How to put together a simple recipe binder for your kitchen. Easily organize all of your recipes with this quick and simple organization project.
Recipe Binder
Using a recipe binder can help you organize all of your favorite recipes together in one place. If you find it difficult to find your best recipes, or if you want to declutter your cookbooks, creating a recipe binder can be a great solution that will help you stay organized in the kitchen.
Are your recipes all over the place? Do you find yourself not cooking some of your favorite dishes because you can't figure out where you stashed your recipe cards, cookbooks, handwritten recipes, or recipe printouts?
Fortunately, you can solve your recipe organization issues quickly by creating a simple recipe binder. You can use items you probably have around the house to get started, and in a few hours (or less) you can have an easy-to-use cookbook binder.
Related: Simplify Your Life with a Rotating Meal Plan
Go here to get the recipe binder printables used in this article.
Materials Needed for Recipe Binder
- A binder – any type will work, but I like the ones that have pockets for a cover sheet. When you're getting started, just use what you have on hand.
- Sheet protectors (optional)
- Recipe binder printables
- Tabs (optional)
- Your recipes!
How to Set Up a Recipe Binder
- Gather up your favorite recipes – it doesn't matter if they're scribbled on a sticky note, torn from a magazine, or written on a recipe card. Gather them up into one big pile.
- While you're gathering, get rid of the recipes you're no longer interested in.
- Consider printing online recipes – you won't have to keep your phone or tablet in the kitchen with you while you're cooking.
- Also, consider photocopying your favorite recipes from cookbooks. It makes it easier when you can find all of your go-to recipes in one binder instead of having to sift through different cookbooks to find what you need.
- Put all of your recipes in sheet protectors. It will save them from spills, and they'll last longer. Using sheet protectors also makes all of your recipes a uniform size, so it's easier to flip through your recipe binder and find what you need. (If you don't have these right now, you can add them later if you want to)
How to Organize Recipes In A Binder
- Divide your recipes up into categories. I used these recipe organization printables category sheets to divide my recipe binder into sections.
- Put everything in your binder according to category. If you have the recipe binder printables, add a cover sheet and any extras you like.
I like using a recipe binder system for organizing because it's so flexible. I can add or remove recipes easily, and if I need to make notes or changes to a certain recipe, it's easy to just pull the recipe out of the sheet protector and jot down a few notes. I also added tabs to the divider sheets to make different sections easier to find.
Recipe Organization Printables
As I was originally organizing my recipes into categories, I realized that I had a lot of Instant Pot, slow cooker, and air fryer recipes. Because I often have a couple of these countertop appliances running at once, I found it helpful to create categories that were specific to each of those special appliances.
Recipe Organization Categories
Here are the recipe categories included in the recipe organization printables. You likely won't need to use all of them, so pick and choose the ones that best fit your needs:
- Main Dishes
- Side Dishes
- Baked Goods
- Freezer Meals
- Pressure Cooker (Instant Pot)
- Slow Cooker (Crockpot)
- Air Fryer
- Salads
- Desserts
- Snacks
- Drinks
- Favorites
- Party
- Thanksgiving
- Christmas
- Passover
- Easter
See a video of everything that's included in the recipe organization printable set here:
Putting It All Together
By having all of your recipes in one binder, you'll save a ton of time, and you'll be able to keep your recipes nicer for longer. I love being able to pull out my recipe binder and easily find a recipe to share with a friend.
Related: How to Organize a Meal Plan Binder
More Recipe Organization Ideas
Once you've put together your recipe binder, you can add cheat sheets and charts that will help you while you're cooking.
I included a kitchen conversion cheat sheet (from the recipe organization printables) in my binder for easy reference. You may have other cheat sheets or guides you'd like to include in your binder too! 
A recipe binder is something you can put together in a few hours, but you'll benefit from having all of your recipes in one place for years to come. Happy organizing!
Want to remember this? SaveHow to Make an Easy-to-Use Recipe Binder to your favorite Pinterest board.
