Recipe times

Approximate recipe times are listed for many recipes and meals in meal plans.

How recipe times are listed and estimated

On some recipes, times are broken down by Ready in and Active times. The Ready in time is how long the recipe will take from start to finish and Active time is how much of that is spent actively prepping or cooking.

While all recipes will have a Ready in time listed, only those with notable inactive time (i.e. 20 minutes in the oven for roasted veggies) will have both.

When a recipe includes component recipes (like a bowl with beans, quinoa, and a salad dressing) only the time required for the whole recipe will be listed. This is because times are estimated with multi-tasking in mind; downtime for one recipe can be used to work on another.

Your actual time will vary based on selected serving sizes, how quickly you prep those magical plants, and whether you multi-task.

Meal plan meal times

Times estimates for meal plans meals are for that entire recipe, including every component recipe in the meal. 

Estimated times for meal plan meals include batching recipes for that meal. Not everyone batch cooks, so we estimated the times as if someone is cooking the whole meal from start to finish. If you do batch cook and you’ve already made some of the component recipes from a meal, then your time will likely be less than the meal’s estimated time on your meal night. How much less depends on how many component recipes there are, and how many of those you’ve made ahead.

Instant Pot time estimates

For recipes with both Instant Pot and stovetop versions, times are listed for stovetop. Typically, Instant Pot times will be shorter and include more inactive time than stovetop versions.

Soaking or resting times

Time estimates do not include long non-active time items require before cooking, like for dried beans. Short pre-cooking soaking times, such as those for cashews, are included.

They do include when something needs to rest or be refrigerated as part of the recipe before it's ready to eat, like overnight oats or pickled onions. 

Why don’t I see times on all recipes? 

Many recipes have times listed, but not all as they're a relatively new addition and require a human touch to calculate. We hope to have times available for all recipes eventually.