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Turn Instagram Reels and TikToks into recipes you can cook

Send a public recipe link to usefull.io. Get a recipe card with ingredients, instructions and the original source, then find it again when you need dinner.

Try a recipe linkJoin the waitlist

The demo works for anyone. Your own library opens with an invite: usefull.io is in early access.

Ingredients and steps, straight from the video!

Recipe card Ingredients · steps · source
A saved recipe Reel and its card in usefull.io with time, servings, ingredients and steps
A real card from our test library: one Reel, its ingredients and steps, and a link to the post.

What you get

  • Ingredients to shop forAmounts as the creator gave them, each with a checkbox while you cook.
  • Steps in orderRead them at the stove instead of pausing the video.
  • Back when you need itSearch your library or ask the Telegram bot in plain words.

How it works

  1. Send a public recipe Reel, TikTok or YouTube Short: share it to @usefull_io on Instagram, send it to the Telegram bot, or paste it in the demo.
  2. usefull.io reads the video, the caption and the text on screen and writes the recipe card.
  3. Cook from the card, or ask the bot for it later: "the ribs with polenta".

A real example: one Reel, one recipe card

Here is a card from our test library, as usefull.io made it from one public Instagram Reel. Our test account gets its cards in Russian; this is the English translation.

Braised beef ribs on polenta with sauce and chives

Recipe card · from an Instagram Reel

Braised Beef Ribs with Polenta

  • French
  • Main course
  • Medium

Reel and photo: @vasilymishlen

Ingredients

Ribs
  • beef ribs 1.3–1.5 kg
  • flour, for dredging ≈ 3 tbsp
  • olive oil 50–70 ml
Vegetables and base
  • carrots 2–3
  • onion 1
  • celery 2 stalks
  • garlic 3 cloves
  • tomato paste 1 tbsp
  • rosemary, thyme, bay leaf
Liquid
  • dry red wine 400 ml
  • beef broth 600–700 ml
Spices
  • salt 1 tsp
  • black pepper 1 tsp
Polenta
  • beef broth 500 ml
  • polenta 100 g
  • butter 20 g
  • parmesan 30 g
Sauce
  • water, if the sauce is too thick 30–40 ml
  • cold butter ≈ 20 g
To serve
  • chives a little

Steps

Ribs
  1. Dredge the ribs in flour and sear them in olive oil until browned on all sides. Take them out.
Vegetables and base
  1. In the same pot, sauté the vegetables, add the tomato paste and cook 2 more minutes.
Liquid
  1. Pour in the wine and let it cook off a little.
Ribs
  1. Add the broth, salt, pepper and herbs, and return the ribs.
  2. Cover and put in the oven at 160 °C (325 °F) for 3 hours.
Polenta
  1. Pour the polenta into the boiling broth and cook until done.
  2. Take it off the heat and stir in the butter and parmesan.
Sauce
  1. Strain the braising liquid.
  2. Skim off the excess fat (with a spoon, or chill it first).
  3. Reduce it to the thickness you like.
  4. If it's too thick, add 30–40 ml of water.
  5. Finish by whisking in the cold butter.
To serve
  1. Polenta, a rib on top, plenty of sauce and a little chives.

Not given in the video: how much flour and cold butter to use; usefull.io estimated those amounts and marked them ≈. The herbs have no amount.

Watch the original Reel ↗

Finding it again

Recipes land in Recipes in your library, next to everything else you save. Months later, search by dish or ingredient, or write to the Telegram bot the way you would ask a friend — "the ribs with polenta", "something with chickpeas" — and get the card back; "show the full recipe" sends the ingredients and steps right into the chat.

Limits, and when a recipe app fits better

Private, deleted or region-locked videos can't be read. A recipe that is only shown, never said or written, can come out incomplete. Long videos take longer to process than Reels and Shorts.

usefull.io keeps recipes readable and findable among all your saves; it isn't a full recipe manager, and there's no meal calendar or shopping list inside. For a plan for the week, connect ChatGPT or Claude and ask for dinners from your saved recipes with one shopping list.

Questions

Which links work?

Public Instagram Reels and posts, TikToks, and YouTube videos and Shorts. The demo on the homepage tries any of them without an account.

Can I keep the original video link?

Yes. Every card links back to the post, so you can rewatch the technique.

Do I need ChatGPT or Claude?

No. Recipes work on their own. Connecting an assistant is optional, for things like a week of dinners from your saved recipes.

Drop a Reel, I'll catch the good bits

Try it on a Reel you saved

Try a recipe linkJoin the waitlist

The demo works for anyone. Your own library opens with an invite: usefull.io is in early access.