Guide
How to import a recipe from any website
Most recipe websites carry a clean copy of the recipe underneath the page: the ingredients, steps and servings, published for search engines. A recipe app’s import button reads that copy, so you get the recipe without the life story. No app? Use the site’s print page, your browser’s reader view, or plain copy and paste. Here is what each one keeps.
1. Use the site’s print page
Most recipe cards have a Print button, often next to Jump to Recipe. It opens a stripped-down page with just the recipe. From the print dialog, choose Save as PDF. On an iPhone, open the print preview and share it to Files.
You get a tidy copy that looks like the original. You can’t search inside it well, or change the servings.
2. Turn on reader view
Safari, Firefox and Chrome all have a reading mode that drops the ads, pop-ups and sidebars. In Safari it lives in the page menu in the address bar. From reader view you can print, save a PDF, or select the text cleanly.
On very busy pages, reader view sometimes picks the story and leaves out the recipe card. Scroll to check before you save.
3. Copy and paste
Select the ingredients and the steps, and paste them into a note. Paste the page address underneath, so you can find the original again. It is the least tidy option, and the one that always works.
4. Use an app that reads the recipe data
Recipe apps with an import button read the schema.org Recipe data the page publishes. That gives you ingredients, steps, servings and a photo as separate pieces, which is what lets an app scale a recipe or add it to a shopping list.
It only works when the page includes that data. Most recipe sites do. Pages behind a login or a paywall usually don’t hand it over.
Side by side
| Method | Keeps | Loses | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reader view | Text and usually the main photo. | Sometimes cuts the ingredient list or steps on busy pages. | Reading a recipe once, without the ads. |
| The site's print page, saved as PDF | The recipe card exactly as the site laid it out. | Nothing is searchable or scalable. It is a picture of text. | Keeping a copy that looks like the original. |
| Copy and paste into notes | Whatever you selected. | Formatting, and the link back unless you paste it too. | A quick save when nothing else works. |
| A recipe app's import | Ingredients, steps, servings and photo as separate fields. | Only works when the page publishes its recipe data. | A collection you will cook from, scale and shop from. |
How Otto does it
Paste a link into Otto. For a recipe page, it reads the recipe data the page publishes and pulls out the ingredients and steps. That covers most recipe pages. A TikTok or Instagram link works too, when the recipe is written in the caption. For those, and for Facebook Reels, which Otto doesn’t read from a link, see the guides to Instagram, TikTok and Facebook Reels.
Otto then shows you what it found before anything saves. Fix a quantity, drop a step, then keep it. The recipe keeps the creator’s name and a link back to the original.
When a page has no recipe data, Otto tells you it couldn’t find one. Then paste the recipe text, or take a photo of the recipe, and Otto sorts it into ingredients and steps the same way.
Common questions
Why does import work on some recipe sites and not others?
Most recipe apps read the recipe data the page publishes for search engines, a format called schema.org Recipe. Most food blogs and big recipe sites include it, because it is what puts their recipe card in Google results. Pages that skip it, sit behind a login, or block automated visitors give an app nothing to read. When that happens, copy the text or take a photo instead.
How can I tell if a page has recipe data?
Paste the address into Google’s Rich Results Test. If it lists a Recipe, most import tools can read the page. On a computer you can also view the page source and search for “recipeIngredient”.
What is the fastest way without installing anything?
Look for the site’s own Print or Jump to Recipe button. Most recipe cards have one, and the print page is already stripped down. Save it as a PDF from the print dialog. Reader view is the next best thing.
Does Otto keep the link to the original recipe?
Yes. A recipe you import keeps the creator’s name and a link back to where it came from.
What does Otto cost?
Otto is free to download and has a free tier, which includes a few imports a month. Otto Club is $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year, with a 1-week free trial, and lifts that limit. There is no advertising at any tier. The full list of what Otto does is on the features page.
Related
- How to organize recipes digitally — one place for links, videos, screenshots and cards.
- How to save recipes from Instagram — collections, captions and the link in bio.
- How to save recipes from TikTok — when the recipe is spoken, not written down.
- How to save recipes from Facebook Reels — Facebook’s Saved list and its limits.
- Recipe screenshots on your iPhone — finding and sorting the ones you already saved.
- Free recipe scaling calculator — halve or double any recipe, no sign-up.
- What a private recipe app looks like — where your recipes and photos actually go.
Paste a link, check it, cook it
Otto imports from a web link, a TikTok or Instagram link, pasted text or a photo, and shows you what it found before it saves. Cook one step at a time, plan the week, and shop from one list. No advertising. Free to download; Otto Club is $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year.
