What is the best way to save a recipe from Instagram?

Save the recipe itself rather than the post. A recipe app such as Scappi takes the post's link, shared from Instagram's share button or pasted in, and writes out the ingredients, the amounts and the steps, so the recipe stays searchable and readable even if the post disappears.

Can I save a recipe that is only in the video?

Take screenshots of the frames that show the ingredients and the steps and add them to Scappi as photos. A recipe that is only spoken aloud may come out incomplete, and Scappi says what it could not find so you can fill it in.

Is saving recipes from Instagram and TikTok free?

Instagram's Save and TikTok's Favorites are free but keep the video, not the recipe. Scappi's free plan adds 15 recipes to start, then 3 in any 30 days, and every recipe you've saved stays free to cook from.

Guide

How to save recipes from Instagram and TikTok

Last updated October 19, 2026

Instagram’s Save button and TikTok’s Favorites keep the video, not the recipe. You can’t search them by ingredient, you can’t shop from them, and when the creator deletes the post, the recipe goes with it. Here is how to keep the recipe itself.

First, find where the recipe is

A recipe on social media is usually in one of four places, and that decides how you save it.

In the caption. The most common place, often under “more”. The post’s link is all you need.
On the creator’s website. “Recipe at the link in bio” means the full recipe, with exact amounts, is on a web page. Save that page rather than the post.
On screen. Some videos show the ingredients as text over the video and nowhere else. Screenshots save those.
In a message. “Comment RECIPE and I’ll send it to you” sends a link or the recipe by direct message. Save the link it sends, or a screenshot of the message.

Save it with Scappi

On the post, tap Share and choose Scappi. Or copy the link, open Scappi, tap + and paste it.
Scappi reads the post and writes the recipe out: every ingredient with its amount, the steps in order, and timers in the step that needs them.
If the recipe is only on screen, pause on each frame that shows ingredients or steps, take a screenshot, and add the screenshots to Scappi as photos, all in one go.
If the caption points to the creator’s website, share that link instead. The web page usually has the whole recipe, with the amounts a caption leaves out.

The recipe arrives in your language, whatever language the creator wrote it in, and in your kitchen’s measures, cups and spoons or grams and milliliters. It keeps a link to the post it came from, so the creator is always one tap away.

What you get that a saved post doesn’t give you

Search. Find the recipe by an ingredient or a tag, not by scrolling through a grid of videos.
Amounts you can cook from. Double or triple it and every amount follows.
Your place while you cook. Tick off ingredients and steps instead of scrubbing back through a video with floury hands.
One shopping list that adds up the ingredients of everything you’re cooking.
A recipe that stays. Scappi keeps the recipe itself, so a deleted post or a dead link doesn’t take it along, and every recipe you’ve saved works offline.

Without an app

If you only save a recipe now and then, the apps’ own tools work. On Instagram, tap the bookmark under a post and add it to a collection called Recipes. On TikTok, add the video to a collection in your Favorites. Both are free and quick; both still keep a video rather than a recipe, so check the caption is there before you need it, and screenshot it if it matters.

Frequently asked questions

Can Scappi save a recipe that is only spoken in the video?

Scappi reads the post and its caption, and screenshots of whatever the video shows. A recipe that is only said aloud may come out incomplete. When Scappi isn’t sure of something, it says so in the recipe’s chat, so you can fill it in.

Does it work with Reels and carousels?

A Reel or a carousel has a link like any other post, so share or paste it. For a carousel whose recipe is in the pictures, screenshot the slides and add them as photos.

Is it free?

Yes, to start. The free plan adds 15 recipes to start, then 3 in any 30 days, and cooking and every recipe you’ve saved stay free and unlimited. Scappi Pro raises that to 100 in any 30 days, for $5.99 a month or $39.99 a year in the US (€5.99 and €39.99 in Europe) after a 2-week free trial.

I don’t have an iPhone. Can I still use it?

Scappi runs on iPhone and iPad, and Android is on its way. From any browser you can try Scappi on a recipe page: paste a link and get the recipe by email.