Dinner from one photo of your shelf
One shelf at a time, as many as you like. Arm's length, light on. A recipe for exactly what is there, in under twenty seconds. Nothing to install.
Cooking for 2, avoiding nothing. Change
No camera? Type what you have
One thing per line, or commas.
What you get
A recipe written from this photo, the way yours will be.
Scrambled eggs with squash and greens
A quick skillet supper that turns humble shelf eggs into something hearty. Yellow squash and leafy greens round out the protein, with cheese for body. This comes together in twenty minutes flat.
About 450 calories a serving, 23 g protein, 19 g carbohydrate, 31 g fat. From USDA figures for 83% of the ingredients; amounts are the recipe's.
From your shelf
- 6 eggs
- 1 medium yellow squash
- 2 cups leafy greens
- 1/2 cup cheese
- 2 slices bread
Staples
- 2 tablespoons oil
- to taste salt
- to taste pepper
- Dice 1 medium yellow squash into quarter-inch pieces. Tear 2 cups leafy greens into bite-sized pieces. Crack 6 eggs into a bowl and whisk lightly with a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the diced squash and cook, stirring often, until the edges turn golden, about 5 minutes. Stir the greens into the skillet until they wilt, about 2 minutes.
- Pour the whisked eggs over the squash and greens. Let them sit undisturbed for 30 seconds, then gently push the cooked portions toward the centre, tilting the pan so uncooked egg flows to the edges. When the eggs are nearly set but still glossy, about 3 minutes, scatter 1/2 cup cheese over the top.
- Fold the eggs once more until the cheese melts into the soft curds. Slide onto two plates and serve with 2 slices toasted bread on the side.
Note Swap the yellow squash for any vegetable on hand. Leftovers keep refrigerated for one day and reheat gently in a pan over low heat. Serve with one of the condiments on the side, or drizzle over the bread.
How it works
- Your photo is read on the spot: what is on the shelf, down to the brand and size where the label shows. Tap anything it got wrong.
- A recipe is written for that shelf and for how many you are feeding, the way a cookbook writes it: a few paragraphs with every amount where you use it. Three other dinners from the same shelf wait under it.
- Cook from your phone: one paragraph at a time in cook mode, timers that ring, a list you can tick, and a change of plan in one tap: faster, no oven, more protein, for the children.
Photograph the same shelf again next week and My shelf shows what you used up. Each dinner you cook teaches the next one.
Questions people ask
- Is there an app that scans your fridge for recipes?
- This page is one, and it needs no install. Photograph one shelf and a recipe for what is on it is written in under twenty seconds.
- What can I make with what I have?
- Whatever your shelf allows, written as a recipe with amounts and timings. It uses what you photographed first, common staples second, and asks you to buy at most two things.
- Can I type my ingredients instead of taking a photo?
- Yes. Under the camera button, type what you have, one thing per line or with commas, and the same recipe is written for it. The list is remembered on My shelf like a photo.
- What if it misreads something?
- Tap any item on the photo to say what it is, or that it is not there, and add what the photo missed. The recipe is rewritten for the corrected list.
- Does it learn what we like?
- Yes. It remembers how many you cook for, what you avoid, what you cook in, what you said you would make again, and what it wrote lately, so the same dish does not come round twice.
- Does it work for a freezer or a pantry?
- Yes. Photograph any shelf: fridge, freezer, pantry or the counter. Each is remembered separately on My shelf, and a recipe can draw on all of them.
- Does it remember what I have?
- Yes, on this phone. My shelf keeps each shelf as of its last photos, shows what you used up between photos, and can write a recipe or plan a week from it without a new photo.
- Is it free?
- Yes. There is no account, no subscription and no credit to buy.
- Half a jar of something left?
- Use it up has a page for every common ingredient: how long it keeps, how to tell it has turned, and three dinners for the last of it.
Browse what to do with the last of anything, dinners by brand and by ingredient, and three things that were in the same fridge.