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Ask about a recipe

Chat about one recipe, for swaps, halving it or a missing ingredient, and save your changes as your own variation.

Updated November 12, 2026

Ask Cook Well is a chat about the recipe you're looking at. It knows the recipe, so you can just ask “can I use thighs instead?” or “how far ahead can I make this?”

  1. Open a recipe or framework.
  2. Tap the speech bubble at the top, next to the heart.
  3. Tap a suggestion, like What can I substitute? or Halve the recipe, or type your question.

Tap X to go back to the recipe.

  1. Open a recipe or framework.
  2. Choose Ask Cook Well next to Let's Cook. You'll also find it at the end of a recipe's questions.
  3. Choose a suggestion, or type your question.

The chat opens beside the recipe, so you can read both.

It works on Cook Well's recipes and frameworks. It isn't on recipes you've written, imported or saved as variations.

Save your version

When you've made changes you like, ask it to save them, or choose Make my own variation. It writes up your version as a recipe card.

  1. Open the card and choose Save as Variation.
  2. Check it over, then tap Add on your phone or choose Save on the web.

Your variation is saved in your cookbook, linked to the original recipe. See Make your own variation.

Pick up where you left off

Reopen Ask Cook Well on the same recipe within a day of your last message and your chat is still there. After that, it starts fresh. To start over sooner, choose the circular arrow at the top. Your earlier chats about the recipe stay in your chat history.

A recipe chat sticks to that one dish. To find other recipes or build a grocery list, use Chat.

Something here out of date or unclear? Email support@cookwell.com.