Bring your recipes with you
Move your collection from Paprika, Recipe Keeper, RecipeSage, a spreadsheet, or a folder of notes into one clean, searchable recipe box.
Switching recipe apps usually means retyping years of cooking. Pinch of This reads the export file from your old app, shows you exactly what it found, and saves only what you choose. Photos, tags, favorites, and notes come along.
Supported files
| Source | What to upload | What comes across |
|---|---|---|
| Pinch of This backup | The ZIP from Export & Backup | Everything, including translations and nutrition |
| Paprika | The .paprikarecipes export | Recipes, photos, tags, notes, source links |
| Recipe Keeper | The ZIP containing recipes.html and images | Recipes, photos, categories as tags |
| RecipeSage and other Schema.org exports | JSON-LD Recipe files | Recipes, photo links, yield, keywords as tags |
| Generic JSON | A file with title, ingredients, and directions fields | Fields are matched by common names |
| Spreadsheet | A .csv with one recipe per row | You map the columns once; up to 2,000 rows |
| Notes and documents | Markdown or plain text, one or many recipes | Read by AI, one extraction per recipe |
How the import works
01
Upload the file
Open your account settings, choose Import recipes, and pick the file. Files up to 30 MB are accepted, and Pinch of This detects the format for you.
02
Review what was found
You see the total number of recipes, favorites, tags, and photos, plus any warnings and likely duplicates, before a single recipe is written. Search by title and filter by favorites, tags, duplicates, or missing photos.
03
Choose what fits
Free accounts have room for 20 recipes. If the file holds more, the wizard shows the real numbers and lets you pick which ones to import free, favorites first. Subscribe at any point and the same upload continues with everything selected, no re-upload needed.
04
Confirm and cook
Pinch of This saves the selected recipes in one step, copies the photos to your collection, and adds nutrition estimates and Spanish translations in the background. A short report lists anything that was skipped or could not be copied.
Duplicates and edits
Imported recipes are compared with your existing collection in four passes: a previous import of the same recipe, the same source URL, an identical title and ingredient list, and finally a close match shown as a suggestion. For each duplicate you choose to skip it, import a copy, or replace the existing recipe in place. Every imported recipe stays fully editable afterwards.
Known limits
- Ingredient groups become one list with the group names kept as divider lines.
- One photo per recipe is kept; extra photos are reported.
- Bulk PDF, Word, and photo imports are not available yet; single pages still work through the recipe card scanner.
- Markdown and text files use AI extraction and count toward a subscriber's monthly AI allowance.
Moving from a specific app
If you are weighing the switch, the comparisons with Paprika and Recipe Keeper cover features and pricing. Whatever you decide, you can always export your recipes from Pinch of This again.
Import questions
Which files can I import?
Pinch of This backups, Paprika exports (.paprikarecipes), Recipe Keeper exports (the recipes.html ZIP), Schema.org Recipe JSON-LD (including RecipeSage exports), generic JSON, CSV, and Markdown or plain-text files.
Does importing count toward my 20 free recipes?
Yes, one per recipe actually saved. After the file is parsed you see exactly how many fit, and you choose which ones to bring in free. Subscribers have no recipe limit.
What happens to duplicates?
The wizard matches imported recipes against your collection by source, URL, and a title-and-ingredient fingerprint, then lets you skip them, import a copy, or replace the existing recipe. Nothing is merged silently.
Can I import a PDF or photos of a cookbook?
Not as a bulk file yet. You can still scan individual pages and cards with the recipe card scanner, and multi-recipe PDF import is planned.
Will my ingredient groups and multiple photos come across?
Ingredient groups are flattened into one list with the group names kept as dividers, and one photo per recipe is kept. The wizard tells you when this happens so nothing is lost silently.
Do Markdown and text imports use my AI allowance?
Yes. Files without structure are read by the same AI that handles paste-to-recipe, one extraction per document, up to 25 documents per import. The wizard shows how many you have left this month before anything runs.
Ready to move your cookbook?
Your first 20 recipes are free. No credit card required.
Get Started Free