Best apps that make recipes from a photo of your fridge (2026)
We make SnapChef, so read this knowing that. We have tried to write the comparison we would want to read ourselves: every app gets a "pick it if" we would stand behind, including the cases where the answer is not us.
The short answer
- Want to skip typing entirely? Use a photo app: SnapChef (iPhone) or Pantry Pic (iOS and Android). One photo of your open fridge, and the app lists the ingredients for you.
- Want it free with no limits? SuperCook. You tick off ingredients from a list and it searches a big recipe database. No photo, but no paywall either.
- Want to describe an idea in words? DishGen generates a recipe from what you type ("chicken, rice, something spicy").
- Want a recipe box and meal planner first? Samsung Food is built around saving recipes, planning the week and shopping lists.
Two ways these apps work
Photo first. You point the camera at your fridge or pantry, the app detects the food, you fix anything it got wrong, and it suggests recipes from what is there. It is the fastest way in on a tired evening, because typing ten ingredients is where most people give up.
Pick or type. You select ingredients from a list or type them in. It is slower to start, but you are never at the mercy of what a camera can see (a closed tub of leftovers looks like a closed tub).
Comparison
| App | How you add food | Recipes | Price | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SnapChef: AI Recipe Generator | Photo of fridge or pantry; edit by hand | Generated for your ingredients, diet and allergies | Free: 3 recipes/day. Premium $34.99/yr, $9.99/mo or $3.99/wk | iPhone |
| Pantry Pic | Photo of fridge, pantry or receipt; manual | Generated, plus meal planning | Free tier, then subscription | iOS, Android |
| SuperCook | Tick or type ingredients | Searched from a recipe database | Free | iOS, Android, web |
| DishGen | Type ingredients or an idea | Generated, plus meal plans | Free: 15 credits/week. Paid plans with a 7-day trial | Web, iOS |
| Samsung Food | Save recipes from sites and social posts | Your saved recipes and community recipes | Free, with a paid tier | iOS, Android, web |
The apps
SnapChef: AI Recipe Generator
Take one photo of your open fridge. SnapChef sends it to a vision model that lists the food it can see, you add or remove anything it missed, and it generates recipes from exactly that list, respecting the diet and allergies you set once. Cook mode then walks you through each step with built-in timers. Photos are used only to detect ingredients and generate your recipes, and are not kept on our servers.
Honest limits: it is iPhone only for now, it is new (released October 2026, so it has few App Store ratings yet), and the free plan stops at three recipe generations a day.
Pick it if you want the shortest path from "nothing in the fridge" to a recipe, and you are on an iPhone.
Get SnapChef on the App StorePantry Pic
Pantry Pic is the other photo-first app here. It detects ingredients from a photo of your fridge or pantry (and can scan a grocery receipt), keeps an inventory with freshness, suggests recipes, and adds meal planning and an automatic shopping list. It is on iOS and Android, with a free tier and a subscription. On the App Store it has a 4.2 rating from a small number of reviews.
Pick it if you want photo detection plus pantry tracking and meal planning in one app, or you are on Android.
SuperCook
SuperCook is the long-standing free option: tick the ingredients you have and it shows recipes from its database that use them. It has a 4.8 rating from more than 21,000 App Store reviews. There is no photo detection, so you build your list by hand, and the iOS app was last updated in 2022.
Pick it if you want a free tool with no subscription and do not mind tapping in your ingredients.
DishGen
DishGen is a chat-style AI recipe and meal-plan generator. Type your ingredients, a dietary need or a rough idea and it writes a new recipe. The free plan includes 15 credits a week (one credit is one recipe or meal plan); paid plans start with a 7-day free trial. It is mainly a web app.
Pick it if you like describing what you want in words, or you are planning meals on a laptop.
Samsung Food
Samsung Food (formerly Whisk) is a recipe box and meal planner first: save recipes from any website or social post, plan the week, turn plans into shopping lists and see nutrition. It is rated 4.8 on the App Store and works on iOS, Android and the web. It is not built around a fridge photo.
Pick it if you already collect recipes online and want them organised and planned.
Which one should you choose?
- "I'm standing at the fridge right now": SnapChef or Pantry Pic. A photo beats typing.
- "I want free, forever": SuperCook.
- "I want a whole week planned": Pantry Pic, DishGen or Samsung Food.
- "I'm on Android": Pantry Pic, SuperCook or Samsung Food. SnapChef is iPhone only today.
Which SnapChef is this?
Several apps on the App Store use the name SnapChef. This page, and snapchef.hibernyte.com, are about SnapChef: AI Recipe Generator by Andrea Zani (Hibernyte), subtitle Fridge Recipes from a Photo, App Store id 6772706089.