Today, more than ever, Millennials are crowdsourcing their peer networks for DIY ideas for their latest kitchen innovations. It’s tough to flip through a social media page without coming across a few dozen photos friends are posting of their latest culinary creations. As Millennials find recipes to be one of the most shareworthy things to post, is it a surprising to think that there could be an entire social media site catered to this food trend?
Allrecipes.com is the digital solution to your Grandmother’s cookbook, offering seamless navigation for recipes, ingredients and desired cooking methods. Millennials love having choices and decisions to make to share their success cooking experiences with their peers.
We know Millennials like to get creative in the kitchen and share recipes. Despite its current high profile, Pinterest isn’t the only way hungry Millennials can find creative and delicious recipes. Allrecipes.com is a global social networking service and forum headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Established in 1997 as a Web 1.0 site, Allrecipes.com has caught on with this new and thriving generation. Users are encouraged to to post recipes, comment and make changes to existing recipes posted. Additionally, users can search for specific recipes, blogs, vote on pictures of dishes and receive awards based on their submissions and results. This gives Millennials the action and participation they are craving.
AllRecipes.com includes tabs to plan your weekly menu, create your own shopping list and view thousands of hand-crafted dishes from the recipe box. What makes the site simple and easy to use is its exploration menu. This allows participants to explore recipes by meal, ingredient and cooking method. It’s perfect for everyone from college Millennials looking for ways to fix inexpensive pasta dishes to Millennial parents seeking on-the-go recipe options.
Millennials love to be recognized, so they will appreciate the AllRecipes.com cook of the week feature with highlights and recipes from a specific community member each week. There are also photos and recipes users can vote on select the featured picture on the site’s homepage. Blogging about cooking experiences is appealing to Millennials almost as much as posting pictures of their finished product. AllReceipes.com shows the most popular blogs; this week they are showing “dog food” and “nutritionist needs your recipes” blogs.
For those visual Millennials out there, AllRecipes.com gives easy to follow tutorials on preparing and cooking their favorite recipes. Similar to how-to YouTube videos, these videos walk you through each step to perfect your cooking techniques. Additionally, with each voice-over video it allows chefs at home to cook while listening to the video.
If you’re not buying the success of this website, take a look at this article from the Seattle Times about the “World’s Best Lasagna” recipes that has gotten 12 million views on AllRecipes.com. The article mentions that the recipes has been pinned 10,423 times on Pinterest and gotten 20 million views on their website every month. Though the World’s Best Lasagna recipe involves a 3-hour preparation process and $40 in ingredients, it’s a sure hit with hungry Millennials.
Stephanie Pollack contributed to this post
Photo credit: Liz West via Flickr
