Make a grocery list from recipe links

Paste the links to up to 8 recipes into the free grocery list generator and get one shopping list. Amounts are added up across recipes and grouped by store aisle, and you can tick items off as you shop. It needs no account and no card.

Make your list#

1. 1

   Open the tool

   Want to see a list before you gather links? Press Try an example. It builds a list from three sample dinners in your browser, uses none of your daily links, and leaves with Clear example.

   

   You'll see: The Recipe links, one per line box is the first thing on the page.

2. 2

   Paste your recipe links

   Put one link on each line, or separate them with commas or spaces. You can also paste a whole message you were sent: the words around the links are skipped and only the links are counted. A link without https:// in front is fixed for you. Repeats are dropped. Check the counter before you press the button. If it is higher than the number of recipes you meant, a stray web address in the message was counted as a link; delete it.

   

   You'll see: The counter under the box reads 3 links, and Make my list turns orange.

3. 3

   Press Make my list

   Pages that publish their recipe in a standard form read in a few seconds. A page that does not can take up to 45 seconds. Keep the page open until the list appears.

   

   You'll see: The button reads Reading 3 recipes… and a card below counts the seconds.

4. 4

   Read the list

   The pictures from here on show the list that Try an example makes, so you can press it and see the same numbers. Your own links make their own list. Under the heading, a line says how many recipes the list came from. Each item shows the amount, the ingredient and the recipe that needs it. When more than one recipe needs the same thing, it is one row that reads for 3 recipes. Tap that line to see which recipes. Different wordings count as the same thing. In the example, 4 cloves garlic, minced, 3 cloves garlic, sliced and 3 cloves garlic, minced are one row, 10 cloves garlic.

   

   You'll see: A heading such as 18 items sits over aisles in the order you walk the store.

Change servings and units#

1. 1

   Open Recipes and set servings for each recipe

   Use the + and − buttons beside a recipe. Every ingredient from that recipe scales together. On a computer the panel is open beside the list. On a phone it starts closed, so tap Recipes to open it. A recipe whose page does not say how many it serves shows Servings not given, so amounts stay as written.

   

   You'll see: The recipe shows Serves 6 with written for 4 under it, and the list updates at once.

2. 2

   Choose US or Metric

   The switch sits at the top right of the list on a computer and under the heading on a phone. Nothing is fetched again.

   

   You'll see: Amounts change to cups and ounces, or to grams and millilitres.

To drop a recipe, press the × beside it and its ingredients leave the list. To add more, paste more links into the box, which now reads Add more recipe links, and press Add to my list.

Take it to the store#

1. 1

   Tick items as you put them in the cart

   Tap anywhere on a row. Your list and ticks stay in this browser, so a refresh in the store does not lose them.

   You'll see: The item goes grey with a line through it, and the line under the heading adds 3 of 20 checked.

2. 2

   Press Copy list, Print or Share

   Copy list puts the aisles and items on your clipboard as plain text, ready for a notes app or a message. It leaves out the recipe names. Print prints only the list, with tick boxes. Share appears on phones and other devices that can send text to another app.

   

   You'll see: The button briefly reads Copied, or the print dialog opens.

Start over clears the list and the ticks from this browser, so use it when you are done. On the example list the same job is done by Clear example.

How the checked count adds up#

The number in the heading counts the items above the You probably have these group. The second number in 3 of 20 checked counts every row you can tick, and that includes the rows in that group. When the list has salt, pepper or water, the line under the heading says so. Here the heading reads 2 items, the line adds plus 3 you probably have, and one tick gives 1 of 5 checked: 2 items plus 3 gives 5.

Paste ingredients instead of a link#

No link, or a page the tool cannot read? Open No link? Paste the ingredients instead under the box, add a name if you like and paste one ingredient per line. Pasted ingredients go through the same merge, cost nothing and never use one of your 8 daily AI reads. They do take one of the 8 places in a list. A pasted list keeps up to 80 lines and 4,000 characters.

Every line you paste is treated as an ingredient. A line that is not one, such as a divider made of dashes, adds nothing to the list, and if nothing else is left the recipe appears in Recipes with no items under it and no message. If that happens, check that you pasted the ingredient lines and not only a title or a divider.

How amounts are added up#

• Volume adds to volume, weight to weight and counts to counts. Cups and grams are only bridged for ingredients with a known density, such as flour, sugar and butter.
• The same thing written different ways is one row. 1 garlic clove crushed, 2 garlic cloves crushed and 2 cloves garlic become 5 cloves garlic. To try it, paste those three lines under No link? Paste the ingredients instead.
• Weights read the way you shop. A clean quarter pound is a fraction of a pound, so 1 lb 8 oz reads 1 1/2 lb. Under a pound the list stays in ounces.
• Items that look alike stay apart when they are different things: green onions and onions, sweet potatoes and potatoes, and fresh and dried herbs, which sit in different aisles.
• When two amounts cannot be added honestly, both stay on one line, for example Frozen peas: 1/2 cup + 3 1/2 oz, from 1/2 cup frozen peas and 3 1/2 oz frozen peas.
• Salt, pepper and water go in a group at the bottom named You probably have these. They still add up. They are not in the number at the top (2 items above), but they are rows you can tick, so the checked count includes them.

Limits#

Keep your recipes with a free account#

The list itself lives in your browser until you press Start over or clear your browser data, and it does not follow you to another device. The recipes behind it can go into a free RecipeClip account with one button, and you do not paste the links again.

1. 1

   Press Save these 3 recipes — free above the list

   With one recipe the button reads Save this recipe — free. It saves the recipes that were read from a link, as they were read, steps and photo included. Pasted ingredients and the example have nothing to save, so a list made only from those shows no save button. A link that could not be read is not counted. Already have an account? Switch to logging in on the sign-up page: the recipes come along.

   You'll see: The sign-up page opens. The line Make a free account and it’s waiting there is already under the button.

2. 2

   Finish signing up or logging in

   The recipe waits in this browser for 24 hours. Finish signing up in the tab where you pressed Save, and Google sign-in comes back to that tab: it saves by itself. If you sign in from another tab of the same browser, a prompt asks Save “Title” from the free tools to this account? Press Save to keep it, or Not mine — discard to drop it. Another browser or another device does not get it. If you press Back from sign-up, the list is still there with its button. Saving does not use one of your AI imports. A free account keeps up to 50 recipes: if the rest do not fit, a message says how many were saved, and see Free, Pro and Family.

   You'll see: A banner at the top of your library reads Saved from the free tools: followed by the recipe’s title.

3. 3

   Already signed in? Press Save these 3 recipes

   Signed in, the same button reads Save these 3 recipes (or Save this recipe) and saves straight away, with no detour.

   You'll see: The button reads Saved to your recipes.

The shopping list is not part of that. To plan meals and shop from your account, open Grocery and tap Build list, as in Make a grocery list. That list stays in your account, and can leave out what is in your pantry.

If something goes wrong#

We couldn’t read that page#

The note under the link reads We couldn’t read that page. It may block automated requests or be paywalled. Paste its ingredients instead. Some sites turn away automatic readers, and that changes from day to day. Press Paste its ingredients instead under the note, paste the ingredient lines from the page and press Add these ingredients. The other links in the list are not affected.

We couldn’t import a recipe from that link#

We couldn’t import a recipe from that link. This is the note you get when the link opens a page that is not a recipe: a site’s About page, a category page, a news article or a home page. The same note can also appear when a recipe page fails to load for a moment. The note carries a Paste its ingredients instead link, and the other links in your list are not affected.

1. Open the link in your browser.
2. If it is not a single recipe, find the recipe you meant, copy that address, remove the old row with × and paste the new link.
3. If it is a recipe, press Paste its ingredients instead, paste the ingredient lines and press Add these ingredients. Trying the link once more is worth it only for a page that read fine before.

Less often a page is read but has no ingredients in it, and the note reads We read the page but couldn’t find a recipe on it. The steps are the same.

A video link#

This tool reads recipe web pages. For a video link, use the free video-to-recipe tools, then paste the ingredients here. Turn the video into a written recipe first, for example with the Facebook video tool, and paste its ingredients here.

Too many links, or no AI reads left#

Three different limits can stop a list.

• That's a lot of links for one hour. Try again in a few minutes, or paste the ingredients instead. This turns the whole request away, with a Start free — no card needed button under it. It comes when your hourly link allowance of 60 is already used up, so none of the links in this request can be fetched and nothing was pasted, or after more than 120 requests in an hour from one internet connection. Wait a few minutes, or paste the ingredients, which are never counted.
• When only some of your links fit in the hour, the rest get The service is busy right now. Try again in a minute. under each one, and the others are read as usual.
• When every link in the request needed an AI read and today’s 8 are used up, the whole request is turned away with You've used today's free tries on this tool. Create a free account to keep importing recipes. and the same Start free — no card needed button. Pasted ingredients and links to most recipe sites still work.

When a list has other links that read fine, a link that needed an AI read after the 8 were gone gets a note under it instead: You've used today's 8 free AI reads, so we skipped this link. Links to most recipe sites are read free. Paste its ingredients instead, or try again tomorrow. Press Paste its ingredients instead to add that recipe now. The reads come back after about a day.

A free account does not lift these limits, but it keeps your recipes: see Keep your recipes with a free account.

Other messages#

Common questions#

Which recipe sites work?#

Most recipe blogs and food sites, because most publish their recipe in a form the tool reads directly. Sites that block automatic readers or sit behind a paywall do not, and say so under the link.

Does RecipeClip keep my list or my links?#

No. The list, the ticks and your choice of US or metric stay in your own browser. We do not save them to a database, and there is no sign-in to remember them. Only if you press Save these 3 recipes — free are the recipes kept, and then they go into your account.

Can I open my list on my phone?#

Not from another device. Use Copy list or Share to send it, or open the tool on the phone and paste the same links.

Is this the same as the grocery list in the app?#

No. This tool makes a list from links, once, in your browser. The app’s grocery list is built from your meal plan, remembers what you have in the pantry, and is saved to your account and your household.

Related articles#

• Convert and scale a recipe: scale one recipe or switch its units before you shop.
• Make a grocery list: the list in your account, built from your meal plan.
• Save a recipe from a link or video: keep the recipes in your library.
• Find recipes with what you have: pick tonight’s dinner from your fridge.

Ready to try it? Open the free grocery list generator.