How does the Recipe Importer on the website work?

Our Recipe Importer feature allows you to quickly import recipes from popular recipe websites or to easily match lists of manually entered ingredients to food items in our database. 
 

The Recipe Importer is currently available to visitors using the English-language version of our website: https://www.myfitnesspal.com
 

Instructions for our original recipe tool are available here. Users accessing the site in other languages will continue to see the original tool.

How to Use the Recipe Importer 

Import a Recipe from a Link

Website:

1. Go to our website: www.myfitnesspal.com
2. Log in to your account. If you use the mobile app, log in with the same email and password you use there.
3. Click on the My Home tab
4. Next, select Food
5. Then click the Recipes subtab
6. At the top of the page, paste or type the web address (URL) of the recipe you want to import from another recipe website. For example: http://recipesite.com/recipe1
7. Then click Import Recipe
8. Select the number of servings at the top
9. Then click Match Ingredients
10. Check that all the ingredients are correct, or adjust them to match what you have at home. Ingredients that match will show a green check mark. If you see a red X, type in the ingredient you want to use. If you can't find a good match, edit the ingredient to search manually.
11. When you hover over an ingredient, you can choose to Edit the Quantity, Replace It, or Remove It.
12. When you select the quantity of an ingredient, you can use our conversion tool to choose the right unit. Units can only be converted within the same type, like weight to weight or volume to volume. For example, ounces can be changed to pounds or grams, and cups can be changed to tablespoons or liquid ounces. If you don't see the unit you need, look for a database item with the right type of measurement in the suggested list or search manually.
13. After importing, you'll see a list of ingredients, one per line. Remove any extra content, such as preparation instructions. The saved recipe will include a link to the original site, so you can check the instructions there anytime.
14. You can add any extra ingredients you want to customize at the bottom of this page
15. You can also change the recipe title on this screen if you like.
16. When you're done, click Save or Save & Log It. Save stores the recipe in your Recipe Box for later. Save & Log It saves the recipe and lets you choose which meal and diary date to add it to
17. After you save an item in your Recipe Box, you can click it to edit the recipe

Add Ingredients Manually or Paste a List of Ingredients

Website:

1. Go to our website: www.myfitnesspal.com
2. Log in to your account. If you use the mobile app, log in with the same email and password you use there.
3. Click on the My Home tab
4. Next, select Food
5. Then click the Recipes subtab
6. Under the box for pasting a URL, click Add Recipe Manually
7. On this page, type or paste your list of ingredients and their amounts. Be sure to add the number of servings at the top.
8. Then click Match Ingredients
9. Check that all the ingredients are correct, or adjust them to match what you have at home. Ingredients that match will show a green check mark. If you see a red X, type in the ingredient you want to use. If you can't find a good match, edit the ingredient to search manually.
10. When you hover over an ingredient, you can choose to Edit the Quantity, Replace It, or Remove It.
11. When you select the quantity of an ingredient, you can use our conversion tool to choose the right unit. Units can only be converted within the same type, like weight to weight or volume to volume. For example, ounces can be changed to pounds or grams, and cups can be changed to tablespoons or liquid ounces. If you don't see the unit you need, look for a database item with the right type of measurement in the suggested list or search manually.
12. After importing, you'll see a list of ingredients, one per line. Remove any extra content, such as preparation instructions. The saved recipe will include a link to the original site, so you can check the instructions there anytime.
13. You can add any extra ingredients you want to customize at the bottom of this page
14. You can also change the recipe title on this screen if you like.
15. When you're done, click Save or Save & Log It. Save stores the recipe in your Recipe Box for later. Save & Log It saves the recipe and lets you choose which meal and diary date to add it to
16. After you save an item in your Recipe Box, you can click it to edit the recipe

Related: How does the Recipe Importer in the iOS and Android apps work?