Cookbook & Meal Planning
The Cookbook is your personal food library. It also includes 1,000+ recipes matched to your goals. Save meals, browse recipes, plan your week, and make grocery lists. Browsing and logging from your Cookbook is free. AI meal plans and grocery lists use credits.
The Three Cookbook Tabs
Your Cookbook is organized into three categories:
Meals
Complete meal combinations you eat together regularly
Recipes
Dishes with ingredient lists that calculate nutrition per serving
Foods
Individual custom food items not found in our database
Meals vs Recipes: What's the Difference?
| Feature | Meals | Recipes |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Group foods you eat together | Dishes with specific ingredients |
| Serving size | Always logs all components | Calculates per-serving nutrition |
| Example | "My breakfast" (eggs + toast + coffee) | "Chicken stir fry" (4 servings from ingredients) |
| Best for | Repeated meal combinations | Home-cooked dishes you prepare |
Saving a Meal
Save combinations of foods you eat together regularly:
Navigate to Cookbook
Tap the Nutrition card on your Home screen, then tap Cookbook.
Tap the + button on Meals tab
Make sure you're on the Meals tab, then tap the + button.
Name your meal
Give your meal a descriptive name like "Weekday Breakfast" or "Post-Workout Shake".
Add food items
Search and add each food component with its typical portion. You can adjust serving sizes for each item.
Save the meal
Tap Save. Your meal now appears in the Meals tab, ready to log with one tap.
Creating a Recipe
For dishes you cook at home, recipes calculate per-serving nutrition. You can also import a recipe from a photo or a link. QBod fills in the ingredients and nutrition for you.
Go to Recipes tab
In the Cookbook, switch to the Recipes tab and tap +.
Name your recipe and set servings
Enter the recipe name and how many servings it makes (e.g., "Chicken Stir Fry - 4 servings").
Add all ingredients
Search and add each ingredient with the total amount used in the entire recipe. QBod will divide by servings.
Save the recipe
Tap Save. When you log this recipe, you'll select how many servings you ate.
Adding Custom Foods
For foods not in our database (like homemade items or local products):
Go to Foods tab
In the Cookbook, switch to the Foods tab and tap +.
Enter food details
Add the food name, serving size (e.g., "1 cup" or "100g"), and nutrition info per serving: calories, protein, carbs, and fat.
Save the food
Tap Save. Your custom food will appear in the Foods tab and in search results when logging.
Pro Tip
You can find nutrition info for custom foods on packaging labels or by searching online. Just enter the values per serving size you define.
Using Saved Items to Log
Once you've saved items to your Cookbook:
- Tap + on the Nutrition screen
- Select Meals, Recipes, or browse Foods
- Tap the saved item you want to log
- Adjust serving size if needed and confirm
Logging from your Cookbook is free - no credits required!
Curated Recipe Library
In addition to your personal Cookbook, QBod includes a library of over 1,000 professionally curated recipes, all free to browse and use.
12 Categories, 6+ Cuisines
Recipes span breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, smoothies, salads, soups, desserts, and more. Cuisines include American, Mexican, Asian, Mediterranean, Indian, and Italian.
Goal-Based Tags
Every recipe is tagged to match your goals. Filter by: high-protein, fat-loss-friendly, pre-workout, post-workout, meal-prep-friendly, budget-friendly (under $3/serving), kid-friendly, one-pan, and no-cook.
Allergen Safety
QBod's allergen system uses two severity ratings: mild (shown with a warning) and severe (left out completely). Set your allergens once in Profile, and every recipe search uses them for you.
Weekly Meal Planning
Plan your meals for the week. QBod checks whether your plan hits your nutrition targets before you cook. You can also let Coach Q build a weekly plan around your calorie and macro targets and your allergens.
Tip
Snap a photo of your fridge and get meal ideas from what you already own.
Browse and filter recipes
Open the Recipe Library and use filters (category, cuisine, goal tag, allergens) to find recipes that match your preferences and nutrition goals.
Add recipes to your meal plan
Tap Add to Meal Plan on any recipe. Assign it to a day of the week and a meal slot (breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack).
Review your weekly macro overview
QBod shows your planned daily totals for calories, protein, carbs, and fat. Compare them to your targets to see if your plan is on track before you cook.
Adjust to balance nutrition
Swap recipes, change serving sizes, or add snacks to fine-tune your plan. The macro overview updates as you make changes.
Grocery Lists
Generate organized shopping lists from your meal plan with one tap.
Generate from your meal plan
Once your meal plan is set, tap Generate Grocery List. All ingredients from your planned recipes are compiled automatically.
Organized by section
Ingredients are grouped by grocery store section (produce, dairy, meat, pantry, and so on) so shopping is faster. If a recipe uses the same ingredient twice, QBod combines it into one item.
Shop and check off
Check off items as you shop. Use the budget-friendly filter to highlight meals under $3 per serving if you're watching costs.
Allergen Tip
Set your allergens in Profile → Allergens as mild or severe. Severe allergens are left out of recipe searches completely. Mild allergens show a warning badge so you can decide. This applies to both the recipe library and AI suggestions.
Deleting Saved Items
To remove items from your Cookbook:
- Go to the appropriate tab (Meals, Recipes, or Foods)
- Swipe left on the item you want to delete
- Tap Delete