from books, from memory, or from a handwritten card, add them manually.
- Go to Recipes
- Click Add Recipe
- Fill in the form:
Recipe details:
- Name — what you call it
- Description — a brief summary (optional but helpful)
- Photo — upload an image (or it'll show a placeholder)
- Prep time and Cook time
- Servings
- Mealtime — Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner
Ingredients:
- Add each ingredient individually with quantity and unit (grams, ml, cups, etc.)
- Ingredients are stored in a way that can be used for shopping lists in future
Instructions:
- Add step-by-step instructions
- Each step is a separate entry so they display clearly
Tags:
- Cuisines — Italian, Asian, Mexican, British, etc.
- Allergies — Gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, vegetarian, vegan, etc.
- Nutritional info — calories, protein, carbs, fat (optional)
#Marking Recipes as Favourites
When you find recipes your household loves, mark them as favourites.
- Open the recipe
- Click the Favourite star or toggle
Favourites are highlighted in the library and can be filtered separately. The meal planner uses your favourites as suggestions when building a meal plan.
#Filtering Your Recipe Library
As your library grows, filters become essential.
Filter by:
- Mealtime — breakfast, lunch, dinner
- Cuisine — Italian, Asian, British, etc.
- Allergy/dietary — show only gluten-free recipes, for example
- Favourites only — your tried-and-tested household hits
Use allergy filtering when cooking for a guest or household member with dietary restrictions — it instantly shows only safe recipes.
#Organising for Your Household's Dietary Needs
If any household member has food allergies or dietary preferences, the recipe library becomes especially useful.
Set up allergy tags on each recipe accurately — this means:
- When filtering for a specific household member's needs, you only see safe options
- The meal planner can respect dietary preferences per person
- Recipes without an allergy tag show as "unknown" rather than "safe" — so always tag accurately
Common allergy/dietary tags:
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
- Nut-free
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Egg-free
- Soy-free
- Low-calorie
#Recipe Nutritional Information
Each recipe can store full nutritional data:
- Calories
- Protein
- Carbohydrates (total and sugars)
- Fat (total and saturated)
- Fibre
- Salt
When imported from a recipe site that provides nutritional info, this is populated automatically. For manual recipes, add it if you have it — otherwise leave it blank.
#Cloning a Recipe
If you want to create a variation of an existing recipe (e.g., a dairy-free version of a favourite), rather than building from scratch, clone it:
- Open the recipe
- Click Clone Recipe
- A copy is created which you can edit independently
This is useful for building recipe variations without losing the original.
#Building Your Library: A Practical Starting Point
Week 1 goal: 20 recipes
Start by importing your household's existing favourites from recipe websites. Think about:
- 5 dinners you cook regularly
- 3–5 quick lunches
- 2–3 breakfasts you rotate
Twenty recipes is enough to start using the meal planner productively. You'll add more over time as you discover new things or remember old favourites.
Import, don't type. If a recipe exists on a supported site, import it. The import takes seconds vs. 10–15 minutes of manual entry.
#From Library to Meal Plan
Once you have recipes in your library, the next step is the meal planner — where you assign recipes to each day of the week and build a structured household meal plan.
Your recipe library and the meal planner work together. The richer your library, the easier planning becomes.