Top Online Recipe Resources

Ever had to go through the trouble of cataloguing recipes the old fashioned way? Anyone who's done it knows it takes precious time. Even buying cookbooks and skimming through your collection, frantically searching for that faint memory of a recipe is time consuming. Thankfully, the digital age has come up with a solution to counter that dilemma: the internet. Yes, even classic culinary roots have taken up to the ultra-modern internet. Online recipe resources have become a boon to home cooks, especially. It won't be too much trouble having to plan for tonight's dinner, after all.

Allrecipes.com is an expansive library of user-generated recipes. The recipes are classified accordingly: soups, salads, appetizers, seafood, meat, poultry, desserts, etc. Got some fresh vegetables or lam chops that you'd want to use for the next meal? Their search feature allows you to type in your ingredient and the website does its work of sniffing out the most relevant recipes for you. One of the best features of the site is that it allows you to make your personal account and keep track of your own virtual recipe catalog. If you like the recipe you're browsing but want to save the idea for some other time, you simply add the recipe to your catalog. You can organize and index your catalog the way you'd prefer, too, so everything is spick and span. There are user ratings and reviews for most recipes, and these are very helpful in providing feedback and suggestions from those who've actually tested the recipe. You can also turn up the most popular recipes in search results. If you've got a great recipe to share to the world, this site allows you to do just that! Submit your recipe and wait to hear the verdict of other home cooks! It's a recipe marketplace that's absolutely free and convenient.

For the kitchen challenged folks, a great resource is cookingforengineers.com. As the name of the website implies, this resource is focused on teaching simple recipes for the kitchen newbie. There are hundreds of great recipes that are simple to make, and the best thing about this site is the visual aids that come along with most of the recipes. There are photos and videos to illustrate the step-by-step proceedings of say, how to make chocolate fudge. After this website, there are no more excuses for not stepping into the kitchen and at least attempting to whip out a home-cooked meal.

The Food Network has gained such popularity of late, with its charming and diverse lineup of celebrity chefs. Did you miss out some ingredients for Wolfgang Puck's Pizza Four Ways? Couldn't make it home on time to catch the latest episode of 30 Minute Meals? The network's website foodtv.com or foodnetwork.com offers an extensive catalogue of past and upcoming episodes of your favorite Food Network shows, including each and every recipe you might have missed. Even if you're not a celebrity chef fan, their website is a great resource for meal planning and recipe searching. You can browse through their extensive catalogue, or merely turn up the search results of your choice. Each recipe has user ratings and reviews, allowing you to judge the popularity of the recipe. The website also offers some handy food related articles tackling new kitchen equipment, cooking techniques and tips, cookbook reviews, and whatnot. It's a treasure trove of information.

The website cdkitchen.com is another expansive user-generated collection of recipes. While it's not as massive as AllRecipes, it has a good archive of dependable recipes with user reviews as well.

A good food website is epicurious.com. It's linked to the magazines Bon Appetit and Gourmet, and it also contains a collection of recipes that were featured in the magazines, subjected to rigorous testing in their test kitchens. There are gourmet recipes and those for simple weeknight dinners as well. The site also features articles tackling interesting aspects about food, culture, travel, and the culinary arts. This is a good place to look for restaurant reviews and wine pairing suggestions, among other things you might want to read up on.