Christmas is the time to relax with friends and family, exchange gifts, think on what you're grateful for... and lots and lots of eating. Whatever your idea of traditional Christmas grub is, be it turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, roasted potatoes, or brussels sprouts, food is a core part of the festive season.
If you've been tasked with cooking for visitors, or want to rustle up a tasty meal for yourself, you'll need suitably Christmassy recipes. That's why we've rounded up a list of the best free Christmas cooking and recipe apps for Android and iOS to help you out.
1. Christmas Recipes
If you can't count on an app called Christmas Recipes to provide some festive treats, then what hope do we have? Thankfully, this simple app is great and has no fluff. It's straight to the point: a collection of great winter recipes.
There's turkey gravy, apple cranberry stuffing, chocolate pecan pie, roasted plums, Christmas pudding, gingerbread cookies, roast beef, and so much more. Whether you want something sweet, savory, or a boozy beverage, this app has it.
Each recipe shows you how long it takes to cook and you can pop out a cooking conversion chart, should you need to turn ounces into cups, for example.
Download: Christmas Recipes for Android (Free)
2. Tasty
If you're a novice cook, then Tasty from Buzzfeed is the perfect app. Frankly, even if you're experienced, it's still fantastic.
That's because Tasty separates its recipes into steps, each with an accompanying video to show you exactly what to do. If you're not sure what it means to "cream" or what consistency you're looking for, don't worry—Tasty will show you.
Another great feature is how you can adjust the recipe's serving count with a tap. No longer do you need to do complicated math in your head. Press the minus or plus icon and the ingredients will automatically update.
To get started with the festive recipes, do a search for "Christmas" and a wealth of content will appear. Snowball cookies, roast chicken, Christmas tree pull-apart bread, apple cider... you're spoiled for choice.
Download: Tasty for Android | iOS (Free)
3. Yummly
Yummly has over 32,000 Christmas recipes. Yes, you read that right. Nut roast, punch, trifle, roasted vegetables, warming soup, yule log, and more. You name it, you'll find a recipe for it on Yummly. That's because the service aggregates from other recipe services.
If you like, you can take advantage of Yummly's clever features. You can personalize your feed to see recipes you might like, add things to your shopping basket, track what ingredients you're running low on, and more.
Alternatively, you can just use Yummly for the festive season as an excellent database of Christmas recipes. Find what you want, tap Get directions, and you'll be directed to the source to start cooking.
Download: Yummly for Android | iOS (Free, subscription available)
4. BBC Good Food
To understand just how many festive recipes BBC Good Food has, you need to know that the app has nearly 100 different Christmas collections. Recipe groups include "Christmas gravy recipes", "Dairy-free Christmas recipes", and "Christmas breakfast recipes". Exactly—it gets niche.
Suffice it to say, you won't be short of inspiration with this app. There's enough Christmas recipes here to last you a lifetime, each of them tried and tested by the BBC Food team.
Every app shows how long the preparation takes, the cooking time, serving size, and level of difficulty. So, if you just want easy and quick recipes (for example), you can use the search filters to narrow down. Don't forget to check the comments too, where other chefs often share handy tips and tricks.
Download: BBC Good Food for Android | iOS (Free)
5. Cookpad
Sometimes, the best recipes are ones you've kept for years that your grandmother wrote on a scrap of paper, or a dish that your neighbor brought round that you've never forgotten. There's something about amateur home cooking that can't be beat.
That's what makes Cookpad so special. These recipes aren't from professional chefs—they're from the average person wanting to share their craft.
There's over 1,000 Christmas recipes on Cookpad for you to dig into, catering to every taste. It's especially good if you're looking for tips on how to use up old food or achieve the perfect decoration. Often, the recipe authors illustrate steps with photos, so you can ensure you're following along correctly.
Handily, you can filter all the recipes for ingredients that you do or do not want included. Perfect for those with allergies, but also great if you really just want the ultimate chocolate festive treat.
Download: Cookpad for Android | iOS (Free)
6. Kitchen Stories
The great thing about Kitchen Stories is that it blends recipes from its professional team with those uploaded from its community. Though you can separate between the two easily, it's great to see how high-quality all of the recipes are.
Kitchen Stories has a wide selection of Christmas recipes from across the globe, like German stollen, Swedish caramels, and British wellington. The recipe shows you how long every stage will take (even the cooling, if applicable), utensils needed, nutrition per serving, and more.
Every recipe is also extremely easy to follow, with full-screen instructions and pictures to help you along your way. Your Christmas dinner will go off without a hitch thanks to Kitchen Stories.
Download: Kitchen Stories for Android | iOS (Free, subscription available)
Organize Your Christmas Recipes
Good luck with your Christmas creations! If you're cooking the big meal, it can be quite stressful, especially if everyone is gathered around and waiting for their food. Take some pressure off by preparing as much as you can in advance.
If you have any physical Christmas recipes that you've collected over the years, you should try a recipe organizer app so that you can keep everything tidy and virtual.