Step-by-step cooking

Step-by-step cooking apps are built for the moment you're actually at the stove. Instead of a wall of text, you get one step at a time, often with a photo or a short video, timers you can start with a tap, and a screen that stays awake while your hands are covered in flour.

SideChef walks through recipes in that style and can turn a recipe's ingredients into a shopping list, with links to some smart appliances. Kitchen Stories is free and pairs recipes with step photos and how-to videos for techniques such as dicing an onion or folding dumplings. Tasty, from BuzzFeed, is known for short overhead videos and has a cooking mode in its app.

NYT Cooking and Epicurious come from food publishing. Their strength is a large archive of tested recipes and notes from people who cooked them, which often contain the most useful tip on the page: "needed ten more minutes" or "halve the salt." NYT Cooking is a subscription.

Guided apps are especially good for learning. Watching a technique once, then doing it with the video paused beside you, builds skill faster than reading a description. They also help when cooking with children or anyone new to a kitchen, since each step is small and clear.

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5 AI cooking tools in step-by-step cooking

SideChef

Step-by-step recipe app with photos, video and timers, plus shoppable ingredient lists and smart appliance links.

  • Free plan or free to use
  • Mobile app
  • Builds a shopping list

Kitchen Stories

Free recipe app with step photos and how-to videos for basic techniques.

  • Free plan or free to use
  • Mobile app

Tasty

by BuzzFeed

Recipe site and app from BuzzFeed's Tasty with short videos and step-by-step cooking mode.

  • Free plan or free to use
  • Mobile app
  • Works in a web browser

NYT Cooking

by The New York Times

Subscription recipe collection from The New York Times with tested recipes, notes from cooks and a recipe box.

  • Mobile app
  • Works in a web browser

Epicurious

by Condé Nast

Recipe site and app with a large tested recipe archive, reviews from cooks and a saved recipe box.

  • Mobile app
  • Works in a web browser

When choosing, try cooking one recipe start to finish in each app you're considering. Notice whether the timers are easy to manage, whether the text is readable from a meter away, and whether the app needs a connection the whole time. Video-heavy apps can stall on a slow kitchen WiFi.

Remember that a tested recipe was tested in someone else's oven. Ovens run hot or cool, pans differ, and altitude changes baking. Use the times as a guide and the cues in the method, such as color, texture and internal temperature, as the real signal that something is done.

Reader notes are worth reading before you start, not after. On recipe sites with active communities, the comments under a recipe often say which step is unclear, which ingredient can be swapped and whether the timing ran long. A minute spent there can save a dish that would otherwise come out underdone or too salty. Save the recipe with your own notes once you've cooked it, so the next time is easier.

Questions about step-by-step cooking

Which cooking app is free?

Kitchen Stories, Tasty and SideChef have free versions. NYT Cooking is a subscription, and Epicurious offers recipes online with some features tied to a subscription.

Which app is best for learning techniques?

Kitchen Stories and Tasty lean on video and step photos, which help when you're learning a technique for the first time.

Why do recipe times not match my oven?

Ovens vary, and pans, altitude and ingredient temperature all change timing. Use the cues in the method, such as color, texture and internal temperature, rather than the clock alone.

Can these apps make a shopping list?

SideChef builds a shopping list from a recipe's ingredients. For other apps, save the recipe to a keeper or planner that sends ingredients to a list.

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