Get your recipes out of BigOven
BigOven doesn't offer a "Download All My Recipes" button. We pull them out one URL at a time using the structured data embedded in every recipe page.
100% free. No account required. The recipe itself comes through cleanly; personal notes added inside BigOven don't.
Two paths out
Pick the one that matches what you have. URL is the realistic path for most people.
URL-by-URL (the realistic path)
RecommendedEvery BigOven recipe has its own public URL. Those pages embed Schema.org JSON-LD — the same machine-readable recipe data Google uses for rich search results. We read it, you keep it.
- Open your BigOven collection in one browser tab.
- Open this page in another. Paste the URL of a recipe you want to keep into the box above.
- We extract the structured data and convert it to JSON, PDF, CSV, Markdown, CookLang, HTML, or Open Recipe Format.
- Repeat for each recipe. Yes, it's tedious for a 200-recipe collection — there's no way around BigOven's policy here.
If you have an old desktop HTML export
Some older versions of the BigOven desktop client could produce HTML exports. If you saved one of these (or have a friend who did), upload it here — we can parse them.
How to find a BigOven recipe URL
BigOven recipe pages live at bigoven.com/recipe/<slug>/<id>. Here's how to grab one without typing it by hand.
On the web (fastest)
- Sign in at
bigoven.comand open your collection. - Right-click a recipe tile and choose Copy link address — or open it and copy the URL bar.
- Paste into the input above. Repeat for each recipe.
- Power tip: ⌘-click (Mac) or Ctrl-click (Windows) to open many recipes in background tabs, then process them in order.
From the mobile app
- Open a recipe and tap the share button.
- Choose Copy Link (iOS) or any sharing option that exposes the URL (Android).
- Paste it into your notes app or directly here. Personal notes inside the recipe screen are visible only in the app — capture those by hand first if you need them.
- Heads-up: not every screen exposes a public URL. Recipes you authored privately may need a manual copy-paste.
What a valid BigOven URL looks like
https://www.bigoven.com/recipe/sweet-and-sour-chicken/12345
The numeric ID at the end is what BigOven uses internally. The slug in the middle is just for SEO — both /recipe/<slug>/<id> and the no-slug variant resolve to the same JSON-LD payload.
A practical migration workflow
For 200+ recipes, blunt-force one-at-a-time burns out fast. Here's a saner approach.
Triage first, migrate second
Browse your BigOven collection and tag the recipes you actually cook. Family recipes, originals, and weeknight staples first. The "saved 4 years ago, never made" pile is mostly findable elsewhere — don't burn an evening on it.
Capture personal notes before you start
JSON-LD won't carry your private notes, ingredient swaps, or custom ratings. For high-value recipes, copy those into a plain-text scratchpad now — you'll paste them back into your destination app at the end. Do this before you cancel BigOven Pro.
Batch in tabs of 20
Open 20 recipes in background tabs. Walk through each one: copy URL, paste here, pick format, download. ~30 seconds per recipe once you're in rhythm. A 200-recipe collection is roughly 2 hours of work spread over a coffee or two.
Verify before you delete the source
Open three random recipes in your destination app and check ingredients, instructions, and image. Once you're confident the data round-tripped, then consider closing the BigOven account. Don't reverse this order.
Keep a long-term copy
Even after they're imported into your new app, keep the JSON or Markdown export somewhere durable (iCloud, Dropbox, a Git repo, a USB stick). Apps come and go. Plain-text recipe files are forever.
Where to put your recipes after
We export to seven formats so you can pick whatever your destination of choice imports cleanly.
| Destination | Best format | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Paprika 3 | JSON |
Use Paprika's "Import Recipes from File" → JSON. Cleanest round-trip for ingredients and times. |
| Notion / Obsidian / Bear | Markdown |
One file per recipe, ready to drop into a vault or database. Image URLs come through as embedded links. |
| Chef Tap / Crouton / RecipeKeeper | JSON or CookLang |
Most modern apps accept Schema.org-shaped JSON; CookLang works for the few that prefer plain-text recipe DSLs. |
| Print / fridge / cookbook binder | PDF |
Recipe-card layout, one page per recipe. Holds up fine to a splash of olive oil. |
| Excel / Google Sheets / Airtable | CSV |
One row per recipe. Useful for meal-planning spreadsheets or filtering by ingredient. |
| Self-hosted / database app | SQLite |
All recipes in a single .db file. Good for Mealie, Tandoor, or anything you write yourself. |
| Open-source meal planners | Open Recipe Format |
Schema.org-aligned, designed for portability between recipe apps. Works in Mealie and other ORF-aware tools. |
Not sure? Pick JSON. It's the most portable format and easy to convert later if you change your mind.
What survives the trip out
Comes through
- Recipe name, description
- Ingredients (parsed into quantity / unit / name)
- Instructions
- Prep + cook time, yield
- Category, cuisine
- Image URL
- Public ratings
Doesn't come through
- Personal notes you added inside BigOven
- Ingredient swaps / modifications you made to your saved copy
- Your personal star ratings (vs. public ones)
- Private recipes (require login to view)
- Recipes whose original page has been deleted
Export to any format
Get your recipes in formats that work for you
Schema.org compliant
Print-ready cards
Excel-friendly
Plain text
For developers
Portable database
YAML format
Frequently asked questions
Can I bulk-export my BigOven recipes? ▾
Not directly. BigOven does not offer a bulk-export feature for personal accounts.
Your two options are URL-by-URL via the structured data embedded on each public recipe page, or — if you happen to have one from an older client — a desktop HTML export. The BigOven public API exists but is priced at $99/month for commercial integrations, not realistic for personal use.
How does URL import work? ▾
BigOven recipe pages include Schema.org JSON-LD markup — machine-readable recipe data embedded in the page HTML, primarily for Google rich results. We fetch the page anonymously, parse the JSON-LD, and convert it into your chosen format.
Because the data is structured (rather than scraped from rendered text), ingredient quantities and units come through as separate fields, prep/cook times stay numeric, and the image URL is preserved.
Will my personal notes come over? ▾
No. The JSON-LD on a BigOven page describes the published version of the recipe — what any visitor can see. Anything you layered on top inside the BigOven app (personal notes, ingredient swaps, your own star rating, custom tags) isn't part of that public structured data, so it can't come through.
If those notes matter to you, copy them manually before the rest of the collection migrates over.
What about private recipes? ▾
MoveMyRecipes fetches BigOven pages as an anonymous visitor. Recipes that require you to be logged in to view aren't accessible — the URL import has nothing to read.
Your only option for private recipes is to manually copy them out of BigOven into a text file or note-taking app, then upload that here in plain-text mode.
I have hundreds of recipes — is there a faster way? ▾
Not really. The URL approach is genuinely one recipe at a time, and that's a BigOven-side constraint we can't engineer around.
The realistic advice: prioritize. Recipes you actually cook regularly, recipes you created yourself, and family recipes are worth the effort. The long tail of "saved but never made" recipes from BigOven's community database can usually be re-found elsewhere if you ever need them.
The URL didn't work — what now? ▾
A few things to try in order:
- Open the URL in an incognito window. If it requires a BigOven login, the recipe is private — see the private-recipes question above.
- Check the URL pattern. Valid BigOven recipe URLs contain
/recipe/. Profile pages, search results, or collection URLs aren't recipe pages and won't work. - Try again in a few minutes. If BigOven is rate-limiting or temporarily down, the fetch fails. It usually clears up quickly.
- If the recipe page itself loads but we can't extract data, the page may be missing JSON-LD markup (rare but it happens with very old recipes). Open an issue and we'll take a look.
The image didn't come through ▾
JSON-LD usually points at a hosted image URL on BigOven's CDN. We capture that URL — but most destination apps (Paprika, Notion, etc.) reference the URL rather than embed the image bytes. If BigOven later removes the image (or shuts down), the link breaks.
For high-value recipes, right-click the image on the BigOven page and Save Image As… alongside your export. Plain-text recipe files plus their own image files = future-proof.
Can I import recipes I didn't create — like community ones I starred? ▾
Yes. Public recipe pages on BigOven all expose JSON-LD regardless of who authored them, so anything you can view while logged out can be pulled out.
For your own legal/peace-of-mind purposes: keeping a personal copy of a recipe you found online is fine. Republishing someone else's recipe is a different story — the ingredient list isn't copyrightable in the US, but the prose instructions and images often are. Use this for your own kitchen, not to start a competing recipe site.
Why doesn't BigOven let me export? ▾
BigOven hasn't said publicly. The platform earns from Pro subscriptions and the $99/month API, both of which benefit from collections being sticky.
Regulatory pressure (EU Digital Markets Act, Data Act) is moving platforms toward better data portability, but as of now BigOven hasn't shipped a personal bulk-export feature.
Take your collection somewhere portable
One URL at a time isn't fast, but the result is recipes in a format you own and control — not stuck behind a $99/month API or a future shutdown announcement.