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How to save recipes from YouTube

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To save a recipe from a YouTube video or Short, share it to Groceree. The app watches the video and reads its description, then writes out the ingredients with their quantities and the steps, so you can cook without pausing and rewinding, and send what you need to a shopping list.

YouTube is where the best cooking teachers are, and the worst place to cook from. The ingredient list is in the description if you are lucky, the quantities are said once in passing, and following along means reaching for the pause button with sticky fingers every thirty seconds.

Three ways to keep a YouTube recipe

Save it to Watch later or a playlist

Saving the video means you can find it again, but it is still a video. You cannot see the ingredients at a glance, and you still have to watch it to shop for it.

Write it down while you watch

Pausing to copy out the quantities works, and it is how most people do it. It takes as long as the video, and the note does not scale or turn into a list.

Share it to Groceree

Share the video or Short to Groceree. It reads the title and description and watches the video itself, listening to the method and reading the quantities shown on screen, and gives you a written recipe.

From a YouTube video to your shopping list

Five steps, and only the first two happen in YouTube.

  1. Open the video

    01

    Open the video

    Any public cooking video or Short of up to twenty minutes. Recipes that are only explained out loud work too.

  2. Open the video

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    02

    Share it to Groceree

    Tap the Share arrow under the video and pick Groceree. Not in the list on iPhone? Tap More and add it. On Android, scroll along to find it.

  3. The recipe is written out
    03

    The recipe is written out

    Within a minute the recipe opens in Groceree: ingredients with their quantities, numbered steps, servings and a link back to where it came from.

  4. Untick what you already have
    04

    Untick what you already have

    Tap Add on the recipe, choose a list and set the servings. Untick the salt and anything else already in the cupboard.

  5. It is on the shared list
    05

    It is on the shared list

    The rest lands on the list sorted by supermarket aisle, and everyone you share the list with sees it straight away.

What ends up in the saved recipe

  • The name of the dish, and the number of servings when the video gives it.
  • Every ingredient with its quantity and unit, grouped into parts such as the marinade or the sauce when the video splits them.
  • The method as numbered steps, and the cooking time when it is stated.
  • The video’s thumbnail as the recipe’s picture.
  • A “Watch on YouTube” link back to the video.
  • The recipe stays in the language of the video, with a Translate button to show it in your app language. “Translate imported recipes” in Settings does that for every import.

Where it has limits

  • Videos longer than twenty minutes cannot be imported. Most recipe videos and every Short are well under that.
  • Only public videos can be read. Private videos, and videos that have been taken down, cannot be opened.
  • A quantity the video never shows or says stays empty rather than guessed, so check the recipe before you cook.
  • A video that does not show a dish being made, like a review or a vlog, has no recipe to save.
  • A recipe in a language the app does not have is saved in English.

Questions about saving YouTube recipes

Is there an app that turns YouTube cooking videos into recipes?
Yes. Share a YouTube video or Short to Groceree and it writes out the ingredients with quantities, the steps and the servings. Groceree is free on iPhone and Android, and saving recipes is part of the free app.
Does it work with YouTube Shorts?
Yes. Shorts are shared and saved the same way as full videos.
What if the ingredients are only in the description?
Groceree reads the description as well as watching the video, and uses the written quantities from the description when they are there.
Can I paste a YouTube link instead of sharing?
Yes. Copy the link, then in Groceree tap + on the Recipes tab, choose “Import from Instagram, TikTok, YouTube…” and paste it under “Or paste a link from a social network here”. youtu.be links work too.

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