Chatbot News

AI for Cooking: 4 Amazing Recipe Bots

Bots are everywhere, including bots for cooking. Recipe bots may soon have a prominent place in helping you plan your next meal.

Even with all the potential uses for chatbots these days, the kitchen might be the very last place you’d expect to find one. But chatbots are steadily expanding into all aspects of everyday life. And, with the proliferation of messenger bots, it’s easier than ever to have an artificially intelligent chef walk you through the steps of a new recipe for your favorite dish.

Bots may soon be taking over your kitchen.

When it comes to cooking, however, it can sometimes be difficult to know where to start. For instance, you probably wouldn’t look for a bot to help you roll your own sushi if you hardly know how to cook macaroni and cheese. For our list of the top five chatbots for cooking, we’ve kept things entry level. After you’re more familiar with artificial intelligence (AI) in the kitchen, you can explore in even more delicious detail. Bon appétit!

Exploring recipe bots

1. ChefSteps

ChefSteps is a cooking appliance company and one of the earliest implementers of AI for cooking. Not long after introducing its Joule Sous Vide machine, ChefSteps also launched a chatbot that can walk you through how to use the machine to make the perfect meal. Sous vide is a method of cooking that involves wrapping food in a plastic package and then submerging it in hot water for an extended period of time. The bot can even tell you how to use your sous vide machine to make a perfectly cooked steak.

Note: The ChefSteps chatbot is currently down for maintenance.

2. The Food Network chatbot

The Food Network is a name that you’ve probably heard before, even if you are just learning to cook at home. This highly recognized cultural culinary cornerstone has launched its own chatbot—the Food Network chatbot, accessible through Facebook Messenger. You can use the bot to sift through thousands of recipes, based on what you are trying to cook—even if you aren’t quite sure yet. For instance, if you have a few ingredients lying around but don’t know what to do with them, it might be time to finally use AI for cooking. Reach out to the Food Network chatbot, and see how it can help you cook something tasty.

3. The Whole Foods Messenger bot

Whole Foods is another familiar name in the world of fresh food and good cooking. Although the Whole Foods Market Facebook Messenger bot is certainly geared toward healthy living, it is more generally useful for finding recipes. However, there’s a twist—you can use emojis. For instance, if you’re looking for the best homemade pizza recipes, you simply send the bot a pizza emoji and you’re presented with a multitude of options. Gone are the days of putting together a complete sentence to interact with a bot! The Whole Foods chatbot is here not only to respond to your emoji queries but also to drive you to specific pages on its website. It can even help you find the nearest Whole Foods Market.

4. Chop Chop Bot

Chop Chop Bot is another Facebook Messenger bot, and it was created specifically for people who are absolute novices when it comes to the wonders of the kitchen. The bot’s abilities are limited, as of the writing of this article, and for now it’s only able to walk you through a few recipes. But it’s definitely one to watch. Since recipes written out in traditional form can be a bit tedious and video recipes can be difficult to follow, Chop Chop might be the perfect assistant to help you cook up something delicious. The bot is still in its learning stages, so it can be a bit slow to respond—just remember, this is all part of the fun! After all, making something truly memorable always takes a little bit of patience.

Building your own recipe bot

Now that recipe bots and chatbots designed specifically for cooks are becoming more commonplace, demand will only continue to increase. After all, it's a simple way to receive step-by-step instructions to put together your favorite meal. If you are already an accomplished cook, and are looking to explore building your own chatbot, you might be interested in creating a bot specifically to impart your cooking wisdom on eager novices.

The first step, depending on your level of bot knowledge, would be to start with our Beginner's Guide to Bots. Here, you will learn exactly what a chatbot is, what makes it tick, and how you can build a chatbot that will work for you. From there, take some time to explore Discover.bot and use the search bar - if there is a topic you want to know more about, it is quite likely we have an in-depth article on it! There are also sites online that offer free templates for building cooking bots.

The world of AI can be a bit intimidating, with so many options and potential applications for bots. AI for cooking, however, is an easy way to get familiar with AI—and enjoy some delicious results! If you try any of these bots, be sure to report on your experience in our Facebook comments at @getdotbot. We love to hear from you.