Conduct a search of Google with the words “recipe sites” and you’ll get more than four million results, all serving up free recipes. But who’s got the time to sort through all of that information? Consumer Reports ShopSmart reviewed many popular ones to find some of the best for beginners and experienced cooks.

To quickly whittle down your choices, use the “advanced search feature” available on most sites.

Another good way to narrow your search is to specify the type of recipe you’re looking for, such as vegetarian.

Allrecipes has a nice feature that lets you enter the ingredients you have on hand--say, chicken, broccoli, and rice--and up comes a choice of recipes.

ShopSmart found recipes ran the gamut. For instance, at Recipe-zaar all the recipes come from people who’ve joined the site, which can be good or bad. You can post your grandmother’s cookie recipe, which is great. But you have to remember that the recipes aren’t posted by professional chefs, so the quality will vary.

You’ll find cooking demos at FoodNetwork.com--step-by-step videos well suited for the beginner.

Epicurious has chef videos for the more seasoned cook.

ShopSmart says bloggers are spicing things up online, too. Check out Slashfood.com, where several knowledgeable and opinionated bloggers bring you the latest dish on food-related news and products.