Save a Recipe from a Website Link or Photo

Turn a recipe URL, a TikTok or Instagram caption, or a photo of a card into a Cookbook draft you review, save, put on a meal plan, and shop from.

Written by Simon Gravgaard · 5 min read

Sep 19, 2026

Dinner is already out there somewhere

You found a dinner on a blog, a TikTok, or Instagram. Or you have a photo of a handwritten card. What you want next is simple: that dish in *your* cookbook, on a night this week, with ingredients on the grocery list.

Lyfify Cookbook can do that loop. Typing by hand stays free. Smart Add is the optional shortcut when you want a draft from a link or a photo.

What Smart Add is for

Smart Add turns something you already have into a recipe draft:

  • A website link. Paste the URL of a recipe page.
  • A TikTok or Instagram link. Paste the video URL when the public caption has the recipe, or a link to one.
  • A photo. Snap a cookbook page, a card, or a printed sheet.
  • Pasted text. Drop in the words if you already copied them.

You always review the title, ingredients, and steps before anything is saved. Nothing lands in your book until you say so.

Hand entry on Recipes stays free and does not need AI. Use Smart Add when the typing would take longer than checking a draft.

Paste a link

  1. Open Recipes and start Smart Add.
  2. Choose the link option and paste the recipe URL.
  3. Run it, then verify the draft.
  4. Save when it looks like a dinner you would actually cook.

Some sites block automated reading. When that happens, Smart Add cannot finish the page, and the attempt can still count toward your monthly usage. The product warns you about that before you run a link. If a site blocks you, type the recipe by hand or use a photo of the page instead.

Link Smart Add is on Plus and Max plans. Details are on Pricing.

TikTok and Instagram

A lot of good dinners live in short videos. You can paste a TikTok or Instagram link into Smart Add the same way you paste a blog URL.

Lyfify reads the public caption, not the video. We do not download the clip, and we do not keep your media on our servers. See Privacy.

What happens next depends on the caption:

  • If the caption itself is the recipe, that text becomes the draft.
  • If the caption is mostly a promo, but it includes a link to a recipe page, Smart Add follows that page once and parses it instead.
  • If there is no usable recipe in the caption and no recipe link, the extract fails. On hosted AI, that attempt can still count toward your usage, same as a blocked website.

When the draft comes from a recipe page linked in the caption, Notes credit that page, not the video URL. If you turn on Copy Source Nutrition in Advanced Options, clear per-serving numbers from that page can come along too, labeled as sourced from the site.

Use a photo of a card or page

  1. Open Smart Add and choose photo.
  2. Take a picture of a card, book page, printout, or mom's barely readable scribbles from 20 years ago. Smart Add can manage *almost* everything.
  3. Review the draft the same way you would for a link.
  4. Save when it is right.

Photo Smart Add is also on Plus and Max. Plans and usage are on Pricing.

Put it on the week, then shop

A saved recipe is only useful if it shows up for dinner.

  1. Open Meals and put the new recipe on a day.
  2. Open Groceries. The list builds from the plan, including that dish.

That is the Lyfify point: recipes, plan, and list stay connected. You are not copying ingredients into Notes again.

What stays free

You can add recipes by hand, build repeating meal plans, and generate grocery lists without an AI plan. Smart Add is optional. Basic includes text Smart Add. Link and photo need Plus or Max. Details are on Pricing. You can ignore AI entirely and still cook from Cookbook.

If you want the bigger product walkthrough, see Free Cookbook App for Recipes, Meals, and Groceries. For the first-week taps, see Getting Started with Lyfify Cookbook.

Questions

Can I import a recipe from a website link?

Yes, with Smart Add on Plus or Max. Paste the URL, review the draft, then save. Some sites block the read.

Does Smart Add work with TikTok or Instagram videos?

Yes, for the public caption. Paste the video link into link Smart Add. Lyfify does not download or watch the video. If the caption has a recipe, you get a draft. If it only points to a recipe site, that page is parsed instead. If neither works, try a screenshot with photo Smart Add, or paste the caption as text.

Can I use a photo of a recipe card?

Yes, with photo Smart Add on Plus or Max. Details are on Pricing.

Do I need AI to use Cookbook?

No. Hand entry, meal plans, and grocery lists stay free without AI.

Which plan do I need for links and photos?

Link and photo Smart Add are on Plus and Max. See Pricing for plans. Text Smart Add is available on Basic, and is one of the features your free sign-in tries cover.

What if the draft looks wrong?

Edit it before you save. Smart Add is a starting point, not the final card.

Try one link tonight

Open Cookbook, paste one recipe URL — blog, TikTok, or Instagram — into Smart Add, put it on tomorrow’s plan, and let the grocery list pick up the ingredients.