These five Windows 8 recipe apps will give you some great meal ideas for all types of diets. With a portable touchscreen device (such as the Microsoft Surface Pro 2), you can even prepare your meals with your computer in the kitchen!

Benefits Of Using A Touchscreen Device In The Kitchen (And Some Advice!)

You don't necessarily have to use your Windows 8 device in the kitchen; these apps will still run on a standard desktop computer that runs Windows 8 or 8.1, and you'll be able to save and print the recipes should you need to.

However, having a tablet computer in your kitchen is a massive advantage. Positioned safely, you can use it to display the recipe, scrolling through the screens as you proceed through each step. Multitasking means that you can listen to streamed music or any tunes you have stored on your device. You might even chill out with a game or movie while the meal you have prepared is in the oven!

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Positioning is all-important, however. Keep your computer away from heat sources and liquids (not to mention sifted flour) and ensure your hands are clean when you use the touchscreen.

We've got five great Windows 8 foody apps to show you, where you'll find some great ideas for your next meal. The following apps are free unless otherwise stated and all run in Windows 8.1.

Bing Food & Drink

One of the Microsoft apps for Windows 8, Bing Food & Drink, is updated regularly with daily recipes highlighted on its Start screen live tile. A good app with a strong depth of content, the best features are the shopping list, meal planner and ability to save recipes in customised folders.

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Recipes are sourced from around the Internet, and cover all manner of food types and diets, from pastry and puddings to vegetarian and Gluten-free. Recipes are easily added to collections, the meal planner or a shopping list, and the app also offers a print function. You can even Pin recipes to the Windows 8 Start screen, and there's a hands-free mode that uses your webcam to detect hand-gestures – the ideal way to avoid getting your mouse or display sticky!

Throw in useful tips and tricks, tutorials and guides, profiles of notable chefs, wine reviews and recipes for cocktails and you have a complete, stylish app that delivers on its promises.

Jamie Oliver's Recipes

Popular British chef Jamie Oliver has his own Windows 8 app that features a big selection of his recipes, with 10 pre-installed and the opportunity to purchase recipe packs to expand your collection. Recipe packs are themed, so you don't have to buy everything – rather, you can spend your money on recipes that fit what you're planning to cook, such as party food, cocktails, etc. Recipe packs are low-cost, just $2.19 (£1.69).

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Along with the recipes, the app features video tutorials and a shopping list tool, and each step of the recipes features detailed photographic illustration so you can see exactly what to do next. Jamie Oliver's books have been cited as being responsible for a home cooking renaissance in the UK, and this app is a perfect introduction to his work.

Before you try Jamie Oliver's Recipes, take a look at our review from early 2014 in which we provide a more comprehensive appraisal. We liked it so much it was added to our Best of Windows 8 Modern Apps list.

Great British Chefs – Cooking With Kids [No Longer Available]

Two of the most important things in home cooking are teaching children the importance of being able to prepare their own food and eating healthily.

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Great British Chefs is an app series on Windows 8, and the Cooking With Kids app focusses on simple, flavoursome recipes that children can help with in the kitchen. This selection requires the minimum of preparation and features recipes from Shaun Rankin, Alfred Prasad and many others.

Also packed with feature articles and tutorials, if you've had plans to get your children familiar with food preparation or want them to experience the fun of baking but didn't know where to start, Cooking With Kids is it.

Healthy Recipes – ifood.tv  [No Longer Available]

For those on a health-kick – maybe you're dieting to lose weight or changing your lifestyle – there are plenty of healthy recipe archives available for Windows 8.

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This free app from ifood.tv is perhaps the largest collection of recipes for healthy eating you will find, offering recipes for diabetics, Gluten-free and low carb. How does a pizza base made from a cauliflower sound, or vegan banana oatmeal drop cookies?

Recipes are accompanied by a clear instructive video, with the text-based version of the recipe available as an overlay to the visual tutorial.

BBC Good Food – Healthy Recipes $1.99 [No Longer Available]

Another good choice for healthy eating is the BBC Good Food magazine's Healthy Recipes app, available as a paid (£1.49 in the UK) option for the free BBC Good Food app (which comes with a collection of recipes).

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The resulting choices of healthy meals include dishes as diverse as Chicken and Orange Salad, and Chicken, Lentil and Sweetcorn Chowder for wintery days, and each recipe is clearly organized with images, nutritional information, storage suggestions and timings, and of course the recipes and steps.

Unit conversion is also available, along with a series of useful video tutorials giving you handy, helpful hints for food preparation and storage.

Eat Well, Eat Healthy!

These five apps present a vast selection of very different recipes, guaranteed to get you cooking the type of healthy and wholesome meals you need for you and your family.

When you check the Windows 8 store for these apps, you may also notice that the ifood.tv and BBC Goodfood brands provide recipes for many other types of cooking, each able to open up a whole new world of flavours and food.

Of course, there may be other apps that we've overlooked. Do you have a favourite healthy food app for Windows 8? Let us know what we missed!

Featured image credit: PlaceIt.net