Growing up I loved baking and I would regularly use the BBC’s Good Food website for recipes; they were easy to access and often the first search result that came up.
As I got older, social media became a major source of new recipes to try. A key difference being it presented me with recipes that I had never seen before, whereas with Good Food I searched for recipes that I already new about i.e.chocolate chip cookies.
So, when the Guardian released their recipe app Feast in July of 2024 it didn’t take me long to subscribe, and I was already prone to using their recipes anyway. After more than a year of using it, this is my review.
The app subscription is £2.99 a month and gives you access a variety of recipes from chefs and food writers who write for the Guardian. Whilst you can subscribe to the Good Food app for £4.49 a month, which gives you app exclusive recipes, they also provide recipes for free through their website.
The home page of the great to scroll through when searching for dinner or baking ideas. It is easy to save recipes to different collections and it can keep a track of the ones you have cooked.
You can also search for specific recipes or by cuisine or ingredients. With many different filter options that are great for those with food intolerances or allergies.
There is also the feature of creating shopping lists from recipe ingredients lists.
It provides you with a cooking setting that lets you switch between the instructions and the ingredients list, and keeps your screen from turning off by itself. However, I find that having to keep switching between ingredients and instructions is no easier than just scrolling up and down, in fact I find that I like it less. And it should be acknowledged that we can just adjust our phone settings to keep them from turning off.
Another downside to the app is that all of its recipes are also published in the Guardian’s online news website, where they are free to access.
Due to the recipes mainly being for the news website, many of them aren’t beginner friendly as they are quite short and snappy, and assume that the reader has prior experience in cooking/baking.
The app does have a great design and user experience, where as I can find the Good Food website quite clunky.
I like the app, and I would recommend it but mostly to those who have cooking experience and love to cook/bake. It is great for cataloguing recipes, and for searching for new ideas. But for those just searching for a quick and easy dinner idea, I would stick to Good Food and social media.
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