Whether you are typing in a family recipe from scratch or tidying up one you imported, everything happens on the Edit Recipe screen. This guide covers how to add a recipe by hand, enter cooking times, add ingredients and steps, and organize them into sections.

If you updated to Crouton 2026.5 or later, a few things look different from before: cooking times are now typed in instead of scrolled, and ingredients are entered as plain text without a special keypad. Both are covered below.

Start a new recipe or edit an existing one

• New recipe: tap the + button at the top of your recipe list, then choose to add a recipe by hand. (The other options there are for importing from a link, photo, PDF, or text.)
• Existing recipe: open the recipe, tap the More button (three dots) at the top, and choose Edit Recipe. You can also press and hold a recipe in your search results and choose Edit Recipe without opening it.

When you are done, tap the checkmark at the top right to save. Tap the X at the top left to leave without saving.

Enter prep and cook times

Tap Prep Time or Cook Time to open the time entry.

• Type the time using the number pad. Numbers fill in from the right, so typing 130 gives you 1 hour 30 minutes, and typing 45 gives you 45 minutes.
• You can also use the toggles under the time to choose which part you are entering (hours, minutes, or seconds).
• Tap the checkmark to save the time.

Add ingredients

1. Under Ingredients, tap Add Ingredient.
2. Type the whole line the way you would write it, for example 1 cup flour or 2 tbsp butter, softened.
3. Crouton automatically splits the line into the quantity, the unit, and the ingredient once you have typed it.

There is no separate quantity keypad anymore. Just type into the text field.

Scanning instead of typing: tap the Scan button next to Add Ingredient to scan ingredient text from a cookbook or recipe card straight into the list. This free scan works on every plan. (Smart Import, which reads a whole recipe at once, is a separate Discover feature. See Crouton Plans Explained: Free, Plus, and Discover.)

Add steps

Under Method, add each step as its own line. Keep one action per step if you can. Step-by-step mode shows one step at a time, so shorter steps are easier to follow while you cook.

Times written in a step (like "bake for 25 minutes") become tappable timers in step-by-step mode, so it is worth writing them in.

Organize ingredients and steps into sections

Sections let you group a recipe into parts, like "For the dough" and "For the filling" or "Prepare the bread" and "Spread the butter". They also keep headings off your grocery list.

• Turn an existing line into a section: press and hold the line and choose Convert to section.
• Add a new section: tap the More button (three dots) next to Add Ingredient and choose Add Section, then type the section name.

Move a line between ingredients and steps

If a line ended up in the wrong place (common after an import):

• Press and hold the ingredient and choose Move to method to turn it into a step, or
• Drag and drop the line between the ingredients and the method.

Delete or reorder lines

• To delete a line, tap the red minus button beside it.
• To reorder, drag a line up or down.

Common questions after the 2026.5 update

Where did the time scroll wheels go? They have been replaced by typed entry, which is faster. Type the digits (for example, 130 for 1 hour 30 minutes) and tap the checkmark.

Where is the ingredient keypad? It has been removed. Type the full ingredient line as plain text and Crouton splits out the quantity and unit for you.

How do I make a section now? Press and hold a line and choose Convert to section, or use the More button (three dots) next to Add Ingredient and choose Add Section.

Crouton split my ingredient the wrong way. Tap the line, correct the text, and save. If a particular kind of line is always split wrong, let us know using the final section.

When to contact Crouton support

If the editor is not saving your changes, or lines are disappearing or splitting incorrectly even after you update to the latest version, reach out, and we will take a look. Please include:

• A screenshot or screen recording showing the issue
• The ingredient or step text that is not behaving, if it is a specific line
• Your Crouton version, your iOS or macOS version, and your device model

You can find your version and device details on the support screen inside the app, which fills most of this in automatically when emailing via the feedback/support links in the app.

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