Zest: Meal Planner & Helper

I’m an absolute novice regarding cooking, so an app like this is a dream come true. There is a paywall, but they need to make money somehow, and I prefer paying to watching adds. The lessons are helpful, and I like the suggested recipes feature. It would be helpful if there was a ‘size’ option in the meals, because some of the beginner ones will be things like ‘a boiled egg’, little more than a snack, and ‘cooked pasta’ which I would assume is a full meal. As an Australian, it is very obvious this app is made in America with a large American bias. Measuring cups are different here, which makes things difficult for a beginner. We do not have ‘marinara’ here as another example. Localisation would be amazing if the budget can afford that (for example, the closest we have to marinara would be ‘pasta sauce’). Lastly, I’ve had at least one instance of confusion while reading recipes. In the ‘Mac and cheese’ recipe, a box of Mac and cheese is referenced. We don’t have boxes, so I’m curious if this refers to a single serve packet we have. Later in the same recipe, 225 grams of shredded cheddar is added to a bowl, then 70g to the pot, but it is never mentioned where the rest of the cheese should go (I added it all, way too cheesy, probably a rookie mistake, but the confusion didn’t help) Overall, this has great potential, and with a bit of polish, and then some marketing, I think it has the potential to blow up.

First of all, most of the recipes need to be paid for. But the very simple ones don’t and they take you through step by step. This is a really fun way to learn the basics/ expand your previous cooking knowledge and I hope more people find this app because it’s so useful!!

I downloaded this so I can get better at cooking and learn new techniques, recipes and stop relying on takeout. However, you need to pay for a subscription to unlock meal recipes. I searched for breakfasts I can make, and the only one which was available to me was “baked potato”. All the proper breakfast foods were locked behind a paywall. I recommend just googling recipes. There are plenty of sites online which are helpful and free.

Good app but I think measurement should be more precise as half a box of macaroni can differentiate. Also any time I try and do a difficulty other than easy the app crashes.

Love the app! Recipes are amazing and it’s laid out in such an entertaining and easy to understand format. However - when I subscribed to the app it told me I was subscribing to the $45/year subscription, and two weeks later I was charged for the $80/year subscription. I was not too thrilled to be charged that much more when I was under the impression I was being charged for the lower amount. Be sure to check your subscription after the two week trial period to ensure you aren’t charged more than you anticipated.

Duolingo has free features that makes it useable! This is NOT free. I cannot utilize an app that only gives me 5 free recipes! Thanks for stealing all of my information and kindly informing me you want $120 for a year. What a scam

as a girl trying to get into more hobbies, i appreciate this app existing! not only are the characters cute, that green onion is so cute, i love the fact that im also learning about different principles of cooking that i wouldn’t have known otherwise. so cutesyy, def recommend!

A new update just dropped that got rid of the “menu” and now there is a “plan” instead. So now you cannot add recipes to your menu (which included a shopping list and a section to toggle which meals you want to shop for), you have to start a “plan” for the week. It is unbelievably annoying because I liked to add a bunch of stuff to my menu in advance and then toggle which meals I’ll prepare for the week. I also liked being able to delete meals and add meals whenever I want. I can’t plan for the week ahead now because you have one set plan and if you create a new one, it deletes the current one. I hope that makes sense, but it’s irritating to have to start a new plan every time I decide that I want to shop for something other than what I have added to my plan. I hope they change the app back to what it was before this update or at least include the menu idea along with the plan. Plus the new UI is so annoying to look at. I just miss the old app. If it doesn’t change, I might have to cancel my subscription tbh. This app has changed my life for the better, but the new update is just terrible. UPDATE: I sent an email to the app creator about my issues with the app! There is no longer a “plan” of meals you need to set up for the week, you can now add any meals to your grocery list which is AMAZING! They also added back the feature where you can toggle different meals in your grocery list on/off so you can choose to shop for whatever meals you added to the grocery list—very happy to have this back. If I find something I wanna make, but maybe I want to do it for next week, I can add the meal to my grocery list and then toggle that meal off so that I don’t shop for it yet. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO OUR REVIEWS!! 5 stars! All the meals I’ve made from this app have been amazing! Only thing I would add is maybe add more dietary preferences? I’m a pescatarian, but I also keep kosher (so this could maybe be an allergy section? Like allergic to shellfish or something). But that’s just me being nit-picky at this point haha Highly recommend!

as a neurodiverse and disabled broke college student, i’m so grateful for this app! it has inspired several meal ideas directly or indirectly. my only grievance is none of the videos have subtitles :(

I hated cooking and felt limited on what I was able to cook. I’ve been trying to learn how to cook new things but I always failed. I never understood why anyone enjoyed cooking until I got this app. This is the only app that has made recipes and cooking concepts easy and digestible for me. I’m about to make my first recipe from this app tonight!! I’m so excited and I actually feel confident now. Thanks guys!! ❤️❤️