How to migrate from Paprika to a self-hosted recipe app

Short answer: Open Paprika, export your recipes as a .paprikarecipes file, then upload that file in Cookslate's Bulk Import page. Cookslate auto-detects the format and imports every recipe with its photos, ingredients, instructions, source URLs, ratings, and notes. The whole migration takes under five minutes for a typical collection.

Why migrate away from Paprika?

Paprika is a polished app, but it's also a closed ecosystem: your recipes live on Paprika's cloud sync, locked behind a per-platform license, and there's no easy way to export them in a format other apps actually understand. If Paprika ever sunsets cloud sync, raises prices, or you simply want to run your own server, you need a portable copy of your data.

Self-hosting gives you four things Paprika can't:

• Permanent ownership of your recipes — they sit on your server, not someone else's.
• One license, every device — no separate purchases for iOS, Mac, Android, and Windows.
• No subscription creep — you pay once for the app and host it yourself.
• Open data formats — JSON, Cooklang, and ZIP exports you can move to anywhere.

Step 1 — Export your recipes from Paprika

Paprika's export is built in:

1. Open Paprika on Mac, Windows, iOS, or Android.
2. Open the bookmark/menu icon and choose Export Recipes (on iOS, this is under Settings → Export).
3. Choose Paprika Format. This produces a single .paprikarecipes file containing all your recipes plus their photos.
4. Save the file somewhere you can reach from your browser — iCloud Drive, Dropbox, AirDrop to your laptop, etc.

Step 2 — Import into Cookslate

1. Sign in to your Cookslate instance (or try the demo first if you haven't installed it yet).
2. Open the menu and choose Bulk Import.
3. Drag your .paprikarecipes file onto the upload area, or click to browse for it. Cookslate auto-detects Paprika exports — no toggle to flip.
4. Wait for the import to finish. A 200-recipe collection typically completes in 10–20 seconds.

What carries over

The Paprika importer in Cookslate maps every field that has a sensible target:

• Recipe basics — title, description, source URL, prep/cook time, servings.
• Ingredients — parsed into structured rows (quantity, unit, name, notes).
• Instructions — preserved as ordered steps.
• Photos — embedded base64 images are extracted and resized to Cookslate's standard 800px width with a 300px thumbnail.
• Categories → tags — Paprika categories become Cookslate tags so search keeps working.
• Notes — kept on the recipe as a notes field.
• Nutrition — calories, protein, carbs, fat, fiber, and sugar if Paprika had them.
• Ratings — your 1–5 stars come over.

What doesn't carry over

A few Paprika-specific fields don't have direct equivalents:

• Paprika's grocery list state (Cookslate has its own grocery feature you build fresh).
• Meal plan history (Cookslate's meal planner is a Pro feature with its own data).
• "Pantry" inventory tracking — not a feature in Cookslate.

Step 3 — Verify and clean up

After import, scan the recipe list and look for:

• Recipes with no photo — Paprika sometimes stores web-clipped recipes with image URLs instead of embedded photos. You can paste the source URL into Cookslate and re-scrape if you want a higher-resolution image.
• Ingredient parsing oddities — Paprika lets you write free-form ingredient lines. Cookslate's parser handles common patterns, but unusual notation (mixed fractions like 1 1/2 cups, parenthetical brand notes, etc.) may need a quick edit.
• Tag overlap — if you used both "Chicken" and "chicken", Cookslate normalizes them at search time but you may want to merge the tags from Settings → Tags.

FAQ

Can I keep using Paprika side by side while I try Cookslate?

Yes. Importing into Cookslate doesn't touch your Paprika installation. Many people run both for a few weeks until they're confident.

What about Paprika 3 vs Paprika 2 export files?

Both produce .paprikarecipes files with the same internal format. Cookslate handles both.

Does Cookslate cost anything?

The core app is free and open-source. A Pro tier ($9.99 launch / $29.99 standard) adds meal planning, kitchen stats, and other power-user features. Self-hosting is included in either tier — you bring your own server.

What if I'm coming from Mealie or Plan to Eat instead?

Cookslate accepts Mealie and Tandoor .zip exports the same way. Plan to Eat doesn't offer a native export, but if you can get a JSON or CSV out via their API, we have a guide for that coming soon.

Where does the data actually live after import?

In your Cookslate instance's MySQL database. Photos go to the uploads/ volume on your server. Both can be backed up with the standard ZIP export in Cookslate, which packages JSON + images into a single archive for portability.