The short answer
First get the recipe into a clean layout: the recipe site's own Print recipe button, a word processor's index card template, or a recipe app that formats cards for printing. Choose a full page for a binder or a 4×6 card for a recipe box, then print from your phone's share sheet (AirPrint on iPhone, the print service on Android) or save a PDF to print later. Card stock holds up better for recipes you cook often.
Step-by-step
- 1
Get the recipe into a clean layout
Many recipe sites have a Print recipe button in the recipe box that drops the ads and comments, so check for that first. For a family recipe or one you've typed, a word processor's index card template works. A recipe app can do it for any source: in Culinary Card, paste the link into the Text or link tab under Add recipe, then open the recipe and tap the share icon (Share or print recipe card).
- 2
Pick a full page or an index card
A full page suits US Letter or A4, fits a binder, and has room for a photo. A 4×6 card fits a recipe box. In Culinary Card, switch the card size to "Index card (4×6)": it prints two cards to a sheet of regular paper with dashed lines to cut along, or one card per page on 4×6 card stock (set the paper size to 4 × 6 in the print dialog). A recipe too long for one card continues on a second card, marked "continued".
- 3
Use card stock for recipes you cook often
Plain paper is fine for a recipe you're trying once. For one you'll cook every few weeks, plain paper curls, soaks up splashes and tears at the corner you keep picking it up by, and card stock costs very little more.
- 4
Print or save as PDF
On an iPhone, tap Print in the share sheet and pick your AirPrint printer. On Android, use the built-in print service, which may want your printer's companion app installed first. To keep a PDF or print somewhere else, tap the share button at the top of the iPhone print screen, or choose "Save as PDF" as the printer on Android.
- 5
Laminate the printed copy, if you like
For a recipe you cook constantly, laminating the print protects it from splashes, and a home laminator or a local print shop handles index-card sizes easily. Keep this to printed copies you can reprint: heat and adhesive damage old paper permanently, so an original handwritten card is better off in a sleeve.
Common mistakes to avoid
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Forgetting that a printed card is a snapshot
You print a card, later fix a quantity or add a note to the digital recipe, and the paper copy on the fridge stays wrong. Wherever a printed card is the version you cook from, reprint it after you edit.
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Screenshotting the recipe and printing that
A screenshot is sized for a phone screen, so printing it gives soft, low-resolution text that is hardest to read at the small sizes you want for a card. Printing the recipe from a print layout takes the same effort and looks much better.
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Skipping the print preview
The preview shows two things worth checking: whether the last couple of steps spill onto a second page, and whether the text is still comfortable to read at the scale it landed on.
Why Culinary Card works for this
Culinary Card prints recipes with only the recipe on them, as a full page or a 4×6 index card, whatever the recipe came from: a link, a Pinterest pin, a photo or pasted text. If the recipe came from a handwritten card you scanned, you can print the original scan alongside it.
Frequently asked questions
Can I print from my phone without a wireless printer?
Yes. Save the recipe as a PDF from the print dialog, then email it to a computer that has a printer, or take it to a print shop, which can also print onto card stock.
Can I print without photos?
Yes. In Culinary Card, the 4×6 index card size is text only, so it never prints a photo. A full-page card includes the photo if the recipe has one, and a recipe with no photo prints as a clean text card with no gap or placeholder.
Can I print more than one recipe at a time?
In Culinary Card, yes. From your recipe list, tap Share book, then under "Send a snapshot instead" choose "Print or save as PDF" for one recipe per page, or "Print as 4×6 index cards" for a recipe box, two to a sheet with cut lines or straight onto card stock. You can narrow it to the recipes matching your current search or filters first.
Is there a cost for printing?
Printing from a recipe site or your own document is free. If you already have the recipe written out, Culinary Card's free recipe card maker lays it out and prints it with no account. Inside Culinary Card, printing is free once a recipe is in your collection; importing is what uses credits (2 for a link, 1 for text), and you get 9 free on signup.