Zest: Meal Planner & Helper App Reviews

Seems so helpful and beneficial, but... I started to do the profile setup, and got to the end and saw the prices for multiple different plans. As a college student, I absolutely can’t afford this, even at $7 a month - mainly cause I’m so busy with classes, homework, and work that I wouldn’t be able to properly utilize or benefit from a 7-day free trial (personally). I have to scrimp and save every dollar. I want to try this SO BADLY. I’m hoping there will one day be a student discount. If not, see yall in 2.5 years when I graduate, PLEASE don’t go away in the meantime. I’ll be back!

Great for the first few days. Really loved this app at the beginning. Love the concept but thats about it. I cook at home a lot but just follow recipes and I’ve been wanting to dive deeper into the science behind cooking. I tested into level 6 and I’ve completed that level in a few days and seems like there are no more levels, unless you pay (I'm assuming). Unfortunately $10 a month is kind of ridiculous for a 2 minute lesson and for an app that aesthetically looks unfinished. It’s advertised as being like Duolingo but for cooking, but Duolingo has an option to watch adds for people who can’t afford to pay for the app.

i am OBSESSED!. In a world where going out isn’t as common anymore, everyone is looking for hobbies. And can I just say, this is the PERFECT one. This app is absolutely genius. I’ve always been hesitant to cook new things, because let’s be honest, recipe books can be pretty difficult to follow. But this takes online recipes to the next level. You actually LEARN about what you’re cooking and how to achieve the perfect flavors. It’s knowledge that you can take from one meal, to the next to completely amplify your cooking experience. The shopping list option that lets you put exactly how many people you’ll be cooking for, and then corresponds with exactly what you need to buy is the most convenient thing. If you’re bored, and want to pick up a hobby, this app is the perfect place to pick up *experienced* cooking! Hats off to the creator, very impressed!😮‍💨

Confidence builder. I just cooked my first meal and it was a hit! I still had issues with some things, like my own distractibility. But, I think this will help my major cooking anxiety and I’ve already learned some helpful basics. The detailed shopping list with substitutions was so great. And the simplicity! Every step was broken down and there were several tiny how-to videos covering nearly every little question and insecurity I had as I cooked. I’m definitely looking forward to continuing the subscription.

Life-Changer. I’ve only been using this app for a little bit, but it’s already made a huge difference in my life. I really wanted to up my cooking game and after taking a look at what this app has to offer I knew it was worth the purchase. I already feel so much more confident in the kitchen using this app, and everything I made has been delicious. The best part is getting compliments every day at work because of how good my food smells, and looks! thank you zest

Genuinely excited. Having just cooked my first meal with this app, I feel I can say I’m very excited for where I’ll go with it! I’ve long been looking for something this accessible to help me learn and feel more comfortable with cooking. I think I can say that I’ve found that with Zest. The wealth of knowledge available in each recipe really makes you feel at ease with each recipe, with bite-sized tips and tricks through videos within the steps. I love the broad range of recipes even separated by your skill level, with more complex dishes and simple single-digit ingredient dishes all available even at my introductory skill level. This move was genius, I think, because having that rush of being able to make something delicious and quick but also learning as I go will definitely help keep me engaged! I honestly can’t wait to explore more recipes and learn more, I already have a dozen recipes saved! Addition to my previous review after using it for a while longer: I love this app for how it has helped me cook for my family a lot more than I used to in my pre-Zest days! One gripe and suggestion for a clarification to add for equipment: I have many times not used the right sized bowl or pan or pot. Saying “small” or “large” is not always specific enough. A suggested volume of size would be immensely helpful! In fact, I would love to see a View Details option for the Equipment section in the future.

Beyond my expectations. I always worry when apps have less than a thousand reviews and are five stars. I have no reasonable explanation for this but I was worried this app was too good to be true based on the reviews. Honestly though it’s gone beyond my expectations the jokes are funny and the tips are perfect for my ADHD brain. I NEED to know why I’m doing things to understand HOW to do it. I wish the subscription had more pricing options but overall this has been a great app so far.

Perfect for ultra beginners. As a young 20-something who has never learned how to cook ANYTHING (I even struggled with Mac and cheese!), I am now cooking meals that younger me would have never thought I could for less than half of the effort that “easy recipes” call for. I especially love how it is a safe space for someone like me who didn’t know ANY cooking terms (like “sweat”). Zest highlights any terms it uses in blue which pulls up a video covering the exact specifics of any term I’m unsure of. It treats me like a toddler, but respectfully, and I appreciate it so dang much!! Also, and I can’t stress this enough for gamer or younger users, it GAMIFIES cooking (yesss!!!) Leveling up and gaining XP is such a great motivation booster! For sure went from someone who can’t cook at all to feeling super grown up when I can cook ACTUAL meals that make me feel great thanks to this app!!

Very helpful!. This app is an incredibly well made resource. It’s well adjusted to the users experience as well as the users age. I like the goals it offers you and I think it’s smart that one of the options is “learn to use ingredients that you have on hand”- because I live in an ingredient household with the cooking ability of a toddler. Perfect for teenagers who need to learn to cook before going to college (me). One note I have is the portions are a bit large with a recipe for 6 making food for more like 8-9. Otherwise, amazing, showstopping, 10/10 would recommend 🤩

This app is the chef’s kiss 🤌. Im a beginner vegetarian so a friend told me to check out this app and it’s been super helpful to how I think about cooking. Highly recommend the food 101 quiz/learnings like the Fat and Acid fundamentals. But my fav thing is the recipes!! The directions and ingredients are super simple and easy to understand. Hoping for even more recipes in the future and thanks for literally changing my life by improving the deliciousness and healthiness of my food decisions!

I'm learning!. My problem with all of the various cooking subscription boxes was that (a) I'm getting the exact same ingredients every week and (b) I didn't really feel connected to what I was cooking; there was no "why" involved with each step. With Zest it truly made me understand and realize the joy of cooking because I'm learning what everything does and how it all fits together. It feels like I'm progressing towards mastery of a hobby rather than just completing a list of tasks set forth by the recipe of the week. This app is brilliant, hilarious, so easy to use, and most of all FUN. I used to loathe cooking but now I look forward to what I'm going to be learning next. Thanks for breaking me out of this anti-cooking rut, Zest crew! I can't wait to see this app grow!

Love it. Loving the app. Main thing id like to be incorporated are allergies and dietary restrictions to help us find recipes we can work with. I’m allergic to blueberries lactose intolerant so being able to have recipes that exclude blueberries and dairy would be great. (Lol I’d even be fine with a lactose intolerance scale since some people only get a mild stomach ache while others end up on the toilet for a while.) I feel like including options for those with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, people with celiac, IBS and other conditions would be helpful too. Recipes could be low sugar or low carb, and even gluten free.

Great app so far!!. I’ve used the app a bit and so far I really like it. The videos are interesting and informative and it has been a great place for me to learn more and get more cooking experience under my belt. I saw that some ppl say you have to pay for the app in the future? If that’s the case then that would deter me from using it. I could maybe do a short ad once in a while but I wouldn’t want to pay in the future. Really cute app and illustration design. Pretty user friendly. The simplicity makes for good UX/UI design. I would recommend a subtitle option for the videos that you could turn on or off. I think you should add the option to take a picture of your meal after you finish a recipe that would be added to a scrapbook of sorts so you can see all of your progress and past meals!!! (Or even if the picture was just connected to the meal after you added it to your cookbook or something.) I love being able to store pictures of my work!

I love this app.. I never write app reviews, but this app is amazing. I’m 29 and I really really really have been struggling to learn to cook, to the point where my ribs are sticking out!! No more. I’ve tried two recipes on the app so far — the Mac and Cheese, and the Curry Chicken Salad… and the salad just did it for. Best thing I’ve eaten in a year, and I made it myself. Love the concepts, execution, and recipes. The concepts are well taught, demoed and they really make it easy to learn. Lovely intuitive app design. 10/10, no question. Recommended it to another culinary challenged friend, and am super excited to have this app on my phone. A complete lifesaver. Thank you Zest team!

Great app for beginners!!. It’s excellent, the check boxes on ingredients is very smart and the instructions are clear. Maybe need more instructions on heat levels on the stove throughout the recipe but otherwise very easy to follow. I also love the teaching aspect. One big thought that you all could do is do a “weeks grocery” feature, where you choose the dishes you want and it consolidates into one grocery list (the shopping list is v helpful as is btw). I just recommend this bc I feel like people only grocery shop once a week and this could facilitate. Also another feature at some point could be a built in timer next to the relevant cooking step, that way everything is self contained (I found jumping between my timer and the app was a bit odd). All in all, great great job!!! It’s an awesome app and I’m gonna subscribe rn

Has literally changed the way I view cooking. Cooking used to be such a chore to me. Each step was time consuming and annoying from having to search for a recipe that I liked/thought would be good to going out and buying everything and then trying to follow the often times confusing recipes. Zest has changed everything. With every meal I make using the app I get more and more excited about cooking for myself. I feel way more confident in the kitchen, I am buying less fast food, and I feel accomplished. I just finished making a meal and it is easily some of the best food I have ever made for myself or had a friend or family member make for me.

Not the target audience. So I like this app, but it’s not really for me. I tested into level 6 immediately, and was hoping it would go into more advanced cooking techniques. It doesn’t appear to do so. For the price tag, I don’t think there are really enough recipes to suggest it to friends who are learning how to cook either. I am enjoying the quick review of some skills, and am going to make use of my 5 free recipes, but it’s not really for people who can already cook who are trying to level up their cooking.

Great app - minor subscription issue. Love the app! Recipes are amazing and it’s laid out in such an entertaining and easy to understand format. However - when I subscribed to the app it told me I was subscribing to the $45/year subscription, and two weeks later I was charged for the $80/year subscription. I was not too thrilled to be charged that much more when I was under the impression I was being charged for the lower amount. Be sure to check your subscription after the two week trial period to ensure you aren’t charged more than you anticipated.

I’m a frickin chef now. Not kidding I always hated cooking. I never understood it and it was always so overwhelming and complicated to me, but ever since this app I feel SO confident. I cooked 2 new dishes this week and I feel on top of the world. Being able to make a healthy simple new dish for my husband and kids is the best feeling ever. I feel so happy there’s an app that teaches me from square ONE. I also love the little encouragements during the recipes. I love this app. 10/10!

Scary sound!. Okay so I love this app. At first glance, I love the learning, I love the shopping list and all the categories including depression meals, etc. I wish it was a little cheaper or had a lifetime purchase, but that’s okay and nothing too noteworthy. I’m mostly very excited to use this app. But the one thing is the sound when you get a question right SCARES THE CRAP out of me every time. It’s loud and kind of aggressive, no matter how low my volume is. I like having it on to hear the correct/incorrect sounds in general but woah! I feel like that could be gentler. Overall thank you this app was a fabulous idea and something I needed a long time ago. Hopefully everything works as it looks because I’m excited!

Transformative !. Coming from someone who was literally afraid to boil water no less than 2 weeks ago, this app has been transformative. I can now make healthy and delicious meals for me and my family and I am learning new skills. The shopping list feature makes life so much easier and takes away the stress of meal planning. The free trial was great and getting the monthly subscription was a no brainer.

The dream cooking app. I'm going off to college and have no idea how to cook, so I downloaded Zest. Not only has it given me some recipes, but it's been teaching me the basics of cooking so I can make my own stuff too. The videos are entertaining but also really helpful and they feel more like someone's vlogs than an app. Also, it gives you a "grocery list" (so you don't miss ingredients) and lists the cook time so you know what you're getting yourself into. All in all, it's an informative and entertaining app with a cute interface, absolutely worth the download.

Amazing app. I just downloaded this app and watched the first lesson. I love the app design, concept, graphics, videos, and humor. I am so excited to have found this app, this will help me and so many of my friends. Love the menu and ingredients feature and even the question mark next to uncommon ingredients this app has streamlined all the hard parts of finding something to make for dinner. Thank you !!!

I seriously want to cry. I downloaded this app today and a seriously want to cry . I’ve been coming out of burn out (I’m AuDHD) and my safe food has been jacks pizza and Mac and cheese. Or fast food. I’ve been hesitant to go back to hello fresh because of the $ and I just don’t have the executive functioning skills to meal plan. The shopping feature has taken all of that out for me and I’m so excited to save money, eat healthier and hopefully lose some weight. Thank you!!

The best cooking app around. I've been a big fan of zest since the beginning, for probably over a year now and its great. I love that you can press and hold on the ingredients for more info, like where in the store to look and substitutes for the ingredient. The videos are also very helpful for beginners like me who have no clue how to cut vegetables and cooking in general. I've gotten a lot better in the kitchen since I've used this app. Another plus is they have a wide variety of recipes. The one thing I wish the app did have is a comment section on the recipes, so the users of the app can give each other tips on executing the recipes. But that's the only real criticism I have of the app.

Great idea- unfortunate execution. I LOVED this app when it first came out- literally recommended it to all my friends, but now I’m embarrassed to have done so. Within a week of downloading, almost every recipe has been put under “pro” with no way of unlocking it without paying an unreasonable amount. I would prefer ads to unlock recipes instead of having to pay a subscription for them. Without paying the app has very little to offer. The concept is great and I was super excited at first but I hope in the future the developers find a better way to provide access to the features.

Well worth it. I absolutely love this app. I spent the $60 on the yearly subscription and I feel like I’ve saved significantly more than that. Many of the recipes are easy, fast, and yummy. I love how they’re rated so you know what you’re getting into. There are some recipes where I question if they’ve even been tested, but others are incredible. I wish there was a way to edit the recipes so that you remember to substitute certain things next time you cook, or add your own recipes for safe keeping. Otherwise, I love this app. Thank you, Zest, for bringing back my love of cooking.

No vegan dietary preference. App looks cool, even the introduction quiz was quite fun. I like the app’s layout and “level” system. It feels good to have a benchmark throughout my cooking journey. However, without a vegan dietary preference, it isn’t very usable. The great thing about the app is the importance of flavor profile and understanding the elements of cooking so, with my ignorance, I don’t think I could probably do my own swaps for dairy free. For example, something calls for whole milk or cream, probably not an easy sub for almond milk because of the fat needed for richness and acid balance. Or, how much almond milk compared to whole cow milk. Butter vs margarine. Things like that. I wanted something to help me take the guess work out of meal planning. Ill be waiting! I understand updates are being made so, maybe one day I’ll stumble upon the app again and see added dietary needs. Thank you and take care!

Thank you!!. I hated cooking and felt limited on what I was able to cook. I’ve been trying to learn how to cook new things but I always failed. I never understood why anyone enjoyed cooking until I got this app. This is the only app that has made recipes and cooking concepts easy and digestible for me. I’m about to make my first recipe from this app tonight!! I’m so excited and I actually feel confident now. Thanks guys!! ❤️❤️

Great app!. This is an awesome app! It's such a fun and easy way to improve my cooking skills with simple, bite-sized tips. The recipes are fantastic—well-written and straightforward, making it easy to scale up if you're cooking for more people. I especially appreciate having all the ingredient amounts right in the directions, so there's no need to keep scrolling back and forth. The short videos are a game-changer, too—they explain techniques so clearly that I feel like I truly understand each step. Highly recommended for anyone looking to up their kitchen game!

Delicious and educational!. A great app with helpful fun tips and delicious recipes! I really appreciate the ability to build a grocery list quickly and the videos are very nice. They even note clean up times so you can clean as you work. I like to listen to a good podcast as I cook with this app open and it is quickly becoming a new favorite way to prep my meals.

ily zest. I downloaded this last week and I’m obsessed. I’ve been intimidated by cooking forever, and my parents didn’t cook much. As a 27 year old, I’ve felt embarrassed and ashamed that I can only stick to a couple basic dishes and then rely on my partner otherwise. I love the humor in your copywriting and videos as well as the “why’s” throughout the recipes. You’ve made cooking accessible, fun, and now something I look forward to. I don’t avoid the kitchen now. Thank you 🫶🫶 (Also I’m pretty sure this is the only review I’ve ever left for an app… so like you know it’s real deal good stuff 😌)

Love this!!. I am a college student who has recently decided to take up cooking in order to eat healthier and save money. This app helps so much with that especially with the option of “i’m cooking because i want to save money”. The only thing about this app that i’m not a huge fan of is the fact that I can’t put in my dietary restrictions such as allergies. I know they haven’t gotten that far in regards to the app but once they do, it’ll be an easy 5 stars from me :)

I have a gf now. Look - I’m not proud of it but I talked a big game on the first date. I said I can cook (I wasn’t lying - I write dank software & make sick beats) but in the kitchen an omelet was about as far as I could take it. Date no2 was approaching quickly - panic. That’s when I remembered this app. First off I love that it literally, with the click of a button, gets all my ingredients in Instacart. I am used to living in my little coding cave - don’t make me search for a thing I’ve never heard off in the wrong isle. This feature alone would be worth the monthly sub. BUT THEN - IT ACTUALLY TEACHES YOU USEFUL LITTLE TRICKS I CAN USE FOREVER. I’m not just mindlessly following a recipe - although you could do that bc it’s so easy - but for example the trick that my grandma would’ve thought me if she had the patience - of checking if your chicken is ready by holding the knife against your lip??? I love that you are giving me this life skill that 1:1 has helped me back up my big game talk and I now have a lovely gf thanks to it 🥰 if this turns into marriage you all are invited for sure

Love this app — great for those new to the kitchen. I have never considered myself a good cook and have always felt out of my element in the kitchen, until I completed a Zest lesson!!! The videos are interesting and informative and directly correlate to the recipes provided. First time I’ve felt capable in the kitchen!! :) The format of the recipes is also very cool. I liked that it provided further learning videos on knife skills and cooking basics — very necessary for me. Overall, a great app. Very user-friendly and, as evidenced by the pasta I am currently eating, an excellent learning tool. Super excited to continue using!!!!

Impressed. I’ve been cooking for my family for 20 years. I just downloaded it and watched a recipe and I LOVE the format! Each time it tells you to cut a vegetable, there’s a little video to show you how, or if it says “brown the meat” there’s a little video showing you how to do it correctly. The instructions are very clear and very simple - not intimidating for new (or old 😆) cooks. Also, the instructor in the videos is great teacher! Nice voice and just enough personality to keep it interesting. The recipes even tell you when you have a minute or two to clean up and reset your cooking space! I am not 100 percent sold on the variety/taste of the recipes - I haven’t tried any yet, but I’m not blown away by the selection. Still - I will withhold judgement until I try a few. Still giving 5 stars because i think this app is GENIUS and it is so user-friendly. I’m definitely sending this app on to my almost fully grown teenagers/college students. Well done!!

Super good recipes and helpful lessons. this app is super good if you want to learn how to cook. It walks you through the steps of how to cook it really thoroughly and (so far) gives you the basics on taste and the specifics of how to balance them as well as methods of cooking. I would seriously recommend this app. Ive already found myself using things from the app in my daily life as I cook. The only thing I’d say, is that for the most part there are are a lot of ingredients that you would need to buy that most people dont just have lying around in the kitchen. But all of the recipes have been amazing so far! Totally recommend getting this app

Not worth it if you have any prior cooking knowledge. I'm by no means a chef, but I cook at home semi regularly. I tested out of most of the levels and now I'm stuck at level 6. Im not sure if that's the max level or if I could pay to unlock more. I'm not sure why they bothered making this app free, because it's not functional without paying. Free users can only unlock 3 recipes, and you can't learn to cook from 3 recipes. Some of the recipes are a waste of time like a baked potato, avocado toast, grilled cheese, plain unseasoned pasta, or literally just adding your own toppings to a frozen pizza. An app for cooking is a good idea, but not worth paying for when you can google new recipes myself.

I really like it. First off there is no better or easier interface out there so congrats on how strong this is aesthetically, it makes me feel like my life is extra together just because my cooking app is so well assembled too. Secondly, thanks for having all the content available on there for free, its so good and useful and I have literally zero dollars so if in the future you plan to add more behind a paywall can I just watch an ad or something to accumulate whatever necessary points will let me unlock it and keep it unlocked for at least like 24 hours (so I'm not frustratingly rewatching an ad every single time I click on it or something bc I jump around a lot on my phone while I cook and also go to the grocery store with this) bc I wanna keep this app around forever!!!!! Thanks!!

I’m amazed!. I found this app from that “I decided to create a Duolingo for cooking” reel and I was like “hey, that’s a cool idea” and I’ve been procrastinating actually using because I don’t like creating accounts and boy have I missed out! You even made a shopping list!! That’s great! I also have a very low attention span so when I saw the videos I was like ughhhhh but the way you talk is really engaging!!

fantastic! i have some ideas. while i love this app so far, it's been very difficult for my mother to use (she also downloaded it) because she has hearing troubles and the instructional videos don't have captions. there was a feature on her phone which captioned all sound played through the device, but it hasn't been working for her recently. simply adding captions or a readable alternative to the videos would make it much more accessible. I know i'm not the only one with food allergies. i have more allergies than the average person, some mild, some life-threatening. a feature that allows users to fill out allergy info and only be shown recipes they aren't allergic to would be very inclusive and make the app a lot easier to use.

In love ❤️. I absolutely love cooking, but find it to be so intimidating and exhausting. Preparing meat, making sauces, and eating foods out of my comfort zone were all a nightmare until I started using this app. Before, I would go out to eat as often as I could to avoid the stress of cooking. And when I did cook, it would be one of the same 3 meals. This app made cooking fun for me again. I’ve learned so many new ways to look at food and ingredients, that I now feel confident enough to substitute things- and even improvise in the kitchen. Mistakes don’t defeat me. The oven doesn’t scare me. Instead of eating a bag of chips for a late night snack, I make a simple pasta. At night before bed, I scroll through the recipes or complete lessons, and feel excited to wake up tomorrow and get to cook something. Thank you, my Zestie. ❤️

A Neurodivergent Dream. I love this app so far. It keeps all the information I need in front of me at all times. If I forget how to cut an onion there is an inline video. When I don’t know how to store an ingredient after using only half, a long press brings up contextual Information. If I could offer on feature request it would be the use of a pantry library. Help me keep track of ingredients I’ve bought for other recipes that I can use to save money. Suggest recipes based in food I might already have based on my pantry. This would be amazing!

Bug Report. I’ve been using this app for about a month now and I absolutely love the way cooking at home has changed, so there was no doubt when it came to buying the subscription! However there has been a few times where the app crashes and I can’t get into to it for shopping and for cooking and was wondering if any else has had the same problem. Please help. SOS!

Genuinely impressed. As a young woman in construction, cooking in the kitchen has NEVER been a priority of mine. I got home from a long day of work and wanted food NOW, unless I had already stopped and grabbed fast food beforehand. With that came a serious lack of knowledge in the kitchen. As I started a serious health journey I realized I wanted to try prepping my meals for the week so I didn’t have to stress when I came home. Well that all sounded great, but I had ZERO knowledge OR confidence on making anything out of the ordinary until I found this app. The amount of knowledge they give you on seemingly EVERY part of cooking, PLUS how they have the recipes and pre made grocery list from your selections is so convenient and something I’ve been searching in an app for a while. Highly recommend you give this app a try!

This is changing my life.. I struggle with what to eat on a daily basis. By the time it gets to dinner, I’m so mentally exhausted that thinking of what to make is draining. I used to cook and genuinely enjoy cooking, I don’t know what happened over the years. This app has brought my love back to cooking, and has reminded me many tricks I have forgotten or didn’t know. The recipes look relatively healthy too, and the ability to filter out red meat is nice too as so many things contain that. Now I don’t have to think of an idea - I can look through recipes and randomly pull one out to make an amazing and healthy dinner.

SUCH A GOOD APP!!!. This app literally teaches you to cook as if you were in culinary school, but they make it interesting and so easy to understand! They give you 2 free weeks but honestly I’ll probably spend the money for a yearly subscription. They make a $3 meal taste like it is $30! I normally wouldn’t want to use a food making app because I’ve always felt like it wasn’t worth the money or the effort. But the way they explain things, and everything, it just is so worth the money and the effort. I would recommend this app to everyone I can

Cute, but needs work. I uninstalled pretty quickly, I didn’t think the skill level they placed me at was accurate. The quizzes asked questions that weren’t in the learning programs (how am I going to come to the conclusion that the right vinaigrette ratio is 4:2 without there being anything about portioning in the module). Additionally, it placed me at level 2 which included recipes like roasted veggies and cold tuna wraps. Great, but I could make those when I was 12. I wish there was something that could give me more advanced recipes, I’m not going to be overwhelmed just because I didn’t know that bake vs roast would be better to use depending on the situation.

So happy to find this app. This app has been really great. It’s helping me develop my thinking about cooking: how to make substitutions that make sense and how to think about the elements of what I am making (“ok the acidic and fatty ingredients are working together” that kind of stuff.) It is already making me a more capable and more creative home cook. Tonight’s Paneer Tika Masala was my best dish yet. The lessons are well-planned and the writing has a good sense of humor. Very sweet and thoughtful. Highly recommend!

SO FUN!. I love this app so much, I never really enjoyed cooking before because i found it confusing and stressful but this app has made me want to cook dinner every night. The nights that I don’t have time to cook dinner genuinely make me sad and even more excited for when I can cook my next meal. This app taught me how to cook my first chicken, steak, and fish. I used to stay clear of cooking any protein because I thought it would be really hard and I’d accidentally make my self sick but this app has really changed my life!

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a fun way to learn cooking!. First of all, most of the recipes need to be paid for. But the very simple ones don’t and they take you through step by step. This is a really fun way to learn the basics/ expand your previous cooking knowledge and I hope more people find this app because it’s so useful!!

Crashing. Good app but I think measurement should be more precise as half a box of macaroni can differentiate. Also any time I try and do a difficulty other than easy the app crashes.

Amazing potential. I’m an absolute novice regarding cooking, so an app like this is a dream come true. There is a paywall, but they need to make money somehow, and I prefer paying to watching adds. The lessons are helpful, and I like the suggested recipes feature. It would be helpful if there was a ‘size’ option in the meals, because some of the beginner ones will be things like ‘a boiled egg’, little more than a snack, and ‘cooked pasta’ which I would assume is a full meal. As an Australian, it is very obvious this app is made in America with a large American bias. Measuring cups are different here, which makes things difficult for a beginner. We do not have ‘marinara’ here as another example. Localisation would be amazing if the budget can afford that (for example, the closest we have to marinara would be ‘pasta sauce’). Lastly, I’ve had at least one instance of confusion while reading recipes. In the ‘Mac and cheese’ recipe, a box of Mac and cheese is referenced. We don’t have boxes, so I’m curious if this refers to a single serve packet we have. Later in the same recipe, 225 grams of shredded cheddar is added to a bowl, then 70g to the pot, but it is never mentioned where the rest of the cheese should go (I added it all, way too cheesy, probably a rookie mistake, but the confusion didn’t help) Overall, this has great potential, and with a bit of polish, and then some marketing, I think it has the potential to blow up.

A lot of paid recipes. I downloaded this so I can get better at cooking and learn new techniques, recipes and stop relying on takeout. However, you need to pay for a subscription to unlock meal recipes. I searched for breakfasts I can make, and the only one which was available to me was “baked potato”. All the proper breakfast foods were locked behind a paywall. I recommend just googling recipes. There are plenty of sites online which are helpful and free.

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I was skeptical but its really good. I just want to support the app because this is such a cool project and its great for me. I am a beginner cook who likes cooking but doesn’t know the science behind it. This app goes into detail about what makes food taste good. It feels like going to cullinary arts school!

Good app, too expensive. Really great app, the dev team killed it, however the subscription fee is way too much, would've considered it if it was around half as much.

Simple, easy to understand and great design.. I would a 100% recommend this app if you wanna learn how to cook like actually I’m so glad I saw the ad for it on tt ‼️‼️

New product update is liiiiittttt. As mentioned above, new product update is liiiiittttt. Getting Recipe recommendations based on effort/curiosity, and putting tutorial videos in-line with recommend recipe feed 🤌. Mergin the learnin & cookin

Best app on the app store. Honoured to have been one of the first 50 reviews. Too good of an app

What I’ve been looking for all my life!. I’ve always struggled with cooking and never was taught the basics so I had no jumping off point to work with. This app quizzes you and sees your skill level and works with you to develop them!! Basics like different levels of water heating, knife skills and where to store ingredients or find them in a store! All things most people overlook but so desperately needed for people like me! I’m really happy to have found an app that truly starts from the ground up and doesn’t assume you know the basics already and also adds little chefs tips that usually are gatekept!

Unprofessional - but good recipes. I used to recommend this app to everyone I know. However, after months of use, they one day restricted my access to a paywall. I do not think this app is worth the cost and I think it is extremely unprofessional to turn it into a paid app and restrict access without warning. I think this app is a powerful tool and really changed my outlook on cooking and gave me the tools I needed to become comfortable in the kitchen. This app is a great recipe book and I enjoyed the recipes I learned to cook from all cultures on this app. I will truly miss this app, but I cannot support this unprofessional business model

Changed my life. I went from eating chips for dinner to cooking meals for my family. This app is brilliant, informative and inspiring. Highly recommend to anyone interested in expanding their knowledge!

Once Great, Now Paywalled. I used to love this app. It was my go-to resource for learning how to cook, offering a ton of recipes and step-by-step tutorials that made even the most complex dishes approachable. The video guides and lessons were incredibly helpful. I found myself using it whenever I had the chance. However, everything changed when they introduced a paywall. The app went from being a treasure trove of free content to offering just five free recipes. This sudden shift felt like a betrayal to long-time users like myself who had grown to depend on its extensive recipe book. While I understand the need for developers to monetize their efforts, the transition was handled poorly. There was no warning or gradual shift; it was an abrupt cutoff. The new subscription model might be reasonable, but the lack of communication and consideration for existing users left a bad taste in my mouth. In summary, while the app still has great potential, the sudden implementation of a paywall with limited free content has significantly diminished its value. I hope the developers consider more user-friendly ways to balance monetization with accessibility. Until then, I’ll be searching for alternatives.

Everything you’d need. I absolutely adore the little details that make this app work. The attention to detail in each aspect of the app is what really brings it together to make a one of a kind cooking app. For example, if you look at the details of a specific ingredient, it gives you substitution ideas, shopping tips, and general information. I love this so much and will definitely keep using it

Very helpful!. I was looking for a long time about an app that help me cook and not only show recipes. This app motivate me to learn more about cooking. Very easy to use and so helpful with portion and what to buy at the grocery store. For now there are limited number of recipes but they continue to add more and more. I took the annual subscription and it’s really worth the price.

Amazing app!!. This app is awesome for beginner cooks such as myself, especially as I transition to a time in my life where I must cook my own meals. I do wish that there were captions on the video modules however to make it more accessible because right now they are kind of hard to understand to me 😭😭

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Good App. It’s a well made app, but I wish the trial was a little longer. I only had time to make one recipe and did a few lessons. I’m not sure if it’s worth the subscription fee. It does seem to have a lot of great tips even for someone who’s been cooking a while. I think I’d rather buy a book that teaches me these things.

I like my kitchen now. Zest is a real life changer if you want to learn to cook but don't know where to start and don't want to put hours in at a time. The small lessons and quizzes really help me learn why and how to cook certain things. The menu/recipes are the best part. I can finally make good meals for my friends and impress them!

Not affordable for low/middle income college students. I really enjoyed this app when it first blew up on Tiktok and was recommending it to all my friends… but having a $10 per month “subscription” is a little ridiculous. It’d make more sense to have to watch ads to build up credits or even a pay-per-lesson instead. As a college student, I don’t have the means to pay $10 a month which is odd to have to do for more lessons since it seems like that’s the targeted audience for this app…

cute idea, kind of boring. I love the idea of this app! I downloaded it off suggestion from an online influencer. But there’s no way to filter what foods a person likes. I’m a vegetarian, and unfortunately there’s not a lot of options or filters to figure out dietary restrictions. Many recipes are near repetitive with different kinds of meats. It’s fun! But as a vegetarian with a vegetarian family, it’s highly lacking.

New father. As a new father with limited cooking experience this app has been amazing for me to come in and start cooking. From teaching me the basics and then continuing to expand my knowledge my wife has never been happier with my cooking. Happy wife and baby thanks to Zest

Love this app. I love this app, love the diversity - but you have to subscribe, a membership. This is inevitable, but still disappointing - I love the way they set up the app to where you can get instructional videos if needed and you get basic information on cooking that not a lot of people use, simple things to improve your dish that don’t take up much time at all.

A MUST HAVE!. Zest really changed my experience in the kitchen for the better. Not only are you following a recipe but you are learning in the process. Such a smart idea for an app. Will definitely be using this again!! My spiced fish with sweet peppers came out *chef’s kiss* 🤌👩‍🍳

SO GRATEFUL FOR THIS APP. I have only made one dish so far but I’m so excited to keep using this app to cook! I have already learned so much and am so happy with the results. Such a helpful method of teaching while not making you feel like it’s “too hard” or anything like that. I would recommend this to anyone and am eager to keep learning!

Learn how to cook!. Zest is an app that teaches you how to cook. Not how to make one recipe and make it again and again. You can create your own world of food with the skills you learn in this app. It’s 100% necessary for anyone who needs help adulting!

Amazed. I'm honestly shocked at how great the app is since it's so new, there's a reason it's already a 5 star app. Insanely helpful and simple, easy to use, straightforward. I can't wait to see how it grows with new updates, it's already a great app but I can see the potential as it grows.

Missing essentials. So, I saw the app on TikTok or something like it. I was super excited about the app and downloaded it right away to learn more about cooking and much to my disappointment there weren’t options for your profile to select allergies or dial in your preferences more finely which seems like a miss for a cooking app. Really wanted to give it a try but until those features get added I will delete the app probably forget about it which is a bummer for me. I hope everyone else can overlook those missing features.

Brilliant! So helpful!. This is brilliant! It has not only streamlined my cooking and shopping experience but it’s given me new skills. So easy to use and follow with lots of awesome recipes! It’s definitely taken my cooking to the next level!

I use this constantly!. Such a cool app for learning new recipes and how to cook! It’s so well designed and easy to use. I’m so happy to have found this. Whether you’re just starting learning to cook or you’re looking for new ideas/recipes, this is for you.

Life Saver. This app saved my marriage, health, and sanity. My sauté skills are unrivaled. I’m peerless in the arena of browning. My shopping lists at Whole Foods are neat, efficient, and succinct. My chicken dishes are regionally famous. Each engagement with this app leaves me speechless, which is why I have to eloquate in its review.

Obsessed. I started using zest when I began to brave the big and scary world of cooking, and now I don’t know where I’d be without it. Zest helped me to get comfortable in the kitchen- now cooking is my favorite part of the day! If you’re a new chef looking for an entry point in the kitchen, or a seasoned chef who knows how to make things taste good but wants to know why they taste good, zest is the app for you

SO UNDERRATED. I’m 13 and I can cook a little but usually I just have leftovers or instant ramen and stuff like that which is a pain sometimes. So I found this app and it literally is AMAZING cuz I’m always kinda embarrassed at the grocery store looking for ingredients and for every ingredient they say the specific section u can find it in. IT ALSO TAUGHT ME HOW TO REALLY COOK. I LOVE THIS APP SM

Great app for cooks at all levels. Zest has really helped me in the kitchen. Being a busy mom it’s so nice not having to come up with recipes all by myself. Zest helps with that, the grocery list and even helpful cooking videos. It’s great.

White People Queso. Thanks for the unexpected laugh! 🤣 (You’re not wrong about the queso) Great app, accessible at all levels of skill, with a dash of Gen Z humor and refreshingly laid back reassurance that the user can learn to cook well no matter where they start. Well done!

The app of my dreams. I haven’t gotten to use the app much yet but as a ux ui designer myself, I’m drooling at the interactivity this app offers. I love the organization and educational value of this product. Super motivated to learn more about cooking as I got placed on level 4 off the bat! I see a lot of potential in this apps development growth. Well done!

No vegan options. So I love the concept. For someone who has no beginning knowledge of cooking/food etc it’s perfect. But being vegan and having other specific food allergies makes it harder to learn the meals. If there was a way to substitute out the foods for a completely different one or to have vegan, and gluten free options that would be great.

i love it. this is the first time i ever wrote a review for an app. that’s how much i love it. im a 17 year old who has absolutely zero kitchen experience and this app is so helpful. they even have little videos that show you how to chop onions and cauliflower and they have so many little tips that it really feels like someone’s right there walking you through the recipes. the app is very user friendly and has a sleek modern look. the recipes are delicious and there are so many plant based recipes- thank you so much for making it vegetarian friendly!!

Genius. This app makes me appreciate cooking way more!! The video instructions are very good and to the point. The food turns out really good. And they have so many lessons (even on cleaning) that I would’ve never thought it was import I truly love this app. You do have to pay but come on!

Helpful but bland. The app has really helped me in the cooking aspect, but not the seasoning aspect. A lot of their recipes end up being bland and I reference other recipes to determine the amount and types of seasonings I should add. However, the lessons and videos are very helpful, and the texture of the food always ends up good!

Decent app, bad payment system. Lessons are very nice and helpful with a variety of food. However having only a few, basic free lessons and a high $ subscription per month makes it not worth it. Developer should consider having 2-3 new free recipes each week that replace the last and the rest behind a subscription, definitely not a $10 per month subscription though.

No cooking app like it. This app is honestly great. I genuinely feel like a more accomplished and knowledgeable cook after I complete these meals. It’s not just making a pasta dish it’s actually learning useful skills that I could use in the future to grow as a casual but competent person in the kitchen

So much potential for zest!. So much potnetial in this app as it's the only one I have seen that teaches the basics of cooking as opposed to the high level instructions with little depth about the why things are being done the way they are.

Too pricey. This app was great when I first started using it, but they’ve put everything behind a $100/year subscription now. I’m a college student, so the subscription isn’t in my budget. I’ve enjoyed the things I learned, but I’ve reached the end of what the app has to offer now. I’m absolutely heartbroken that I can’t continue to learn and explore new techniques since it’s too expensive.

Love it!. Saw an ad by the creators on tiktok and decided to try it out. I love the design and layout of the app and how cute it is. It looks very easy to learn the recipes and I appreciate how it tells you what ingredients to get, what amounts, and what kitchen tools you need to prepare the dish. Excited to make a meal!

Home chef approved. I’ve never reviewed an app before. But I downloaded this to see if it was really that great. And it is. I’ve attended culinary school and have been a long time home chef and baker. This app is great for someone who doesn’t have the natural inclination on what to do in the kitchen. I will certainly be recommending this app.

Not enough vegan recipes. Not enough vegan recipes and if there were more than 2 it was very hard for me to navigate where they were and how to get started on the 2 that showed up needs a little more user friendly design to it and obviously more dietary restricted recipes

Huge zest fan. Zest is a lifesaver. I’ve always hated cooking till now. I’m actually learning skills and eating amazing food talk about a win win !!!! Highly recommend for all you aspiring chefs, food lovers and people in your 20s trying to feed yourselves

Only issue. I love everything about this app so much. It’s worth the price, i can choose to just learn until i want to cook. But i notice i will learn my concepts and cook a level 1 recipe but i won’t level up, i’ve stayed at 60xp for a week now?? Am i doing something wrong?

Has to be app of the year! 🤤. I was scrolling on the app store and I found this, thinking "Hey cooking sounds fun, I'll try it." The first thing I made was the meatball sub and it was top 5 most delicious thing I've ever had! This is a great app for any skill level of cooking, Its purpose to improve your cooking skills.

Won’t load. This app was great an I used it all the time, there were several go to recipes on here I loved and the option for it to load up a shopping list for you was very convenient….however for the last week or so the app refuses to load, I’ve tried rebooting my phone, deleting and redownloading, and any other basic troubleshooting I could think of an nothing seems to work. Going to cancel my subscription if this doesn’t get fixed soon.

Glitches, maybe not app’s fault. Hi, I just downloaded this app, but I’m experiencing some glitches. It seems amazing, but I can’t scroll down and the descriptions are cut short mid-sentence. This might be my phone’s small screen size, but can anybody help me with this issue? I would love to use this app, but it’s not really letting me. Thanks

Lost my progress. The new update is confusing I was at level 5 before the update after having the app for a couple months but not I’m at level 13 but unit 1. Now that I am at unit one it won’t let me plan around my old skill level I have to start with the basics like boiling water. I am hoping there is some way to get my progress back.

I love this app. The recipes are really user friendly and taste amazing. You can cook these for any company like friends or family and really impress people. The meals are better than ordering out. And the format is very easy to navigate. I’m a big fan.

Tremendous App. This app simplified the entire cooking process, from buying groceries all the way through making great meals. I made some dishes I never thought I could have and they tasted great. Highly recommend this. Easiest way to cook great meals!

New Update Buggy and Confusing. I lost all my progress on this new update. It says so many recipes are above my skill level that werent before this overhaul Most recipes either dont load their image or load the wrong one which makes visually "shopping" for a new recipe impossible. Theres no way to mark a recipe as cooked once youre done so you cant gain any xp???

Great way to learn, cook and laugh. Zest is fantastic! The app itself is beautifully designed and works incredibly well/intuitively. On top of that the information is relevant, useful and hilarious (seriously watch some of the videos they are great). Love the ability to have an easy to access shopping list as well! Great work!

Loved app, but now I can’t login. I loved this app so much and then lately I saw that I couldn’t level up no matter how many dishes I cooked. I was on level six. And then I saw every meal changed to 0xp. So I deleted the app and redownloaded it and now I cannot get back into my old account and I’m being forced to start over. I’m not sure what’s going on.

Excellent app if you never grew up cooking. I kept getting frustrated with cooking apps that assumed I knew how to correctly chop veggies or cook meat a specific way. Zest walks you through everything from shopping for groceries to balancing flavors to cleaning up efficiently. Definitely worth the sub!

The ONLY app i use regularly. If i could have dreamed up a cooking app for myself i would have looked something like Zest — I use it a few times each week to prepare dinners and it injects some liveliness in what is normally a routine moment

Don’t bother signing up, the entire app is paywalled. Saw this app through an ad on social media and it sounded interesting, so I downloaded it. It immediately forced me to enter my email and create an account, then asked me a bunch of demographic questions about my age and interests, then revealed that I would have to pay for a subscription to access any part of the app. No free content available. Nice to know they hid this fact until AFTER they’d gotten all my info to sell to advertisers. Don’t waste your time.

Finally who I want to be. I have always considered myself a great chef…sometimes to the chagrin of family and friends. Luckily, the fine people of Zest believed in me, and now I have the moves to back it up🧑‍🍳✨Also love how I can be conscious about what I buy and how I use it, so I can waste less (and taste more)!!!

No allergen options. I’ve been cooking a lot more than I ever have recently because my partner has Celiac Disease. I downloaded this app because it boasted that it was “like Duolingo but for cooking” and Duolingo has been great for teaching us languages. When I went onto this app, all I was asked about was my preference on meat. That’s it… no questions about allergies or anything of the sort. Gluten is becoming a more and more common intolerance/allergen.

Yeah, this is awesome.. I genuinely cannot believe no one has made a cooking app designed to teach. Like Duolingo or something. Little bite-sized pieces of knowledge that are explained simply. Like 1 minute videos max. And like easy recipes that illustrate those points. Like I cook everyday, I should at least learn something. Wait, this app does just that 😈

Perfect cooking app??. Seriously/ so well designed, very thought out, funny, and just incredibly user-friendly. Feels like the only cooking app that actually thinks critically about how to get those like me who are brand new to cooking in the game. If you’ve struggled to get into cooking, this is def the app to get you over the hump

Amazing!. My partner and I have been trying to learn to cook better and we have been making a meal using the app once a week. We both have learned so much and the recipes have been absolutely delicious each time. The amount of free content is astounding as well. Highly recommend :)

Not worth your time. Another app where you have to pay to use. Main reason for one star is how they word the questions & answers, it’s like they want you to fail. Here’s a question & answer from the app “experienced sushi eaters mix a bit of wasabi in with their soy sauce because…” answer: “they don’t know what they’re doing.” There’s many questions and answers set up like this, like they want you to fail so the only way to level up is to buy into the app to have more options. Good idea of an app but poorly executed.