DinnerSorted
Saving recipes
How to save a recipe from a website (without the ads and life story)
Quick answer
Tap the site's Jump to recipe button to skip the story, then use its Print button, which usually opens a clean, ad-free version. On iPhone, Safari's Reader view also strips ads from many pages. To keep the recipe for good, save that clean version as a PDF, copy it into notes, or share the link to a recipe app that pulls out the ingredients and method for you.
You search "chicken traybake", tap the top result, and get a cookie banner, a video that follows you down the page, three paragraphs about a holiday in Tuscany, and an advert between every step. The recipe is in there somewhere. It's just hard to cook from, and harder still to find again next month.
Here's how to get straight to the recipe, and how to save a clean copy that stays put.
How do I skip to the recipe?
Look near the top of the page for a Jump to recipe button. Most food blogs use the same couple of recipe plugins, and almost all of them add one. It takes you to the recipe card: ingredients, method, times and servings in one block.
No button? Scroll quickly until you see an ingredients list in a box. That box is the recipe card, and everything above it is optional reading.
Four ways to get a clean version
1. Use the Print button
The recipe card nearly always has a Print button. It opens a stripped-back page with just the recipe, no adverts and no story. You don't have to print it: on iPhone, open the print view, tap Share, then Print, and pinch outwards on the preview to turn it into a PDF you can save to Files.
2. Use Safari's Reader view
On iPhone, tap the page menu at the left of the address bar and choose Show Reader. Apple says Reader hides ads, navigation menus and other distractions. It works well on many recipe pages, though some sites block it or format the recipe card in a way Reader drops. If ingredients go missing, use the print view instead.
3. Copy it into a notes app
From the print view or Reader view, select the ingredients and method and paste them into a note. Add the page link at the top. It's quick, it's searchable, and it survives the website changing.
4. Share the link to a recipe app
Recipe sites publish their recipes in a standard hidden format so search engines can read them. Google calls it recipe structured data, built on the schema.org Recipe vocabulary: name, ingredients, steps, cook time, servings. Recipe apps read the same data, so sharing a link usually gives you a clean, accurate recipe in a couple of seconds.
Why bookmarks aren't enough
Websites redesign, move recipes to new addresses, put them behind paywalls or close. A bookmark points to wherever the recipe used to be. A copy you've saved yourself is still there when you want it.
Which method should I use?
- One-off, cooking tonight: Jump to recipe, then Reader view.
- A recipe you'll make again: save a PDF or copy it into notes, with the link.
- Lots of recipes from lots of sites: a recipe app, so everything sits in one searchable place and can go straight onto a meal plan and shopping list.
If your saved recipes are already scattered across bookmarks, screenshots and notes, our guide to organising your recipes covers how to bring them into one place.
Keep the source
Whatever you choose, keep the original link with the recipe. It lets you check the author's notes and comments (where other cooks often flag that a dish needs more salt or less time), and it means you can credit the writer if you pass the recipe on.
Doing this in DinnerSorted
Disclosure: I make DinnerSorted. On iPhone, tap Share in Safari or any browser and choose DinnerSorted, or paste a link into the app. It reads the recipe card, and when a page doesn't have one, it reads the page text instead. You get the ingredients, steps, time and servings with no adverts, ready to check and edit. The link to the original page is saved with it.
Saved recipes can go straight onto a night of the week, and their ingredients join a combined grocery list. DinnerSorted is free to download, with three automatic imports a month on the free plan. Unlimited imports come with DinnerSorted Pro, which has a free trial. iPhone only for now.
Questions people also ask
Why do recipe websites have such long stories before the recipe?
Most food blogs are paid for by adverts, and longer pages carry more of them. The stories also help some sites show up in search. Most recipe sites now add a Jump to recipe button near the top so you can skip it.
How do I get rid of ads on a recipe website on iPhone?
Try Safari's Reader view. Tap the page menu at the left of the address bar and choose Show Reader. Apple says Reader hides ads, menus and other distractions, though it isn't available on every page.
What is the best way to save a recipe from a website?
Save a clean copy you control: the site's print version as a PDF, a note with the ingredients and steps, or a recipe app that imports from a link. Bookmarks break when sites change or close.
How do recipe apps import from a website?
Most recipe sites publish the recipe in a hidden, standard format (schema.org Recipe structured data) so that search engines can read the ingredients, steps and times. Recipe apps read the same data, which is why imports from big recipe sites are usually spot on.
Sources
Outside facts in this guide link to their source. The advice and examples are our own.