Recipe Organization Ideas (Paper & Digital)

Overflowing with stacks of recipes in multiple places? Here’s a super simple way to organize paper recipes with basic office supplies to make finding recipes easy again, plus ideas for digital recipe storage, too.

organized recipe binders and cookbooks in cabinet

I will be the first to admit that I’m not a super organized person. I do not have systems for everything, but I do like feeling organized and have found a few strategies that work well.

One of them is organizing recipes. I found myself dealing with a lot of printed recipes that I would have to thumb through every time I wanted to find a recipe.

The simple system I came up to fix this has worked really well with very little money invested.

I do not, however, think my recipe organization method is the best, most awesome method ever. But I’m sharing anyway.

Why? Because I don’t believe a perfect organization method exists!

Each person has different amounts of time, energy, and needs, so a one-size-fits-all approach just won’t work.

But seeing how other people organize things can:

  1. Inspire us to use a part that does work for us and create a hybrid system…
  2. OR, makes so much sense to us that we just copy it!

And I do have to say that when I started this method for organizing recipes, it was like a light bulb going off for me!

It immediately became easier to find a recipe I wanted without going through stacks (and stacks…) of papers.

But no matter what method you choose, hopefully you’ll be inspired to get those recipes in order!

Digital Recipe Organization Ideas

If you don’t have paper recipes to deal with, you may need a digital organizing system. I need to make notes as I cook and bake, so I will always use paper to some degree, but if you’re strictly a digital recipe user one of these ideas might be useful to you:

  1. Create a spreadsheet with tabs of your categories – here’s an example of how to set up a sheet in Google Drive.
  2. Save your favorites from different websites by clicking a heart button (or other type of “save” button) on individual websites. They will save your favorites within your browser by using your email to sign in. (You can find the heart button on the lower right hand corner of my site to test it out.)
  3. Email a recipe link to yourself and keep it in a folder labeled ‘food’ with nested folders of categories like chicken, dessert, etc.

Paper Recipe Organization

Recipe binders in cabinet

Two Binder System

I have a two-binder system, which you can see illustrated above:

  1. Binder Type 1: The two binders on the middle left are slightly taller and hold smaller recipe cards and recipes cut out of magazines.
  2. Binder Type 2: The regular 9 x 12 inch binders are labeled with categories and hold letter sized printed recipes.
organizing recipes - numbered binders

Binder Type 1: Smaller Sized Recipes (Recipe Cards)

The first type of binder is for small clippings and recipe cards.

  • These “binders” are actually three-pocket page photo albums. The two I have came with a fabric type cover so I covered them with clear Contact paper to protect them.
  • Since they were both the same (because I really liked them and wanted them to coordinate) I just numbered them “1” and “2.” After awhile I just came to know the categories in each (all the salads, soups and mains in 1, apps, cookies, desserts, etc. in 2).

You can make it easier on yourself and get different ones if you’d like.

organizing recipes-tabs on binders
  • To make divider pages for your categories, simply attach stick-on tabs from an office store. Place them on the top of the pages so they don’t interfere with putting recipes inside the pockets on the sides.
  • You can make as many divisions as you need and use labels that make the most sense to you – a bonus to making your own versus using a pre-made system.

Here are the category divisions I used in the books as examples:

Small recipes book 1:

  • Salads
  • Soups/Stews
  • Poultry
  • Seafood
  • Meat (beef & pork)
  • Casseroles/Vegetarian
  • Sides

Small recipes book 2:

  • Breakfast
  • Bread
  • Desserts/Cakes
  • Cookies
  • Candies
  • Appetizers/Sauces/Etc.
organizing recipes-inside photo album binder
  • Once you have your binders set up, simply place all the recipes you’ve collected that fit in the photo sleeves (well, after you probably throw a bunch away that you wonder why you’d been keeping, if you’re anything like me…).
  • Recipe cards that are 3×5 and 4×6 will just slide in and recipes cut out from magazines and papers may need to be fitted by folding.

TIP: Some I have to pull out to read the whole recipe, but I try to cut and tape them so they can be read without having to be taken out.

This is photo album method is pretty simple, but was such a revelation for me. It is SO much easier than the little recipe boxes and files I attempted to use before.

Organizing recipes-pages in binder_

Binder Type 2: Full Size Printed Recipes

The second type of binder can hold larger recipes since little photo pockets don’t work for large recipes from magazines or printed out.

  • Use basic three-ring binders with divider pages labeled with categories similar to the photo albums.
  • Include clear page covers to slide large clippings into.
  • Punch regular paper with a three hole punch and add them directly to the rings.

This is what most people use, I think, but what helped me was realizing I didn’t have to try and fit all the recipes into one size binder – it’s okay to have two.

Because those little clippings and recipe cards were a pain to try and fit into the large binders. I find it much easier to slip them into the photo pockets.

When You Outgrow a Single 3-Ring Binder

Depending on how many recipes you collect, one binder with divisions may be fine for you.

When I outgrew one I divided the categories into three large binders and labeled them with:

  • Salads/Mains
  • Appetizers/Breads/Breakfast
  • Cakes/Desserts

And then I created some recipe-specific binders when those recipes started piling up:

  • Slow-cooker recipes
  • A binder for homemade “basics” recipes (Pantry basics as well as health/beauty recipes)
  • Our past menus
  • Update: I’ve since added Instant Pot, Preserving and Fermenting Binders as my needs in these areas grew – make this work for you.

PRO TIP: I keep our past menus to be able to refer to when making new menus and I arrange them by month so I can easily find what we like to eat for that season using what is growing in the garden or on sale.

The Recipe Organization Video

If you’d enjoy a good laugh and a peak into Brian’s sense of humor, be sure to watch the accompanying video we made about this. (It was meant to be like those serious interview shows, so I’m not smiling on purpose, lol.)

A video on recipe organization? Yeah, I know – but he’s good for a laugh. Actually he’s great for a laugh. It’s what makes life so fun with him.

I hope this has helped you to think of how you can organize your recipes to work for you – I’d love to know your recipe organizing strategies!

This article has been updated – it was originally published in May of 2010.

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18 Comments

  1. I actually use basically the same system but I have at least 10 binders. Have a stack of printed recipes…some of yours to add right away. I see you have A Taste of Oregon cook book…I love mine. And I also have Savor the Flavor of Oregon cookbook. How funny. Walmart for the inexpensive binders.

    1. Great minds think alike, Dee 😉 You probably can’t tell, but the Savor the Flavor book is right next to A Taste of Oregon, lol.
      I’ve gotten rid of many cookbooks over the years, but I won’t part with those!
      I actually get most of my binders from the thrift store!

  2. Pingback: Recipe Organization Ideas – 3 Boys and a Dog – 3 Boys and a Dog
  3. I do the same thing! I love having binders with recipes, and I use them way more than my cookbooks. I like your idea for the small recipes, though. I will have to try that one.
    Sorry about all of your pests….

    1. Yes, I now have more binders than cookbooks. 🙂 The photo album is such a help with the smaller recipes and cards for sure!

  4. AnnJo- wow, what a detailed system- that would be very handy to have things I make all the time (like pantry basics) right inside a cupboard door. Very clever!

  5. I’d like to share a recipe trick I started using a couple of years ago. I created a three-column, 5 to 7-row table in my word-processing program. Using 9 point font, I typed a recipe into each cell. Each recipe is organized by steps; ingredients and measures are abbreviated. Recipes of similar length are kept in the same row to avoid wasting space.

    The result is between 15 and 21 recipes on a single sheet of paper. I have two of these, containing more than 30 recipes, taped to the inside of a cupboard door over my work area. To use a recipe, all I need to do is open the cupboard door. The recipes stay clean, are right at eye leve while I’m working, and never get lost.

    To expand the system, you can fold additional sheets and tuck them behind the taped ones, then pull them out and use a paper clip to clip the sheet you want to use to one of the taped ones.

    Here’s an example of the steps and abbreviations, using your Honey Mustard Dressing recipe I’m adding to my next sheet:

    OREGON COTT. HONEY MUSTARD DRESS.

    1. Mince 1 cl garlic
    2. Blender: #1 + 1/4C ea. hony, Dijon mstrd; 1/3C rice vingr; 2T lemon jc.
    3. Drizzle 3/4C EVOO into #2.
    3. + S (~ 1/4t) AN*
    Yld: ~ 1-1/2C.

    *(as needed)

    Besides keeping the recipes handy, having the steps clearly identified makes for much faster prep work. I try to streamline things as much as possible – everything that gets measured by cup in a single step is listed together, then everything measured in spoons, etc. But then, I’m incredibly lazy, so anything to save work! Why pick up a cup measure twice when once will do?

    A novice cook may want to include more detailed directions, and be less terse with abbreviations, but this works for me.

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  7. I have a lot of recipes I’ve saved from magazines and such. Thanks for sharing these great tips, maybe I can finally get them organized and use them!

  8. Lightbulb moment:) I too use a 3-ring binder and sheet covers to house recipes, but it never occurred to me that I could use more than one notebook, a little goofy, eh? Thanks for the tip! My binder overfloweth…

  9. Thanks for the inspiration! I have tons of recipes printed off the internet & clipped from newspapers and torn from magazines. It would be nice (and helpful) to organize them!! =0) I love your ideas!

  10. Hello Jami,
    visiting you via Thrifty Designer…
    I believe you can propagate hydrangeas by way of cuttings with rooting hormone – small – two leaves
    on new wood – or you can press a stem into the dirt with a stone or brick – scratch the stem touching the dirt and roots can grow!
    I need to organize my recipes. I inherited a box full from my dad. Haven’t had the heart to go through them since he passed away. But, I think it would be good for me.
    Anyhow – lovely to meet you 🙂
    Kathy

  11. I am totally inspired by your recipe organizers, what a fabulous idea, I have some time off this summer and may try it too, thank you so much for sharing your wonderful idea’s! Debbie @ Cottage Hann~Me~Downs

  12. Oh…I love to be organized too! I like your system so much better than the one I am trying to make work! Your’s is much prettier, too! Thanks for the inspiration 🙂
    Wendy