The meal recipe creator is rubbish

Curious- on the iOS app, it’s possible to delete items while entering them, swipe left to do so.

Another work around is to set the amount of an item to zero, so it won’t be counted. I do this on purpose when I have a recipe I make often but change a bit each time based on what’s on-hand, like a stir fry or soup. Ingredients not used that go round are just set to zero. Saves time searching for the ingredients each time.

Your point is well known and complained about often— the recipe builder is clunky and glitchy. People who don’t like it often use the “meals” function instead, you might try playing around with that instead. Personally, I prefer the recipe builder for recipes, and use the meals to build lists of food items I want to find easily. But to each their own.

One thing you might be doing “wrong” is complaining first, instead of asking for help. I’m only pointing that out since you asked. Wouldn’t have bothered answering a post only complaining about a free app otherwise. Searching for posts about how to utilize the recipe builder, or the meals function, will bring up tons of info, too. Unfortunately, lots of people are quick to complain lately, so you’ll get lots of botching, too.

I don’t even bother with “recipes”. I enter recipes as meals. Meals can be easily tinkered with and if I make a smaller or larger batch, I simply “copy” the recipe and adjust the portions, or add whatever creative bit of genius I threw in the pot that day.

Plus, when you add a meal to your diary, it adds all the ingredients individually, instead of as a lump sum.

So for this days when, you know, my husband has copied my diary and then ever so carefully picked out all the Brussels sprouts or turned up his nose at the feta, he can adjust his own diary more easily by simply swiping and deleting that line.

Or if I made the lasagna with ground chicken instead of ground beef that time. Easy peasy.

Plus, if properly titled, they’re searchable,
Of course.

I love the meals function on iOS.

On the web version of MFP, you can change the recipe if the matched things are wrong . . . but it's not obvious. When you click "match ingredients" and the matched items appear, you have to hover the cursor to the upper right of the line of an item, then the options "edit quantity" "replace" and "remove" will appear. Clicking on those lets you edit before you save the recipe.

On the Android app, if you bulk add ingredients, you can edit one by long-pressing it, or delete by clicking the pencil at the upper right, then clicking the check-box next to the ingredient, then the trash can. I don't have the Apple/iOS version.