PLATO - Recipe Companion

Inspiration

We noticed that people love discovering recipes online through social media and cookbooks, but rarely take the next step to actually cook them. Our goal was to make it effortless to turn inspiration into action, helping home cooks bring recipes to life while managing their pantry and grocery needs.

What it does

PLATO lets users save recipes from videos or URLs, generates step-by-step instructions, tracks ingredients in their pantry, and creates smart grocery lists for missing items. Daily reminders and personalization ensure users actually cook the recipes they save.

How we built it

We built PLATO using React Native with Expo for cross-platform support. AI Gemini latest model extracts recipes from video transcripts, and we integrated a pantry management system and grocery list generator. TestFlight and App Store Connect were used for iOS beta testing.

Challenges we ran into

Extracting recipes from videos without transcripts was a key challenge. Integrating AI to understand video metadata, titles, and descriptions while maintaining fast response times took experimentation. Designing a user-friendly interface that balances features and simplicity was also tricky.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We successfully built an app that combines recipe discovery, pantry management, and grocery planning in one seamless experience. The AI recipe extraction works on multiple sources, and our onboarding and daily reminders increase user engagement.

What we learned

We learned how to integrate AI for recipe parsing, manage user pantry data securely, and design an intuitive interface for mobile cooking apps. We also gained experience navigating App Store submission and compliance processes.

What's next for PLATO - Recipe Companion

We plan to add advanced personalization, Daily reminders, and integrate grocery delivery APIs to allow one-tap ordering of missing ingredients.

Built With

• node.js
• reactnative