Last updated: April 2026
What's Cooking? (“we”, “our”, “us”) is a web application that helps you find recipes based on ingredients you already have at home. The service is available at whats-cooking-app.com.
For any privacy questions, contact us at: privacy@whatscooking.app
Stored on our servers
Account details: When you create an account, we store your full name, email address, and a one-way bcrypt hash of your password. We cannot retrieve your plain-text password. Your marketing email preference is also stored alongside your account.
Ingredients and recipe data (signed-in users): When you are signed in, your pantry ingredients, saved recipes, cook history, and dietary preferences are stored on our servers so they sync across your devices.
Stored locally in your browser only
Guest users: If you use the app without creating an account, all data (name, pantry, saved recipes) is stored only in your browser's local storage. It never leaves your device and is deleted when you clear your browser data.
Cook logs and photos: Cook ratings and notes are stored in your browser's local storage. Profile photos you upload are stored on our servers via Vercel Blob secure file storage.
Collected automatically
Usage data: We collect anonymised usage events (such as which features you use and how often) via analytics. This data does not identify you personally.
Server logs: Standard web server logs may include your IP address and browser type. These are retained for up to 30 days for security and debugging purposes only.
We do not sell your data to third parties. We do not use your data for advertising.
Marketing emails are only sent to users who have explicitly opted in. You can unsubscribe at any time via the link in any email or by updating your preferences in My Kitchen.
Spoonacular API: Your ingredient searches are sent to Spoonacular's servers to identify recipe matches. Recipe names are shared with Spoonacular for this purpose. We display the Spoonacular logo and a link to spoonacular.com as required by their API terms. See Spoonacular's privacy policy.
Anthropic Claude / Groq AI: Recipe content, substitution suggestions, and receipt scanning are processed by AI APIs. Ingredient lists and receipt images are transmitted to these services for this purpose. See Anthropic's privacy policy and Groq's privacy policy.
Resend: We use Resend to send transactional emails (welcome emails, password resets). Your email address is transmitted to Resend for this purpose. See Resend's privacy policy.
Fontshare: We load the General Sans typeface from Fontshare's CDN (fontshare.com), which may log your IP address. See Fontshare's privacy policy.
Vercel: Our hosting provider processes all requests through its infrastructure. See Vercel's privacy policy.
Serper.dev: We use Serper.dev to find food photography images for recipes via Google Images search. Recipe names are sent to Serper.dev servers for this purpose. See Serper.dev's privacy policy.
We use browser local storage (not traditional cookies) to store your session and preferences on your device. We do not use tracking cookies or advertising cookies. Our analytics tool may use a first-party cookie to identify returning visitors anonymously.
Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:
Guest users can exercise most rights by clearing their browser's local storage. Account holders can delete their account in My Kitchen, or contact privacy@whatscooking.app to request data access or deletion.
Always check ingredients carefully if you have food allergies or dietary restrictions. What's Cooking? provides recipe information sourced from third-party APIs and cannot guarantee accuracy of allergen data. Do not rely solely on this service to determine whether a recipe is safe for your dietary needs.
What's Cooking? is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.
We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last updated. For significant changes, we will notify account holders by email. Continued use of the service after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.