How to Choose the Best GLP-1 Recipe App (2026)

If you're on Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, or Zepbound and searching for recipes, you've probably noticed that most cooking apps and websites weren't built for you. They assume a normal appetite, push calorie-cutting, and bury the one number that matters most on GLP-1 medication: protein. This guide explains what actually makes a recipe app useful on GLP-1 medication, and how to choose one.

Basilino makes this app, so we have a point of view — but the criteria below are what we'd tell a friend to look for regardless of which tool they pick. There's an honest list of where Basilino falls short further down.

The three types of tool people try

1. General recipe sites and apps. Huge libraries, beautiful photos — but built around full-size appetites and "comfort food." Portions are large, protein is an afterthought, and nothing flags the rich or greasy dishes that trigger GLP-1 nausea. Great for ideas, poor for daily eating on medication.

2. Calorie-counting / macro trackers. Strong at logging, weak at cooking. They'll tell you that you ate 38g of protein, but they won't tell you what to cook tonight that's gentle on your stomach and protein-dense. You end up eating less without eating better.

3. GLP-1-specific food apps. Purpose-built around smaller appetites, high protein, and side effects like nausea. This is the category that actually fits — and it's where Basilino sits.

At a glance: how the categories compare

Feature	General recipe apps	Calorie / macro trackers	GLP-1-specific apps
Protein shown per serving	Rarely	Yes (you log it)	Usually
Gentle-day / nausea-aware options	No	No	Varies — check
Portions sized for a smaller appetite	No	No	Varies — check
Recipe clipping with nutrition worked out	Sometimes	No	Varies — check
Barcode scanning and calorie logging	No	Yes, and best-in-class	Rarely
Built-in shopping list	Sometimes	No	Varies — check
Free tier	Usually	Usually	Usually

Note the "varies" column. "Built for GLP-1" is a marketing claim before it's a feature set, and some apps in this category are a general recipe library with a new landing page. The checklist below is how you tell.

What to look for in a GLP-1 recipe app

Use this checklist whatever you choose:

• Protein shown per serving, prominently. Protein is the priority on GLP-1 medication; if you have to do the maths yourself, the app is working against you.
• Portions sized for a smaller appetite, not 4-person family dinners you'll never finish.
• "Gentle day" or nausea-aware options — and clear flags for fried, greasy, rich, or spicy dishes that commonly upset GLP-1 stomachs.
• Protein tracking against a daily goal, so cooking and logging live in one place. If you're not sure what that goal should be, here's how much protein you actually need on a GLP-1.
• The ability to save and organise the meals that actually work for you.
• Bring-your-own recipes — can you clip a recipe you found elsewhere and have its nutrition worked out?
• Honest about medical limits — a good app supports your care team, it doesn't pretend to replace them.

Two tests that cut through the marketing

Open the app on your injection day. Can you find something you could actually face in under a minute? An app that makes you scroll past a fried chicken traybake on the day you feel worst hasn't understood the problem it claims to solve.

Look at what it does with protein you didn't eat. Missing a protein target on GLP-1 is normal and constant. An app that responds by scolding you, or by silently logging a red number, is a calorie tracker wearing a costume. The useful response is a suggestion you can drink.

One red flag

Be wary of any app that gives you a calorie target on sign-up, before it knows anything about your dose, your prescriber, or your medical history. On this medication your intake falls on its own; the job is to protect protein and nutrients inside whatever you can eat. A confidently generated calorie number is a sign the tool was built for dieting and repurposed for GLP-1.

How Basilino measures up

Basilino was built specifically for life on GLP-1 medication:

• Every recipe shows protein, fibre, and calories per serving.
• Gentle-day recipes and automatic flags for nausea-triggering ingredients.
• Protein tracking against a daily goal tuned to a smaller appetite.
• Recipe clipping — paste any recipe URL and we extract the ingredients, steps, and calculate the protein.
• A cookbook and aisle-organised shopping list to plan around the meals you love.
• UK/US units that convert both ways automatically.

It's free to start, with a 14-day trial of Plus and no card required.

Where Basilino isn't the right choice

A buyer's guide that only lists strengths isn't a buyer's guide. Some honest limits:

• There's no iPhone app. Basilino runs on the web and on Android. If you want a native iOS app from the App Store, we don't have one, and you should pick something else or use the web version.
• It's a poor calorie tracker. If you want barcode scanning, a food database of a million items, and precise daily calorie accounting, a dedicated tracker does that far better. We deliberately don't put a calorie target in front of you.
• The library is curated, not enormous. We'd rather have a few hundred recipes that suit a small appetite than fifty thousand that don't. If you want endless variety, a general recipe app has more.
• It is not a medical service. No dietitian reviews your intake, no clinician sees your data. It's a cookbook and a tracker. Your prescriber and a registered dietitian are the people who should set your targets.
• It won't fix the hard part. No app makes you want to eat when the medication has removed your appetite. The best it can do is remove the decisions and the friction.

If those rule us out, that's genuinely fine — the checklist above still works, and you should apply it to whatever you try next.

Common questions

What is the best recipe app for Ozempic?

There isn't a single right answer, because it depends on whether you want cooking, tracking, or both. Judge any candidate against the checklist above: protein per serving shown clearly, portions sized small, gentle-day options, and honesty about medical limits.

Do I need a GLP-1-specific app at all?

No. A general recipe site plus a notes app will work if you're disciplined about protein. The case for a purpose-built tool is that it removes decisions on the days you have the least energy to make them, which is most of the days that matter.

Are these apps free?

Most have a free tier and charge for extras. Basilino is free to start and includes a 14-day trial of Plus with no card required. Be wary of anything that asks for card details before you've seen the product.

Can an app replace a dietitian?

No, and treat any that implies otherwise with suspicion. Protein targets during rapid weight loss depend on your weight, your health, and your medication — an app can help you hit a number, but a registered dietitian should set it.

The bottom line

A general recipe site will give you inspiration; a calorie tracker will give you numbers. But if you're eating less because of your medication, you need a tool that makes the little you eat count — protein-first, gentle when you need it, and built around how GLP-1 medications actually change your appetite. That's the test to apply to any app you try, including this one.

See for yourself — start free, no card needed.

Related: how much protein you need on GLP-1 and our free GLP-1 recipes.