How to Make a Recipe Binder

Hi Everyone!  I’m so happy to be here today to show you all how to make a recipe binder that is both super functional and pretty!  

First, a quick bit about me:  I blog over at Tidy Lady, and run an Etsy Shop called Tidy Lady Printables, where I offer a wide variety of beautiful printables for work, home, school and life!  I have a love of pretty parties, decor and organization and love to create beautiful things to hopefully help other women make their lives a little easier.  When I’m not designing for my shop you can usually find me working on our huge house remodel or whipping up something in the kitchen.  Which brings us to this post today about organizing all those wonderful recipes!

In my house our recipe binder has become not only a staple in the kitchen, but our family story, told by food.  Ooooh how I LOVE collecting recipes.  There is something so special and nostalgic about food, and the memories it creates. And there are few things better than paging through a magazine swooning over gorgeous pictures of food and cutting them out in sweet anticipation!

However, my addiction to recipe collecting was becoming quite an unorganized nightmare! There were piles of loose recipes, magazines and cookbooks overflowing in one drawer.  So even though I knew I had a certain recipe, it would take 15 minutes just to find it.  This is not ok when there are hungry bellies in the kitchen!!

So today lets talk about the solution to this recipe hoarding!

First I purchase a standard 2.5″ Binder, plastic sheet protectors and some label tabs.  I then made section divider cover sheets, a cover for my binder and binder spine for the side.

I placed all my divider sheets in plastic sleeves and gave them coordinating tabs.

Here are all of my divider categories for my recipe binder:

• Appetizers
• Soups
• Salads
• Poultry
• Fish
• Snacks
• Sandwiches & Wraps
• Meat
• Vegetarian
• Vegan
• Entrees
• Budget Dishes
• Breads
• Desserts
• Slow Cooker
• Juices & Smoothies
• Make Ahead Freezer Meals
• Holidays
• Breakfast
• Grilling
• Quick Fixes
• Drinks – Non Alcoholic
• Drinks – Alcoholic
• Favorites
• Disasters (To record which recipes didn’t work and remember to not make again!))

After I got my binder all set up, I starting adding all of the recipes I had.  Each recipe is placed in a plastic sleeve protector (front and back) so they won’t get ruined with all the splatters, spills and stains from cooking.

After I had all my recipes placed I added a Recipe Index page to each category.  Here I list all the recipes that are in that particular section.  This is really helpful to locate my recipes easier and I can also keep adding in my new recipes I collect.

Finally, in the front pocket I keep a Weekly Meal-Planning Sheet.
I can easily scan through my recipes and plan the meal in advance.  This also prevents the family from always asking, “what’s for dinner!?”  Now they always know where to look 🙂

TIP:  I put this sheet in a plastic page protector and use a dry erase marker to write in my meals and wipe off for a new week.  This prevents having to print a new meal-panning sheet every week.  Save a Tree!

The whole project took me about 3 hours, and now it honestly is SO simple to locate recipes and design meal-time.  I still have all of my cookbooks neatly on a shelf for a night when I’m inspired to create something new, but otherwise I just use my fabulous recipe binder and I’m set!

You can find all of the templates, meal-planning sheets and printable divider pages I used HERE.

This is probably hands down the smartest organization move I’ve made in the kitchen so far, and that’s a BOLD statement!  I say this because it has saved me so much time and stress.  I highly suggest putting together your own recipe binder and making meal-time more organized, fun and tasty.

Other bonuses I have found because of making an organized recipe binder and using the weekly meal plan sheet:

• Less wasted food
• Less money spent
• Eating fewer processed or pre-packaged foods
• Less stress about planning meal time or scrambling last minute
• Less eating out at restaurants or ordering take-out
• Remembering family favorites and making them more often
• Saving overall time in the kitchen

Thanks for letting me share my recipe binder with you.  I hope you make one for your family and find the same positive results!

Happy organizing!

Amber