Quick start

How to use Plated

Plated helps you turn restaurant dishes into realistic home recipes that cost less. Follow this flow to get the most out of the app.

1. Step 1

   Paste a menu, describe a craving, or upload a photo

   On the home page, pick a mode: paste menu text to detect multiple dishes at once, describe what you're craving or what's in your fridge for a single recipe, or upload a photo of a menu.

2. Step 2

   Generate affordable home versions

   Plated builds practical ingredients and steps so you can cook a similar dish at home. Not happy with a result? Retry it or regenerate with a preset like "Make cheaper," "Make faster," "Make healthier," or "Vegetarian."

3. Step 3

   Save favorites to your library

   When you find one you like, save it. Saved recipes appear in your Library, where you can edit them, swap a single ingredient with an AI substitution preset, or chat with the AI to make freeform changes like "less spicy" or "double the servings."

4. Step 4

   Cook with step-by-step mode

   Open a recipe and start Cook Mode for a full-screen, step-by-step walkthrough of ingredients and instructions.

5. Step 5

   Plan your week and share it

   Use the Planner to assign saved recipes, dining-out nights, or leftovers to each day. Invite a partner from Settings to collaborate on a shared household plan.

6. Step 6

   Build a grocery list

   Generate a grocery list from saved recipes or straight from a planner week—ingredients are merged and grouped by store section so you can check items off while shopping.

7. Step 7

   Share and connect with friends

   Toggle a recipe's visibility to share it publicly, browse other people's shared recipes on Explore, and add friends from a profile or Explore card to see their libraries.

Helpful tips

• Longer menu text usually gives better dish detection than very short snippets.
• Use Settings to add a profile handle before sharing recipes publicly.
• Keep recipes private by default and only toggle visibility for dishes you want to share.
• The Describe mode is great when you don't have a menu—just say what you're in the mood for or what ingredients you have on hand.
• Invite a household collaborator from Settings to plan and grocery-shop together on a shared weekly plan.