How to Declutter Recipes

how to declutter recipes

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We are fortunate to live in a time where collecting recipes has become so widely accessible and convenient. Any dish we crave to cook can be found in a matter of minutes. Whether that’s through recipes, we’ve collected online, torn out of magazines, written on recipe cards, or the sacred handwritten family recipes that have been passed down for generations. Whichever it may be, if you’re passionate about cooking, there’s a good chance you’ve accumulated a pile of recipes somewhere. However, with an endless number of dishes awaiting to grace your kitchen, there can be a downside to collecting too many recipes – clutter. A disorganized collection of recipes can be the only thing standing in between you and the next delicious meal you cook. Be it a recipe in a physical or digital format; it’s important to learn how to declutter recipes to achieve your culinary dreams. 

Tips to Organize Recipes 

Over time, it’s understandable that you may have collected recipes for different occasions, seasons, or based on nutritional requirements. They may range from grandma’s delicious Apple Crumble Pie to TikTok’s viral Salmon Rice craze. Wherever the inspiration comes from, having some form of order can help keep your recipe collection fresh. Below are some key tips to help organize your recipes. 

Gather Recipes: Whether your recipes are scattered around the house or bookmarked on your browser, start by gathering all your recipes in their respective formats. Once all recipes have been collected, work through one format at a time. 

Categorize Recipes: Identify the categories that best represent the characteristics of your collection. These categories can range from a type of cuisine to a dietary restriction to tried and true recipes. Here is a list of general categories to get you started:

  • Family Recipes 
  • New Recipes
  • Must-Haves
  • Not interested

Decluttering Recipes

Once you’ve sorted your recipes into clearly labeled categories, the next step of the process is to go through each pile and decide what to do with them. The category that will be easy to tackle is the recipes you’re no longer interested in. While you may envision yourself wanting to keep all the recipes you’ve gathered, it’s important, to be honest with yourself and let go of the recipes you no longer care to cook. This will free up more space and get you one step closer to building a recipe collection you can be proud of.

Tools to Preserve Recipes 

Now that you have the recipes you wish to hold onto, the next thing you’ll decide is how you’d like to store and access these recipes for future use. There are many ways you can store physical and digital recipes that can be both convenient and safe.

Consider investing in a binder or folder with plastic sleeves for physical copies of recipes. This is a great way to prevent damage or aging to the original copies. 

family cookbook software

To store recipes in a digital format, the best solution is Morsel. With our software, you can easily upload and recreate your favorite recipes with photos, comments, and more to accompany them. Especially for those treasured family recipes, a great way to preserve them forever is to scan the recipes and add them to a designated category in your profile. You even have the option to print your own family cookbook with Morsel, which can include both old and new recipes. Once you learn how to declutter recipes, you start making way for new possibilities in the kitchen.