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Organizing Your Recipes

Once you start adding recipes to Sharp Cooking, organization becomes essential. Whether you have 10 recipes or 1,000, a good organizational system helps you find what you need when you need it.

Sharp Cooking offers multiple ways to organize: tags for flexible categorization, categories for broad grouping, favorites for quick access to your go-to recipes, and powerful search to find anything instantly. You can use one method or combine them all.

The beauty of digital organization is that one recipe can belong to multiple groups simultaneously. Your “Thai Basil Chicken” can be tagged with “quick,” “weeknight,” “spicy,” and “chicken,” categorized as “Dinner,” marked as a favorite, and still appear in cuisine-based searches. You’re not limited to filing it in one place like a physical recipe box.

Quick Overview

Organization tools available:

Tags - Flexible labels you create (unlimited per recipe)
Categories - Broad meal types (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Dessert, etc.)
Cuisine - Regional cooking styles (Italian, Mexican, Thai, etc.)
Favorites - Star your most-used recipes for instant access
Search - Find recipes by title, ingredient, tag, or any text
Filters - Combine search with tags, categories, and cuisines
Sort options - A-Z, newest, recently viewed, category, cuisine

Key principles:

Tag liberally - it’s easier to find recipes with more tags
Don’t overthink it - you can always add or change tags later
Use favorites for your rotation recipes - the ones you make monthly
Combine methods - use both tags AND categories for best results

Understanding Tags {#tags}

Tags are the most flexible and powerful way to organize recipes. Think of tags as custom labels that describe your recipes in any way that makes sense to you.

What makes good tags?

Tags work best when they answer questions you actually ask when looking for recipes:

Practical questions:

“What can I make quickly?” → Tag: quick, 30-minutes, weeknight
“What’s healthy?” → Tag: healthy, low-carb, whole30
“What can the kids eat?” → Tag: kid-friendly, no-spice, family
“What uses chicken?” → Tag: chicken, poultry
“What can I make ahead?” → Tag: make-ahead, freezer-friendly, meal-prep

Cooking method tags:

slow-cooker, instant-pot, air-fryer, grill, no-cook, one-pot

Dietary tags:

vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, keto, paleo

Occasion tags:

holiday, thanksgiving, christmas, birthday, party, potluck

Season tags:

summer, winter, fall, spring

Main ingredient tags:

chicken, beef, pork, fish, pasta, rice, beans

How many tags should you use?

There’s no limit. Most recipes benefit from 3-8 tags. More is fine if they’re all useful.

Example: Chicken Tikka Masala Good tags: chicken, indian, spicy, dinner, rice, curry, weeknight

That’s 7 tags covering the protein, cuisine, spice level, meal type, side dish, dish type, and timing. Each tag helps you find this recipe in a different context.

Adding tags to recipes

When adding or editing a recipe:

Look for the “Tags” field
Type tags separated by commas: quick, healthy, chicken
The system automatically creates individual tags from your comma-separated list
Tags are case-insensitive: Chicken and chicken are the same tag

Bulk tagging multiple recipes:

Go to My Recipes
Select multiple recipes (checkboxes appear)
Click “Assign tags”
Type tags separated by commas
Click “Assign”
The tags are added to all selected recipes (existing tags are preserved)

Viewing recipes by tag

From My Recipes page:

Look at the left sidebar (desktop) or filter menu (mobile)
Click on any tag name
Only recipes with that tag appear
Click the tag again to remove the filter

Combining tags:

Click multiple tags to filter by all of them at once
Example: Click both chicken and quick to see only quick chicken recipes
Tags work as an AND filter (recipe must have ALL selected tags)

Managing your tags

See all tags:

Go to My Recipes
Tags appear in the left sidebar (desktop) or filter panel (mobile)
Each tag shows a count of how many recipes use it

Renaming a tag: Currently, tags can’t be renamed in bulk. To change a tag name:

Add the new tag to all relevant recipes
Remove the old tag from those recipes (We’re working on a bulk rename feature)

Deleting a tag: Tags automatically disappear when no recipes use them. To remove a tag:

Edit each recipe that uses it
Remove the tag from the tags field
Save the recipe

Common tag naming tips:

Use lowercase for consistency
Use hyphens for multi-word tags: kid-friendly not kid friendly
Be consistent with plurals: choose either chicken or chickens and stick with it
Avoid very similar tags: don’t use both quick and fast

Categories and Cuisine {#categories}

Categories and cuisines are predefined classification systems that complement your custom tags.

Cuisine

Cuisine describes the regional cooking style or culinary tradition.

Common cuisines:

Italian, Mexican, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, French, Greek, Mediterranean, American, Korean, Vietnamese, Spanish, Middle Eastern, etc.

Each recipe can have one cuisine designation. This is more useful for recipes with clear regional identity. Not every recipe needs a cuisine (a basic sandwich doesn’t really have one).

Setting cuisine:

When adding or editing a recipe, type the cuisine in the Cuisine field
Use consistent names: “Italian” not “Italy” or “italian food”

Filtering by cuisine:

Go to My Recipes
Select cuisine from the filter panel
Or sort by cuisine to group recipes by region

When to use categories/cuisine vs tags

Use categories/cuisine for:

Broad, obvious classifications
Standard meal planning (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
Regional cooking styles

Use tags for:

Everything else
Multiple characteristics
Personal organization systems
Specific occasions or needs

Example: Pad Thai

Category: Dinner
Cuisine: Thai
Tags: noodles, quick, weeknight, peanuts, stir-fry, vegetarian-option

The category and cuisine provide basic classification, while tags add detail and flexibility.

Favorites {#favorites}

Favorites are for your rotation recipes - the ones you make regularly and want to access instantly.

What to favorite

Favorite recipes that you:

Make at least monthly
Turn to when you need a reliable dish
Cook when you’re short on time or ideas
Recommend to friends frequently

Don’t favorite everything you like. Favorites lose their usefulness if your favorites list grows to 100+ recipes. Think of favorites as your “starting lineup” - the 10-30 recipes you actually cook regularly.

Marking favorites

While viewing a recipe: Click the star icon in the upper right corner. The star fills in to show it’s favorited.

While adding/editing a recipe: Check the “Mark as favorite” checkbox.

From My Recipes list: Click the star icon next to any recipe. It toggles on/off.

Viewing favorites

Favorites section:

Go to My Recipes
Look for “Favorites” in the sidebar or at the top of your recipe list
Click it to see only favorited recipes

Dashboard: Your dashboard shows a quick view of your favorites for easy access.

Unfavoriting

Click the star icon again to remove a recipe from favorites. The star becomes outlined instead of filled.

Search and Filters {#search}

Sharp Cooking’s search is designed to find recipes fast, no matter how you remember them.

What search looks for

When you type in the search box, the system searches:

Recipe titles
Ingredients
Instructions
Tags
Notes
Recipe source

Examples:

Search basil → finds all recipes that mention basil anywhere
Search 30 minutes → finds recipes with “30 minutes” in title, instructions, or time field
Search Grandma → finds recipes where you noted they came from Grandma
Search cookie → finds cookies in title plus any recipe that uses cookies as an ingredient

Using search

Basic search:

Go to My Recipes
Type in the search box at the top
Results appear as you type
Clear search to see all recipes again

Search tips:

Search is case-insensitive: Chicken and chicken find the same results
Partial words work: tom finds “tomato” and “tomatoes”
Multiple words search for recipes containing all words (AND search)
Use specific terms for better results: thai basil chicken is better than chicken

Combining search with filters

You can search AND filter simultaneously for very specific results.

Example: Find quick vegetarian pasta dishes

Type pasta in search
Select the vegetarian tag
Select the quick tag
Results show only recipes that mention pasta AND are tagged vegetarian AND quick

Example: Find Italian dinner recipes with chicken

Type chicken in search
Set cuisine filter to Italian
Set category filter to Dinner
Results show only Italian chicken dinner recipes

Search not finding something?

If search doesn’t find a recipe you know exists:

Check spelling
Try a different word (search cilantro instead of coriander)
Try an ingredient instead of the title
Browse by tag or category instead
Use fewer search terms (too specific can miss results)

Sorting Your Recipes {#sorting}

Sort options change the order recipes appear in your list.

Available sort options:

Default - Most recently added recipes first
A-Z - Alphabetical by recipe title
Z-A - Reverse alphabetical
Category - Groups recipes by category (all Breakfast together, all Dinner together, etc.)
Cuisine - Groups recipes by cuisine type
Newest first - Most recently added recipes at the top
Oldest first - Recipes you added longest ago at the top
Recently viewed - Recipes you opened recently appear first

Changing sort order:

Go to My Recipes
Look for “Sort by” dropdown
Select your preferred sort
The list reorders immediately

When to use each sort:

A-Z: Best when you remember the recipe name and have many recipes. Fastest way to find “Zucchini Bread” in a large collection.

Category/Cuisine: Best for meal planning. Group all breakfast recipes together to plan your week’s breakfasts.

Recently viewed: Best for finding “that recipe I looked at last week but forgot to favorite.”

Default/Newest: Best for seeing what you’ve added recently.

Practical Organization Strategies {#strategies}

Here are proven systems that work well for different cooking styles:

Strategy 1: Weeknight vs Weekend

For busy weeknight cooks:

Tag all quick recipes: weeknight, 30-minutes, quick
Tag labor-intensive recipes: weekend, special-occasion
Favorite your go-to weeknight dinners
Filter by weeknight when meal planning for the week

Strategy 2: By Main Ingredient

For cooking based on what’s in the fridge:

Tag by protein: chicken, beef, pork, fish, tofu
Tag by main vegetables: zucchini, tomatoes, broccoli
Search or filter by ingredient when you need to use something up
Combine with time tags: chicken + quick

Strategy 3: By Cooking Method

For appliance-based cooking:

Tag by method: instant-pot, slow-cooker, air-fryer, grill, oven
Filter when you want to use a specific appliance
Helps balance cooking methods across the week

Strategy 4: By Dietary Needs

For households with dietary restrictions:

Tag clearly: gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, vegetarian, vegan
Use bulk tagging to mark safe recipes
Filter by restriction when cooking for someone with allergies
Combine with other filters: gluten-free + dessert

Strategy 5: By Meal Planning

For organized meal planners:

Tag by meal type: breakfast, lunch, dinner (or use categories)
Tag by prep: make-ahead, freezer-friendly, leftovers-well
Tag by serving size: feeds-crowd, batch-cooking, single-serving
Use these to plan efficient cooking

Strategy 6: Seasonal Cooking

For cooking with seasons:

Tag by season: summer, fall, winter, spring
Tag by holiday: thanksgiving, christmas, easter
Filter by season when planning menus
Helps rotate recipes throughout the year

Tips for Staying Organized {#tips}

Tag as you add

It’s easier to tag recipes when you add them than to go back and tag 50 recipes later. Take 10 seconds to add 3-5 relevant tags when importing each recipe.

Review and refine tags periodically

Every few months:

Look at your tag list
Merge similar tags (combine quick and fast into just quick)
Delete unused tags (tags you created but never filter by)
Add missing tags to recipes that need them

Use consistent naming

Pick a naming convention and stick with it:

All lowercase or Title Case, but not both
Hyphens for multi-word tags: gluten-free not gluten free
Singular or plural, but not both: choose chicken or chickens

Don’t over-categorize

You don’t need 50 tags per recipe. Use tags that you’ll actually filter by. Tagging a chocolate cake with chocolate, dessert, cake, baking, sweet, birthday, holiday, crowd-pleaser is probably overkill. Choose the 3-5 most useful: chocolate, dessert, birthday, crowd-pleaser.

Use favorites sparingly

If everything is a favorite, nothing is. Limit favorites to recipes you make monthly or more. This keeps your favorites list actually useful.

Search before adding tags

Before creating a new tag, search to see if you already have a similar one. Do you really need both quick and fast? Both healthy and nutritious? Consolidate similar concepts.

Bulk operations save time

When you realize 20 recipes need a tag, select them all and use bulk tagging. Don’t edit them one at a time.

Common Questions {#faq}

Can I organize recipes into folders?

Not currently. Instead of folders, use tags and categories. Tags are more flexible than folders because one recipe can have multiple tags but could only be in one folder.

How many tags can one recipe have?

Unlimited. Most recipes work well with 3-8 tags. More is fine if they’re useful.

Can I rename a tag across all recipes?

Not yet. To rename a tag, you need to add the new tag and remove the old tag from each recipe. Bulk rename is planned for a future update.

When you share a recipe, your tags go with it. If someone saves your shared recipe, they get your tags too. They can modify tags on their copy without affecting yours.

Do categories and cuisines work differently than tags?

Yes. Categories and cuisines are single-choice (one per recipe), while tags are multi-choice (many per recipe). Categories/cuisines use predefined lists, tags are completely custom.

Can I see all recipes without a category?

Yes. Use the filter panel and select “No category” or filter by “Uncategorized.”

How do I remove all tags from a recipe?

Edit the recipe, delete all text in the Tags field, and save.

Can I filter by multiple categories at once?

No. You can only filter by one category at a time since recipes can only have one category. Use tags for multi-faceted filtering.

What happens if I delete a recipe that has tags?

The recipe is deleted. If that was the only recipe with a particular tag, the tag disappears from your tag list automatically.

Can I export my tags?

When you export recipes (via spreadsheet), tags are included in the export. You can import them into another system that supports tags.

How do I find recipes I haven’t categorized yet?

Filter by “No category” or search is empty - this will show uncategorized recipes.

Can I change tag colors or icons?

Not currently. Tags are text-only right now. Custom tag colors/icons are a potential future feature.

Does Sharp Cooking suggest tags?

Yes. When you import a recipe, the AI often suggests relevant tags based on the ingredients and recipe content. You can accept, modify, or ignore these suggestions.

Can I hide tags I don’t use?

Tags with zero recipes don’t appear in your tag list. If you want to hide a tag you’re not using, remove it from all recipes.

How does search rank results?

Recipes where your search term appears in the title rank higher than recipes where it only appears in ingredients or instructions.

Can I search by date added?

Not directly, but you can sort by “Newest first” or “Oldest first” to see recipes by date.

Why does search show recipes that don’t seem to match?

Your search term might appear in a field you’re not seeing. For example, searching “blog” might find a recipe where you noted the source was a blog in the recipe source field.

Can I save filters?

Not currently. Saved filter sets are planned for a future update. For now, favorites work as a kind of saved filter for frequently accessed recipes.

Do I need to use all these organization features?

No. Use what works for you. Some people just use favorites and search. Others use elaborate tag systems. Start simple and add more organization as your collection grows.

Can I organize recipes by cooking time?

Yes and no. There’s no built-in filter for “recipes under 30 minutes,” but you can:

Tag recipes with quick, 30-minutes, etc.
Filter by those tags
Or use search: type 30 min or quick in the search box

What’s the difference between tags and notes?

Tags are for organization and filtering. Notes are freeform text that appears on the recipe for reference. Tags help you FIND recipes. Notes help you MAKE recipes (tips, substitutions, what worked, what didn’t).

Next Steps {#next-steps}

Now that your recipes are organized:

Start cooking:

Using Cooking Mode - Voice control, hands-free mode
Making Shopping Lists - Turn ingredients into grocery lists

Share your recipes:

Sharing Recipes - Send recipes to friends and family
Communities - Share with groups

Plan your meals:

Meal Planning - Weekly meal calendar

Troubleshooting:

Common Issues - Fix problems
FAQ - Frequently asked questions

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Last updated: January 21, 2025