Import recipes to your MyNetDiary account for easy and accurate tracking

Sue Heikkinen, MS, RDN, CDCES, BC-ADM, ACE-PT - Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist

Do you love to cook but have little time to enter all the recipe ingredients for tracking? MyNetDiary makes it quick and easy to import recipes from the web.

You can import recipes from your favorite recipe sites into MyNetDiary

Browsing online for healthy recipe ideas? Good news: MyNetDiary allows you to import recipes from most recipe websites. MyNetDiary can import recipe ingredients and directions directly into your personal account. You can then make changes and save the recipe as your own for easy and accurate tracking.

Importing recipes into MyNetDiary results in more accurate tracking!

Most importantly, when MyNetDiary imports a recipe, it finds all of its ingredients in the food database, so the imported recipe will have accurate nutrition information, even if the original website does not provide it.

Once the recipe is imported, you can then edit it like any of your other personal recipes.

Do you often substitute ingredients based on what you have on hand or to suit taste preferences? After you have imported a recipe, you can then easily change the ingredients and portions, and the nutrition values will recalculate. You can even change the number of servings based on how much you eat.

When you log imported recipes, there’s no guessing to find something close—you are entering exactly what you eat based on how you prepare the recipe. In fact, MyNetDiary’s extensive nutrient database allows you to track additional vitamins and minerals not available in your original recipe source.

Importing recipes is a time saver!

Having all of your favorite recipes in one place will save you time. No more browsing to find that “one recipe” that sounds delicious. Importing recipes also means no distracting advertisements and wordy introductions to scroll through.

The MyNetDiary recipe import feature will allow you to match the ingredients quickly. This is much faster than manually entering each ingredient.

Tips for importing recipes

MyNetDiary’s recipe import feature is easy. Start by reading this summary on how to import recipes, then read here for additional helpful tips.

You can import recipes from your iOS web browser or your MyNetDiary app.

From the app: Go to the Me tab, then tap Recipe Import. (see below).

You can choose from the extensive list of suggested recipe sites, or you can type in or copy the address of your favorite recipe website. For example, type www.eatingwell.com, and tap on the desired recipe on the website. Then tap IMPORT on the lower-right corner (see below).

Note: Some websites (such as paid recipe services requiring a log-in or sites protected with CAPTCHA) do not allow recipe import. We continue to work on enabling export from additional sites. In the meantime, you can copy and paste recipe ingredients for matching or enter recipes manually.

Cleaning up ingredients after importing a recipe

To help our ingredient matching system work best, clean up the imported ingredients in the Edit Ingredients screen as needed, omitting unnecessary instructions or modifiers. Remove any ingredients you won’t be using, such as optional ingredients or serving suggestions.

Break up single lines that list several ingredients into separate lines.
For example:
Before: ½ tbsp of lemon juice plus 2 slices of lemon
After: ½ tbsp of lemon juice
    2 slices of lemon

Ingredient matching in MyNetDiary

You will see the list of foods from the MyNetDiary database matched to the recipe ingredients. The screen will prompt you to enter an ingredient if no match is found.

Please double-check the imported ingredients before proceeding. If there is a mismatch, you can easily correct the food or amount.
For example, this recipe import (below) matched canned tomato sauce for canned diced tomatoes. You can quickly replace this mismatch by clicking on the incorrect ingredient and replacing it with the correct match.

Note: Our ingredient matching system learns from your corrections and improves over time.

Once imported, you can edit the recipe in MyNetDiary

You can also omit or substitute ingredients and change portions on the Ingredient Matching screen.

Tap NEXT to proceed to the New Recipe screen.

Here you can further customize your recipe by renaming the recipe, choosing a recipe icon, reordering ingredients, and editing the cooking instructions. You may need to scroll down to review these items.

The imported recipe will include the photo from the original website, if available. If you prefer, you can add your own photo of the recipe.

Important: Double-check your imported recipe before tapping FINISH. Miss something? You can always edit your recipe later.

You can save the recipe as two separate recipes

Do you have a recipe within a recipe, such as a salad with a separate dressing? If you don’t use all the dressing, the calories you log will be too high. The solution: Enter the recipe as two separate recipes.

For example, enter salad ingredients as one recipe, then the dressing ingredients as another. When you log this meal, you can select the amount of dressing used. This extra step is worth it for the flexibility of adjusting the elements of your recipe.
For example, the extra dressing can be added to roasted veggies (and easily logged) the next day.

Here is an example of a recipe where you may not use all of the dressing:

When you import the recipe, all of the ingredients will import into one list. Delete the ingredients for the salad, and create a recipe for the dressing (and name it as such).

Import the recipe again, deleting the ingredients for the dressing, and save with a new name. Now you have two recipes so you can track your salad with just the right amount of dressing.

How to find your imported recipes with ease

The fastest way to find a recipe is to search by name within a meal log. Once you find it, you can view, edit, share, and print the recipe.

To see a list of your recipes, go to the Recipes tab in food search, or from the Manage My Foods screen.

Try it out— Import your favorite new recipe today!

Need some inspiration to start your browsing? Check out these sites recommended by the MyNetDiary Dietitians.
Cooking Light
Eating Well
Minimalist Baker
Oldways
Have a Plant
Skinny Taste
Vegetarian Times
Diabetes Food Hub
American Heart Association

Don’t forget that you have hundreds of dietitian-curated Premium recipes available to you. As a premium member, they are already loaded into your account and are ready for tracking!

Still new to MyNetDiary? Learn more today by downloading the app for FREE.

Meal Planning & Diets->"Plan, Shop, Prep, and Cook" Tracking & MyNetDiary->Announcements Tracking & MyNetDiary->Tracking Tips

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