Save a recipe by pasting its text

Copy a recipe from your notes, a text message, an email or a web page and paste it into CookEase. It sorts out the title, ingredients and steps, even when the formatting is messy.

Works oniPhoneAndroidWebUpdated October 12, 2026

In short

Copy the whole recipe: the title, ingredients and steps.
On the website, click Save a recipe, then Paste, paste it in and click Analyze & Save. In the app, tap the orange + button, then Save a Recipe, then Text, paste and tap Analyze & Save.
CookEase separates the ingredients from the steps and fills in amounts, times and nutrition. Messy formatting is fine.
On the website, a photo copied along with the text comes with it and becomes the recipe's photo.

Recipes live in odd places: a note on your phone, a text from your mom, an email from a friend, a page you copied years ago. Copy the text, paste it into CookEase, and it becomes a proper recipe you can scale, cook from and shop for.

Pasting a recipe and its photo into the Paste tab on the website.

How to paste a recipe

1
Copy the recipe
Select the whole recipe (title, ingredients and steps) and copy it.
2
Open Paste
On your Cookbook, click Save a recipe, then the Paste tab.
3
Paste and save
Click into Paste Recipe Content, paste, and click Analyze & Save.

What CookEase does with it

You do not need to tidy anything first. CookEase finds the title, splits the ingredients from the steps, reads amounts written any way ("1 1/2 tbsp", "a handful", "200g"), and fills in times, servings and nutrition per serving. If what you pasted holds more than one recipe, each one is saved separately.

Pasted a recipe into the link box? No problem. CookEase notices it is a recipe, not a link, and saves it as text.
Only a few words? Something like "chicken pasta" is not enough to make a recipe. To create a new dish from an idea, use the Recipe Crafter.
Typing your own recipe? Write it like a note (a title, the ingredients, then the steps) and paste or type it straight into the box.

Pictures in what you paste

On the website, copy a recipe together with its photo (for example, select the whole recipe on a web page) and paste: the photo appears under the text with Image detected in pasted content, and it becomes the recipe's photo. You can also paste a single picture, such as a screenshot, and see Image attached from clipboard. Remove a picture with the red x on it.

In the app, the Text tab takes text only. Add a photo later with Edit on the recipe, or save a screenshot with Scan instead.

Questions people ask

Does the formatting matter?

No. Bullet points, numbered steps, one long paragraph or a recipe typed in a hurry all work. CookEase works out which lines are ingredients and which are steps.

Can I share a note straight to CookEase?

No. Sharing from the share sheet works for links and, on Android, pictures. For text, copy it and paste it into the Text tab in the app or the Paste tab on the website.

What if I paste a recipe into the link box by mistake?

That works too. When the link box gets a whole recipe instead of a link, CookEase saves it as pasted text.

Can I add a photo?

On the website, copy the recipe together with its photo and paste: the photo shows under the text and is saved with the recipe. You can also paste a single image into the box. In the app, paste the text, then add a photo afterwards with Edit on the recipe.

Can I write a recipe from scratch?

Type it into the paste box the way you would in a note (a title, the ingredients, the steps) and tap Analyze & Save. To create something new from what you have, try the Recipe Crafter.

Was this helpful?

Save a recipe from any websitePaste a recipe page's link into CookEase and get just the recipe: ingredients, steps, photo and nutrition, without the ads and the life story. A few sites block apps; save those from a screenshot or pasted text.Save a recipe from a photo, screenshot or cookbook pageSnap a cookbook page or a handwritten card, or pick a screenshot, and CookEase reads it into a recipe you can scale, cook from and shop for. Works on the website, iPhone and Android.Edit or delete a recipeChange any part of a saved recipe: title, photo, ingredients, steps, times, servings, serving size, nutrition, rating, tags and source. Or delete it for good.

Still stuck?

Tell us what happened and a real person on the CookEase team will get back to you, usually within a day.

Send us a message info@cookeaseapp.com