Recipe management & sharing

Create heart-healthy recipes with automatic nutrition calculation per serving. Share via AirDrop with family, build a collaborative meal library, and make meal planning effortless with complete nutritional data.

Start Building Your Recipe Library

Your personal recipe library

Stop manually calculating nutrition for every ingredient each time you cook your favorite meals. Create recipes once, and Heart Tracker automatically calculates complete nutritional information per serving—calories, macros, and everything else. Perfect for meal prep, diet planning, and knowing exactly what you're eating. Log a whole meal in one tap.

Why Recipe Management Is Essential

Automatic Nutrition Calculation

Add ingredients with quantities, set number of servings, and the app automatically calculates complete nutritional data per serving: calories, cholesterol, saturated fat, sodium, fiber, protein, carbs, and all key nutrients. Never manually calculate nutrition again.

One-Tap Meal Logging

Once a recipe is saved, log entire meals instantly. Instead of adding 8 individual ingredients for your famous chicken stir-fry, just tap "Chicken Stir-Fry" and select your serving size. Accurate nutrition in 2 seconds.

AirDrop Sharing

Share recipes wirelessly with family members in seconds. Your spouse using the app? AirDrop your healthy recipes to their device instantly. Building a family recipe collection has never been easier - no emails, no typing, just tap and share.

Family Collaboration

Build a shared recipe library across family members. When your partner creates a heart-healthy dinner recipe, they can instantly share it with you. Everyone in your household can access the same collection of nutritious meals.

Flexible Serving Sizes

Created a recipe for 4 servings but only eating 1.5 servings today? No problem. Adjust serving size on-the-fly when logging, and nutrition updates automatically. Perfect for batch cooking and meal prep.

Recipe Notes & Instructions

Add cooking instructions, preparation notes, or special tips directly to recipes. Know exactly which olive oil brand you used or that this recipe tastes better with fresh garlic. Keep all details in one place.

How recipe management works

Create a New Recipe

Go to the Discover tab (books icon) and navigate to the Recipes section. Tap "Create New Recipe" or the "+" button. Enter recipe details: name (e.g., "Heart-Healthy Chili"), optional description, number of servings, prep time and cook time (optional), category (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Salad, Soup, Smoothie, or Snack), and tags like Vegetarian, Quick, Low-Carb, or Heart-Healthy. Upload a photo if desired.

Add ingredients

Search the food database and add each ingredient with its specific quantity and serving type. The app tracks nutrition for each component: "2 cups brown rice, 1 lb ground turkey breast, 1 can black beans, 1 bell pepper..." Use the food search to find each ingredient from the 4.5M item database.

Example: Salmon & Quinoa Bowl

Ingredients:

  • 6 oz grilled salmon
  • 1 cup cooked quinoa
  • 1 cup steamed broccoli
  • 1/2 avocado, sliced
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice

Add cooking instructions (optional)

Enter step-by-step cooking instructions in the RecipeStep fields if you want a complete recipe. This is optional but helpful for recipes you want to share with family or reference later.

Automatic nutrition calculation

The app automatically calculates nutrition per serving based on all ingredients. Specify how many servings the recipe makes, and the app divides total nutrition accordingly. See per-serving data: calories, macros, cholesterol, sodium, fiber—everything calculated automatically from your ingredient list.

Organize and Log

Save to your recipe library, organized by category. Mark as favorite if desired. To log a meal, browse your Recipes section in the Discover tab or search for the recipe name. Tap to view details and nutrition, then "Add to meal" or use one-tap logging. Adjust servings if you ate more or less than one portion.

Easy recipe sharing

Share via Custom URL Scheme

Heart Tracker uses a custom URL scheme (hearttracker://) for sharing recipes, meals, and food items. Tap the share button on any recipe to export it. Recipients with the app can import complete recipes with all ingredients, quantities, and calculated nutrition instantly.

File Export (.ctdish)

Recipes export as .ctdish files containing complete nutritional data. Share via AirDrop, Messages, email, or any sharing method. Recipients with Heart Tracker can import with a single tap. Those without the app can view the exported file details.

Build Family Library

Create a household recipe collection by sharing back and forth using the hearttracker:// URL scheme or .ctdish file exports. No need for shared accounts or cloud syncing—everything stays private on each person's device while still allowing easy recipe sharing within your family.

Family Collaboration Example:

The Martinez family uses Heart Tracker together. Dad created 5 heart-healthy dinner recipes. He AirDropped them to Mom and their adult daughter. Mom added her breakfast recipes and shared back. Now all three have a library of 15 family-approved, cholesterol-friendly recipes they can log in seconds.

Perfect for every situation

Weekly Meal Prep:

Make a big batch of heart-healthy chili on Sunday. Create a recipe with all ingredients, set it to 8 servings. Throughout the week, log "1 serving chili" for lunch - accurate nutrition every time without recalculating.

Signature Dishes:

Have a go-to breakfast scramble you make 3x per week? Create it once as a recipe. Now logging breakfast takes 5 seconds instead of adding eggs, vegetables, cheese, and turkey sausage individually every time.

Recipe Optimization:

Experimenting to lower cholesterol in your favorite dishes? Create the original recipe, then duplicate it and modify ingredients. Compare nutrition side-by-side to see how swapping Greek yogurt for sour cream or turkey for beef affects cholesterol and saturated fat.

Dinner Rotation:

Build a library of 10-12 healthy dinner recipes your family loves. Rotate through them weekly for variety. Each recipe logs in seconds, and you always know exactly what you're consuming nutritionally.

Special Diets:

Managing cholesterol while also tracking sodium for blood pressure? Create recipes that meet both goals and tag them accordingly. Filter your recipe library by "Low Cholesterol" or "Low Sodium" for easy meal planning.

Powerful recipe features

Duplicate & Modify

Clone existing recipes to create variations. Make a "Low-Fat Version" or "Extra Protein Version" without starting from scratch.

Recipe photos

Add photos to help identify dishes quickly. Visual recipe library makes finding the right meal easier and more appealing.

Ingredient substitutions

Swap ingredients in saved recipes to see how nutrition changes instantly. Perfect for experimenting with healthier alternatives.

Batch cooking support

Create large-batch recipes (12 servings, 20 servings) for meal prep. Accurate per-serving nutrition no matter the batch size.

Recipe categories

Organize by meal type (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snacks) or custom tags (Heart-Healthy, Quick Meals, Family Favorites).

Nutrition comparison

Compare nutrition across recipes to find your healthiest options for any meal situation.

Search & Filter

Quickly find recipes by name, ingredient, or nutrition criteria. Search "salmon" to find all fish recipes.

Edit anytime

Recipe evolved? Update ingredients, adjust servings, or add notes at any time. Past logs remain unchanged; future uses reflect updates.

Heart-Healthy Recipe Ideas to Start

Breakfast Recipes:
  • Veggie-Loaded Egg White Omelet
  • Oatmeal with Berries & Almonds
  • Green Smoothie (Spinach, Banana, Protein Powder)
  • Whole Grain Avocado Toast
Lunch Recipes:
  • Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad (Light Dressing)
  • Turkey & Veggie Wrap
  • Lentil Soup with Vegetables
  • Quinoa Buddha Bowl
Dinner Recipes:
  • Baked Salmon with Roasted Vegetables
  • Turkey Chili with Beans
  • Stir-Fried Tofu & Vegetables
  • Grilled Chicken Breast with Sweet Potato

System Requirements

  • iOS 17.0 or later for recipe management
  • AirDrop enabled for wireless recipe sharing
  • Internet connection for ingredient database access
  • Works on iPhone and iPad

Note: Recipes sync via iCloud across your devices. Saved recipes work offline once created.

Pro tips for recipe management

Start With Your Favorites

Create recipes for meals you make most often first. These save the most time since you log them frequently.

Be Precise With Quantities

Use measuring cups and spoons when creating recipes initially. Accurate measurements mean accurate per-serving nutrition.

Add Preparation Notes

Include cooking tips: "Grill chicken 6 minutes per side" or "Best with fresh garlic". Future you will appreciate the reminders.

Use Recipe Photos

Take a quick photo of the finished dish. Visual library makes finding recipes faster and more enjoyable.

Create Variations

Duplicate base recipes to create variations. "Chicken Stir-Fry" becomes "Shrimp Stir-Fry" with one ingredient swap - keeps variety without recreating from scratch.

Share Liberally

When a family member asks "What's for dinner?" AirDrop them the recipe. They'll have the ingredients list and nutrition data instantly.

Update as Recipes Evolve

Improve a recipe with healthier ingredients? Edit the saved version. All future logs will use updated nutrition, while past entries remain unchanged.

Build your recipe library today

Create, share, and track heart-healthy recipes with automatic nutrition calculation.

Download Cholesterol Heart Tracker

Free download • iOS 17.0 or later • Unlimited recipes