Where to Find Your Mealime Recipes (and How to Save Them After October 2026)

The Quick Answer

If you're a Mealime user, October 21, 2026 is your deadline. After that date, the app shuts down, your account is deleted, and your saved recipes are gone unless you act now. You can save your favourite Mealime recipes by using a rescue import that matches your recipe names to Mealime's full database, or you can manually export them by copying recipe text, photos, or links to another app.

Why Mealime Is Closing

Mealime, which built up more than 1 million Android installs on Google Play, is discontinuing service. The company made no export feature available, which leaves hundreds of thousands of users with a difficult choice: lose years of saved recipes, or manually save them elsewhere before the shutdown date.

If you're invested in your meal-planning system—your custom notes, dietary filters, shopping lists—losing that work is frustrating. But the good news is that your recipes themselves are still recoverable, and moving to a new meal planner is more straightforward than you might expect.

The Fastest Way: Recipe Name Rescue

If you remember the names of your favourite Mealime recipes, you can use a rescue importer that pulls them from Mealime's complete recipe database. Here's how it works:

1. Open Mealime and make a list of your favourites by name. Write them down or take screenshots. (If you have dozens, prioritise the ones you cook regularly.)
2. Paste your recipe names into the rescue import tool, one per line.
3. The tool matches your names against Mealime's 3,291 public recipes and imports the full recipe—including ingredients, instructions, and the original photo—into your new meal planner.
4. Any recipes you can't remember or that don't match will show as not found. You'll need to re-add those manually.

This method works best if Mealime was your primary tool and you've built a solid list of go-to recipes. If you have a few dozen essentials, this takes 5–10 minutes. If you're trying to save hundreds, you might combine this with the methods below.

Method 2: Copy and Paste Recipes Directly

If you want full control or your recipe list is very specific, you can copy text directly from Mealime:

1. In Mealime, open a recipe. Select all the text (ingredients and instructions), copy it, and paste it into a note or text file.
2. Add the recipe title and any custom notes you've written (servings, dietary flags, where you found it).
3. In your new app, paste the text into a new recipe. Most modern recipe apps can parse pasted text or let you enter recipes freeform.
4. Take a screenshot of the recipe photo in Mealime and save it, then upload it to match the pasted recipe.

This is slower than bulk import, but it gives you a chance to clean up your recipes as you go: drop ones you haven't cooked in years, update notes, or fix typos.

Method 3: Save Links and URLs

Many Mealime recipes are sourced from other websites or were bookmarked from food blogs. If you remember where a recipe came from—or if Mealime's detail page shows the original source link—save that link to your new app instead of copying the text.

Most modern recipe planners let you import a recipe by pasting a URL. The app will scrape the webpage, fetch the ingredients and instructions, and often pull the photo automatically. This is faster than retyping and keeps a link to the original source.

Comparing Where to Move Your Recipes

After you've saved your Mealime recipes, you'll want a new home for them. Here's how your other options compare for import ease and features:

Moving from Mealime Specifically: What to Look For

Mealime offered three main features worth replicating in your next app: a searchable recipe database, weekly meal planning, and an automated grocery list. No single app does all three identically, but most modern meal planners do cover these basics.

When you choose a new app, look for: recipe import from files, links, or text; a built-in recipe editor so you can add notes and adjust servings; a weekly planner view where you can drag recipes into days; and a grocery list that groups items by store section (produce, dairy, pantry, etc.). Test the import process first with a few Mealime recipes to make sure the planner and grocery list work the way you expect before committing.

Practical Timeline

Mealime closes October 21, 2026. Here's a realistic timeline:

• Now to October 15: Make your list of favourite recipes, export them using one of the methods above, and set up your new app.
• October 15–21: Finish importing recipes, test your new meal planner, and run a practice grocery list to make sure everything works.
• October 21: Mealime shuts down. Your account is deleted. Your recipes are now safely in your new app.

If you wait until mid-October to start, you'll be rushed. If you move now, you can take your time and make sure your new setup actually fits your cooking style.

FAQ

Can I download all my Mealime recipes at once?

No. Mealime never built an export feature. You'll need to use a recipe name rescue tool if you remember your favourites, or copy and paste individual recipes manually. If you've been using Mealime for years and have hundreds of recipes saved, prioritise the ones you actually cook. A collection of 50 recipes you use regularly beats 500 you'll forget about.

What if Mealime's website changes and the rescue tool stops working?

If a recipe name rescue tool stops working before October 21, try the copy-paste method for any recipes you missed. Copy the text, take a screenshot of the photo, and save both. Once October 21 passes, Mealime will be offline, so any tool tied to their website will stop working. That's why acting soon is important.

Will I lose my custom notes and ratings when I move?

Yes, custom notes you wrote in Mealime won't automatically transfer unless you manually copy them over. As you import recipes, open your new app and add any notes you want to keep: "Make this with half the salt," "Kids love this," "Takes 15 minutes on a weeknight." This is actually a good moment to clean up—drop recipes you never used, fix old notes, and organise your new collection from scratch.

Are there apps that do everything Mealime did?

Most modern recipe and meal-planning apps cover the core features: save recipes, plan your week, and generate a grocery list. Some emphasise grocery integration, others focus on batch cooking or dietary filters. None are identical to Mealime, but you'll likely find something that works better for your needs. Try a free plan or trial before committing, and import a few recipes first to test the workflow.