How to save a recipe from an Instagram Reel

Copy the Reel's link and paste it into Panwich. It reads the caption and writes the recipe out: the ingredients with their amounts, the steps, the servings, the times and the macros. You get a recipe you can scale, shop for and cook from, where you had a video in a saved folder.

What you need

  • 1Reel with the recipe in its captionPanwich reads what is written under the video. It does not watch the video.
  • 1Panwich accountA name, an email and a password. Free while Panwich is in its early days.
  • 1phone or computerPanwich opens in a browser. There is nothing to install.

Method

  1. Copy the Reel's link

    In Instagram, tap the share arrow on the Reel and choose Copy link. On a computer, copy the address from the top of the browser.

  2. Paste it into Panwich

    In Panwich, press + and choose Paste a link. Paste the link and press Import recipe. If you saved that post before, Panwich says so and offers to open the one you have.

  3. Look it over and save

    Panwich opens what it read in its editor before anything is kept. Change a name, fix an amount, add a step, then save it.

  4. Cook from it

    Change the servings and every amount follows. Add to list puts the ingredients on your shopping list, and Cook step by step shows one step at a time with the timers it found in the method.

What it reads, and what it cannot

Panwich takes

  • The ingredients, with the amount and unit of each kept exactly as the creator wrote them.
  • The steps, when the caption has them.
  • Servings and times when the caption states them. When it does not, Panwich estimates them and you can change them.
  • Macros: the creator's own figures when the caption gives them, and otherwise an estimate that says how much of the recipe it covers.
  • The Reel's cover as the recipe's photo, with the play button taken off.
  • The link back to the Reel, so you can watch it again.

It cannot read

  • A recipe that is only spoken or shown in the video. If the caption lists no ingredients, there is nothing to read.
  • A recipe written in the comments and not in the caption.
  • A Reel from a private account, which Panwich cannot open.

If it does not work

Panwich says the caption does not list a recipe
The recipe is in the video or the comments. Take a screenshot of wherever it is written and choose From a screenshot or photo on the same screen. See the screenshot guide.
The link will not import
Take a screenshot of the caption and choose From a screenshot or photo. On a computer you can copy the caption's text and paste it under Paste a caption.
It saved the ingredients and no method
That is on purpose. Many captions list what goes in and leave the method to the video. The ingredients are what a shopping list needs, and the link back to the Reel is kept with the recipe.

Questions

Do I need the Instagram app?
No. A link to any public Reel or post works, copied from the app or from instagram.com in a browser.
Does it work for posts and carousels, or only Reels?
All of them. Panwich reads the caption, so a photo post or a carousel with the recipe in its caption imports the same way.
Can I save a Reel straight from the share sheet?
On Android, yes: install Panwich from Chrome and it appears in the share sheet. On an iPhone it takes a Shortcut that you set up once. The iPhone share sheet guide has the steps.
Does Panwich download the video?
No. It keeps the recipe, the cover photo and a link back to the Reel.
Is it free?
Yes. Free while Panwich is in its early days.

Your saved folder is full of dinners.

Start with one. Paste its link and see what comes out.

Create my free account

Free while Panwich is in its early days.