Teach AI your kitchen preferences once, with memory

The problem

Every meal plan starts with the same speech: two people, no shellfish, low salt, he hates cilantro. Skip it and you get recipes for six with ingredients you can't eat.

Why AI helps

Memory lets the assistant carry a few facts about you into new chats. Both companies say you can ask it to remember something directly. For cooking that means meal plans and recipe ideas start out fitting your kitchen. Pair it with our meal planning, scaling and leftovers guides.

Does this work on the free plan?

• ChatGPT free: Memory is available on the Free plan. OpenAI says free users get a lightweight version that gives short-term continuity across chats, while paid plans keep a longer-term picture. You can ask ChatGPT what it remembers about you.
• Claude free: Claude's help page says memory is on by default for Free, Pro and Max plans on the web, desktop and mobile apps. You can also say "remember this" to save something.
• Where to look: ChatGPT: your profile icon, then Settings, then Personalization, then Memory. Claude: Settings, then Memory.

Checked against the official help pages on October 15, 2026. Plans and menus change, so if a button looks different, look for the word in quotes.

Step by step

1. Open ChatGPT or Claude and tap New chat.
2. Fill in and paste the "Please remember" prompt below, then tap the arrow to send.
3. Check it worked: start another new chat and ask, "What do you remember about how I cook?"
4. To review or delete memories later. ChatGPT: tap your profile icon, then Settings, then Personalization, then Memory. Claude: open Settings, then Memory.
5. Want a chat that doesn't use memory? ChatGPT: start a Temporary Chat (it doesn't create or update memories). Claude: in a new chat, tap + next to the message box and turn off the Memory switch before your first message.

Copy-paste prompts

Replace anything in [square brackets] with your own details. AI answers vary from person to person, so we don't show a "typical" answer here; try it and see what you get.

Please remember these things about my kitchen for future chats:
- I usually cook for [number] people.
- We don't eat: [for example, "shellfish, very spicy food"].
- We like: [for example, "simple weeknight dinners, Italian, anything on the grill"].
- Equipment: [for example, "slow cooker, no microwave"].
- Time I want to spend on weeknights: [for example, "30 minutes or less"].

What do you remember about how I cook? List it so I can correct anything.

Please update your memory: we now cook for [number] people, and add [food] to the list of things we don't eat.

Limits and safety

• Keep it to preferences. Don't store diagnoses, medications or other health details in memory.
• Memory doesn't keep every detail, and on ChatGPT's free plan it's lighter. Repeat anything critical, like a serious allergy, in the chat itself.
• AI recipes can contain mistakes. Read ingredient labels yourself if allergies are involved.
• On ChatGPT, if "Improve the model for everyone" is on, chats and remembered information may be used for training. You can turn it off in Settings, under Data controls.

Sources

• OpenAI Help Center: Memory in ChatGPT (checked October 15, 2026)
• OpenAI: Memory and new controls for ChatGPT (free-plan memory update, June 3, 2025) (checked October 15, 2026)
• Claude Help Center: Use Claude's chat search and memory (checked October 15, 2026)
• Prompts adapted from the AI Starter Pack newsletter by Austin Christensen.

Related uses

• Plan a week of meals with AI
• Use up leftovers with AI (safely)