NYT Cooking app tests AI tool that swaps ingredients and resizes recipes
Users can ask the app to substitute one ingredient for another or change serving sizes, but some are frustrated that they can't turn the feature off.
What you could do with it
- A home cook could type a request like swapping kale for baby spinach into the chatbox and receive a rewritten recipe with adjusted cooking steps 1.
- A home cook could scale a recipe up or down to serve any number of people through the text chatbox 1.
- A home cook could ask the AI to suggest different pans or cooking equipment for their recipe 1.
How it works
The new tool sits inside the NYT Cooking app as a text chatbox at the bottom of a recipe screen. Users type a request like "use baby spinach instead of kale" and the AI rewrites that part of the recipe accordingly 1.
One example given by the app showed a user asking to swap kale for baby spinach. The AI advised adding the spinach later in the cooking steps because it wilts faster than kale 1. The tool can also suggest different pans or cooking equipment and scale recipes up or down for any number of servings .
Customized recipes stay private — they cannot be shared or published through the app 1. The feature requires users to agree to terms and conditions before they can use it .
Who can use it and when
The New York Times Cooking senior editor Genevieve Ko announced the feature last Friday and said it is available now to all Cooking subscribers on the iOS app 1. The app is rolling it out gradually while it monitors how well it performs . Ko said a wider release would come "soon" .
The NYT has used AI in the Cooking app before. Two years ago, AI helped convert imperial volume measurements into metric weight measurements in recipes, and last year a feature was added that converts recipes to half or double the original serving size 1.
User reactions
The rollout has sparked debate in the comments on the NYT announcement article 1. Some readers criticized the environmental impact of adding more AI to everyday products and said the feature changes the feel of the Cooking app .
When one user asked whether there would be a way to turn the AI off, Ko replied, "No, not at this time," while stressing the tool is "completely optional to use" 1.
One user wrote: "Unbelievably disappointing to see. I've always loved NYT Cooking and it pains me that the AI mandate has reached what used to be a wonderful and simple collection of recipes and notes from all sorts of different people."
Comments on the article were closed after four days. NYT spokesperson Jordan Cohen told The Verge that this is standard practice, saying editors spent the time answering questions and addressing concerns 1. Cohen added that many members are already using the tool and reporting good results .
What this means for people
If you subscribe to NYT Cooking on an iPhone, you can try the AI recipe modder right now. Type a request in the chatbox and the app rewrites the recipe — no sign-up for a separate service needed. If you don't like it, you can simply ignore the chatbox and use the recipe as written. Right now there is no toggle to switch the feature off entirely, though it is not forced on you while you cook 1.
This story reports on a trend for information only. It is not advice or encouragement to do any of it.
Corrections and updates
- Corrected on 29 October 2026. An earlier version paraphrased the user's comment and omitted key details present in the source, such as 'the AI mandate' and 'notes from all sorts of different people.' The replacement matches the original quoted text exactly.
Key facts
- AI recipe modification tool is available to NYT Cooking subscribers on iOS now
- Tool can swap ingredients, suggest different pans, and scale servings
- Customized recipes are private and cannot be shared in the app
- No option to disable the AI feature currently exists
Sources
- The NYT Cooking app is testing AI recipe modifications — theverge.com