Get Your Holiday Meals Ready: Our Top 7 Cooking Apps

From Experimax

The holiday season brings good cheer and good food together with family and friends because as we know, most holiday celebrations center around meals. These special occasions offer appetizers, entrees, and treats of all sorts that make an appearance just once a year.  There are countless recipe sources throughout a variety of media and this can be overwhelming when planning holiday meals. We’re fortunate to live in a time when technology brings information to the user wherever they are. The mobility of knowledge can be a wonderful tool in the kitchen as cooks may want to plan and research while “on-the-go.” Therefore, a mobile app is particularly useful when in the thick of planning, prepping, and cooking.

There are a variety of apps to help chefs with all levels of experience. From the introductory cooking enthusiast to the veteran kitchen aficionado, there is an app to help get your holiday meals ready and delicious. There are free and premium app options to suit every budget and skill level. Many beginner chefs find that watching instructional videos associated with a recipe gives them the confidence to whip up something new during the holiday season. Advanced kitchen warriors may find inspiration when connecting with other app users.

Many cooking apps go beyond recipes. Here are Our Top 7 Cooking Apps:

1. Epicurious

   Epicurious is known for its sophisticated approach to cooking. This Conde Nast digital creation includes over 35,000 recipes tested from publishers like Bon Appetit, Gourmet, HarperCollins, and more. The recipes are reviewed and rated by home chefs and the app community. There are videos, a recipe box, a shopping list, a smart kitchen timer, and an ingredients toggle. Epicurious encourages eating locally and offers a unique Seasonal Ingredients Finder that finds which foods are fresh at farms near the user.

2. Food Network in the Kitchen

   This app gives the user instant access to their highly-rated chefs from a variety of shows across the network. There are over 70,000 popular recipes from Alton Brown, Giada De Laurentiis, Ree Drummond, Bobby Flay, Guy Fieri, and more. A fun feature is “Play with Augmented Reality” where bakers can decorate cupcakes with colorful cupcake liners, frosting, and toppings.

3. BigOven Recipes and Meal Planner

   BigOven offers a host of resources and tools including grocery lists, meal plans, and recipes. There are tips on how to reduce food waste with the “Use Up Leftovers” feature. The user can leave reviews and join a community within the app to share knowledge, comments, questions, and connect beyond the kitchen.

4. Kitchen Stories

   This app encourages users of all skill levels as “anyone can cook.” There are step-by-step photo instructions and videos which are “inspiring and helpful.” Recipes are added weekly including a variety of thematic packages (i.e., all-time classics, pasta variations, vegan dishes). This app features a shopping list mechanism and meal planner.

5. Yummly

   This app is a self-described “smart cooking sidekick” that offers personalized guidance and recipe recommendations. There are video tutorials, timers, and other handy tools geared toward making cooking easy. A unique feature is “What’s in your fridge?” that helps users discover recipes to make with whatever ingredients they have on-hand.

6. New York Times Cooking App (for iPad® tablets, iPhone® devices, and Apple Watch® devices only)

   The New York Times is a leader in culinary culture and knowledge. This app is editorially-curated from the collections of NY Times trusted cooks. There are over 17,000 rated recipes and users can search by ingredient, cuisine, chef or occasion and browse The Times’s archive of recipes, with new recipes added each week. Novices and veterans alike can view instructional technique videos which show users step-by-step how to recreate an authentic NY Times recipe.

7. Tasty

   Highly rated with over 170K ratings with over 3,000 recipes including step-by-step instruction mode, a “My Recipes” function, and a unique search tool which enables the user to filter by ingredients, cuisine (vegetarian, vegan, dietary needs, etc.), and occasion/social plans.

Feeling inspired to get your holiday meals ready? Stop by your local Experimax store to browse our selection of certified pre-owned Apple® products including iPhone devices, iPad tablets, Mac® computers and accessories that will make using these apps easy. Our knowledgeable staff can guide you through the process of selecting the right Apple product for your lifestyle as well as with downloading and setting up any apps you may need.

Business hours are Monday – Sunday 10 AM – 8 PM. Experimax is located at 1865-106 Carl D. Silver Parkway, Fredericksburg, VA 22401.