Easy DIY Recipe Binder

The best way to keep your recipes in one place is to make a DIY Recipe Binder. For a long time, I stored recipes inside of random cookbooks. After a moment of frustration from looking through stacks of recipe pages I knew it was time to get these recipes in order. This has been the most helpful organization system I’ve used. Plus, it saves so much time. I’m sharing my process for organizing printed recipes using printables.

Why You Need A Recipe Binder

Some home cooks prefer recipe cards or a printable recipe over the digital version. Today, it’s easy to access recipes on the internet. However, following recipes on a phone or laptop has it’s challenges. For instance, when the screen locks periodically it takes longer to complete the recipe. You have to keep turning the screen back on every few minutes.

By far, the most frustrating experience I’ve had was when I doubled the recipe – then the page suddenly reloaded. The ingredients reverted to their original measurements. I was so furious! After that revelation I had to start over and correct the measurements.

In short, you can print the recipe instead. Then use divider pages to keep your recipes organized. In the long run, you’ll save time and energy. Plus, you can quickly reference the page you need.

You’ll love how it transforms the way you meal plan. For example, if you plan on making chicken alfredo pasta on Sunday, you can check the ingredients and use the shopping list page (included with recipe binder printables) to prepare for your next grocery trip.

Recipe binders allow you to organize your recipes by category. For example, you can categorize main dishes in the dinner section, while salads get placed in the side dishes category. As a result, it reduces some of the stress that goes into the cooking process.

How Organizing Your Recipes Impacts Meal Prepping

At this point, recipes are widely available. Gone are the days where you can only find a recipe in a cookbook or a box filled with family recipes. Now you can find new recipes in magazines, on YouTube, or blogs.

Once you compile a large collection of printed recipes, searching for the recipe you need can get overwhelming. When this happens it’s easy to misplace them. As it turns out, a lack of organization hinders your ability to meal prep successfully. Making a meal for your family takes time. Not having an easy way to find what you need, when you need it makes cooking at home feel chaotic.

Fortunately, there’s a solution to this problem. With a recipe binder, meal planning is so much easier. Most importantly, you can organize your recipes by course. With this method you can continue to add or modify your binder as needed.

Necessary Supplies

DIY Recipe Binder Free Printables

These printables make the process of getting your recipes organized a breeze. Plus, you’ll get 16 pages including blank recipe cards, divider pages categorized by course/ dessert type, and a shopping list!

How to Make a DIY Recipe Binder

Here are the instructions for setting up your recipe binder.

1. Download the recipe binder printables.
Download and print the pages you need. *Click here to get free recipe binder printables: Effortless Home Baker – Recipe Binder Kit.

2. Gather Supplies
Gather your recipes and the supplies you need. Use a three ring binder to keep everything in order. Since a large three-ring binder has more space, it’s easier to update over time. Consider how many recipes you have when choosing a binder.

• Print recipes that you have bookmarked or pinned.
• Go through your personal recipes and write them on the recipe cards.
• Gather the recipes you make most often or recipes you don’t want to lose.

3. Fill the Plastic Sleeves
Skip this step if your pages are hole punched. Place your recipes inside the plastic sleeves. Next, place the page dividers inside the binder.

Best practice is to have stacks of recipes separated by category. For example, dessert recipes, dinner recipes, etc. Having the recipes sorted by categories is more efficient.

4. Hole Punch the Recipe Pages
Next, if you don’t have plastic sleeves and your recipes are not printed on hole punched paper, use a hole puncher for all pages so you can put them inside a three-ring binder.

5. Add Title Page
After you finish putting all the recipes and dividers inside your binder you’re ready for the final step. Lastly, place the title page of your choice inside the slot in front of your binder.

DIY Recipe Binder Printable Instructions

These printables make the process of getting your recipes organized a breeze. Plus, you’ll get 16 pages including blank recipe cards, divider pages categorized by course/ dessert type, and a shopping list!

Directions: In the print settings check the “fill entire page” option. Then turn off the “print on both sides” setting. Print out the dividers on standard printing paper.

There are several cover pages you can choose from. You can include both sweet and savory recipes in the same recipe binder. Alternatively, you can dedicate one binder to dinner or savory dishes and another for desserts. If you decide to keep all your recipes in the same binder, make sure that there is enough space.

Here are a few recipes that I added to my recipe binder:

Overall, recipe organization has been beneficial for planning dinner and dessert. This system is easy to maintain and makes meal planning less challenging. Most importantly, you’ll have a recipe book that grows with you as you expand your recipe collection. Taking the time to make a DIY recipe binder means you’ll never lose a recipe again with an organized system that works!