Home cooking made doable
Cookly started with a fairly ordinary problem: a fridge with half the ingredients for something, and no plan for what. We built it for households who mean to cook more and end up ordering in, not because they can't cook, but because deciding what to make after a long day is its own kind of tired. Type in three or four things sitting in your fridge and our What Can I Cook Tonight? (Fridge Ingredient Matcher) will suggest matching recipes and flag which ones are under 30 minutes, though it can only work with what you tell it, so treat the match as a starting point. If listing ingredients feels like one more decision, the 30-Minute Meal Finder Quiz takes a different route: answer a handful of questions on protein, dietary needs, cooking confidence and how many you're feeding, and it hands back two or three recipes that fit tonight, though it's still working from your answers, so it won't always land right. If Sunday's the day you've got a bit of time, try our Batch Cooking Session Planner: tell it how many hours you've got free and how many weekday dinners you want covered, and it'll suggest which recipes to cook, in what order, and how many portions each one makes. If you're curious what that gap is actually costing your household, our takeaway vs home cooking cost comparison tool lays the numbers out side by side.
Why Cookly exists
Where it started
Cookly started with a familiar problem: a fridge with just enough in it for dinner, an hour of energy left, and no clear idea what to make with it. That gap between wanting to cook and knowing what to cook is usually where a takeaway order comes from, not a lack of time or money. If that sounds like most Tuesdays in your house, try our what can i cook tonight? (fridge ingredient matcher): put in three to six ingredients you've already got in, and it matches them against Cookly recipes, flagging which are done in under 30 minutes and which are worth batch cooking for later in the week. It's a starting point rather than a certainty, and it won't always land on the right answer for what's actually in your fridge, but it's usually quicker than standing there deciding. If you'd rather answer a few quick questions than list out ingredients, our 30-minute meal finder quiz asks about protein, dietary needs, how many people you're feeding and how confident you are in the kitchen, then suggests two or three recipes for tonight based on the answers. It's the same decision problem from a different angle, and it can miss too, but it's built for that exact moment of opening the site tired and hungry with no plan.
Who it's built for
We built Cookly for households that already mean to cook more often: couples, families and flat-shares juggling different shifts and different appetites, who mostly need the decision made for them rather than another recipe to browse. A plan, a shopping list that matches it, and a rough cost per portion so the numbers make sense before the shop rather than after. If you want to see how that stacks up against what you're currently spending on takeaways, our takeaway vs home cooking cost comparison tool lets you put in your own numbers rather than take ours on trust. If you've got a free stretch on a Sunday and want to turn it into a run of sorted weekday dinners, our batch cooking session planner takes the hours you've got and the number of dinners you want covered, and works out which recipes to cook, in what order, and how many portions each one makes, so the planning doesn't put you off starting.
How we check what goes up
It's a small, ongoing project. Every meal plan we publish gets cooked in an ordinary kitchen first, by someone tired on a weeknight, before it goes anywhere near the site. If a step doesn't work at 7pm with one pan and a toddler in the room, it doesn't go up.
The problem we noticed
Most takeaway orders don't come from having no time to cook. They come from having food in the fridge and no clear idea what to do with it, which is a decision problem, not a time problem.
Who it's for
Households that already intend to cook more at home: couples, families and flat-shares working around different shifts, budgets and appetites, not people looking to take up cooking as a hobby.
How we check what goes up
Every meal plan is cooked in a real household kitchen before it's published, on an ordinary weeknight, with the usual amount of tiredness and time pressure.
What sets Cookly apart
Swaps that actually work
Every recipe names the specific swap rather than a vague note saying a dish is adaptable. Swap chicken thighs for canned chickpeas, say, and the dish still works, and we tell you that before you shop, not after you've already bought the chicken.
Costs you can see before you cook
Each recipe shows a cost per portion, worked out from a typical weekly shop, so you know roughly what dinner is costing before the pan goes on. Prices move around by retailer and by region, so treat the number as a guide rather than a promise. The takeaway versus home cooking cost comparison sets that figure against what the same meal would cost delivered, using whatever prices you put in. It's only as good as the numbers you feed it, so treat what it gives back as a steer rather than a fact.
Shopping lists that match the plan
The list is built from the week's meals and sorted by aisle, so one trip to the supermarket covers four or five dinners instead of several mid-week dashes for one missing thing. Change a meal and the list changes with it, rather than leaving you to work out the difference yourself.
Built for the tired end of the day
Cookly starts from the evening most households actually have, not the one where everyone feels like cooking. A fridge with something usable in it and a takeaway menu on the counter tend to end the same way, and the plans are written to interrupt that, one weeknight recipe at a time. If you're standing at the fridge with no plan, try the What Can I Cook Tonight? (Fridge Ingredient Matcher): enter three or six things you've already got in, and it points you to recipes that use them, flagging which are under 30 minutes and which are worth batch cooking. If you'd rather answer a few quick questions than browse the options yourself, the 30-Minute Meal Finder Quiz asks about protein, any dietary restrictions, how confident you feel in the kitchen, how many people you're feeding, and what staples you've already got in, then hands back two or three recipes matched to tonight specifically. If batch cooking is the bit that's always put you off, the planning rather than the cooking, the Batch Cooking Session Planner takes the free hours you've got on a Sunday and the number of weekday dinners you want covered, and gives back a schedule: which recipes to make, in what order, and how many portions each one leaves you with.
This began with one kitchen, not a strategy document.
Cookly was built for households that mean to cook more but end up ordering in, not from a lack of trying but because evenings are short and decisions get harder once you're tired. If you've just walked in and can't face working out what to cook, our 30-minute meal finder quiz asks a few quick questions about what protein you fancy, any dietary needs, how many people you're feeding and what's already in the cupboard, then hands you two or three recipes to choose from for tonight. It's a starting point, so the odd suggestion might not quite fit. If you're standing at the fridge with no idea what to make from what's already in there, our What Can I Cook Tonight? (Fridge Ingredient Matcher) takes three to six ingredients you've got at home and suggests matching recipes, flagging which are under 30 minutes and which are worth batch cooking for later in the week. If batch cooking is something you keep meaning to try but never quite get round to, our Batch Cooking Session Planner asks how many free hours you've got on a Sunday (or whichever day suits) and how many weekday dinners you want covered, then works out which recipes to make, in what order, and how many portions each one gives you. It's aimed at couples, families and flatshares who want proper food without much fuss about it. If you're curious what takeaways are actually costing your household against cooking the same meals at home, our takeaway vs home cooking cost comparison can give you a sense of the numbers, though prices vary by shop and region. If a shopping list doesn't add up or you've a question about how something works, you can email us directly at hello@cookly.uk.