How to save recipes from Instagram

Save Reels and posts inside Instagram

1. Open the recipe Reel or post and tap the bookmark icon to save it.
2. Go to your Profile, open the menu and choose Saved to find it again.
3. Make a Collection for recipes you want to keep together, such as Dinners. Add saved recipe posts to the relevant Collection.
4. Reopen the post and expand the caption before planning to cook. Check whether the ingredients are there or whether the creator points you somewhere else.

This is how to save recipes on Instagram without another app. Use Collection names that match how you choose dinner. A folder for recipes you have already cooked can be more useful than keeping every promising Reel in one pile.

Find the recipe behind the caption

A Reel may show the cooking while the caption carries the amounts. Expand truncated captions before assuming the recipe is missing. If it says the recipe is in the comments, check there. Some creators ask you to comment RECIPE so they can send it by DM.

The creator's bio may link to a full written recipe. Read that before copying instructions from the video; it may include the pan size or other details you could not see in the Reel.

If you only have a short description of the dish, you do not yet have a recipe you can follow. Find the amounts and method before adding it to your cooking plans.

Keep a written copy outside Saved

Saved posts can disappear when a creator deletes or archives them. Instagram also does not let you search saved posts by ingredient. Copying the recipe into a note gives you something you can read and search while cooking.

1. Try a long press to copy the caption if your version allows it. If that does not work, use Share > Copy link, open the post in a browser and try copying the text there.
2. Paste the recipe into Notes with the dish name. Keep the creator's name and the original post link beside it.
3. If ingredients or steps appear on screen, capture the relevant frames and transcribe what you need. Put the ingredients together in one list.
4. Check your note against the original. Flag missing amounts instead of guessing what the cook poured into the pan.

If the recipe comes by DM, keep that text with the rest of the instructions. A saved post and a separate message can be awkward to follow with food on your hands.

Use Pinchery when the beta opens

If you want an app to save recipes from Instagram as written ingredients and steps, Pinchery is being made for iPhone. Its TestFlight beta opens soon; it is not on the App Store yet. The method below is for when you have beta access.

1. Tap the paper-plane Share icon on the Reel or post.
2. Choose Share to or More, then pick Pinchery from the iOS share sheet.
3. Pinchery reads the video and caption and writes the ingredients and steps, usually in under a minute.
4. Choose servings of 1, 2, 4 or 6 if needed, or get ingredient swaps tuned to your country. Calories per serving are estimates from the ingredients.

Pinchery works with Instagram Reels and posts. Each saved recipe keeps the creator's name and a link to the original, so you can return to the cooking demonstration.

Make your note usable at the stove

Keep preparation instructions beside the ingredient they belong to. If an ingredient must be divided between the sauce and topping, say so in your note. Copy any timing or doneness cues the creator gives rather than relying on how quickly the Reel cuts between shots.

When an American recipe gives cup measures and you cook with a scale, use the cups-to-grams converter for the specific ingredient. Different ingredients have different weights, so one cup is not a single weight you can reuse for everything.

Keep the credit and original link

Follow the people whose recipes you cook. Keep their name with your written version and return to the original post when you share a recommendation with a friend. Do not repost the creator's video or present it as your own.

For videos you find in another feed, the TikTok saving guide explains how Favorites works there.