Does anyone use self-hosted recipe server/software like Mealie?

Postgres is a separate container, it's a database backend. To give you a quick explanation of DB backends (that a technical someone will probably hate, but I'm trying to keep it simple):

• SQLite is a file. It's like a notebook. A single file stored directly on your device that is incredibly fast for one person to jot things down. It is the perfect, zero-setup choice for mobile apps or small prototypes, but just like a real notebook, it breaks down if hundreds of people try to write in it at the exact same time.
• PostgreSQL is more like a fully automated, industrial-scale mega-warehouse of databases, built to enforce strict rules and process deeply complex requests without a single error. It is the ultimate choice for massive enterprise apps or financial systems, but because it requires so much power and setup, using it for a simple project is like hiring a logistics company to deliver a single pizza.

By default, Mealie uses sqlite, which requires no additional setup. It's just a DB file that lives inside the container (or rather/ideally, on the file system where you have a volume or bind mount set up). Postgres is a separate service (therefore separate container) that your Mealie will need to "talk to".

So you'll want to:

1. Spin up a PostgreSQL container
2. Add a user for mealie (e.g. mealie-user)
3. Create a DB for mealie (e.g. mealie-db), and grant mealie-user permissions for mealie-db

For context, here's the snippets of my docker-compose.yaml referencing my Mealie and Postgres:

networks:
  default:
    enable_ipv6: true
    ipam:
      config:
        - subnet: 172.18.0.0/16
        - subnet: fd00:1::/80

services:
  postgresql:
    image: postgres:18
    hostname: postgresql
    container_name: postgresql
    environment:
      TZ: "America/New_York"
    volumes:
      - "/etc/timezone:/etc/timezone:ro"
      - "/etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro"
      - "/docker/config/postgresql:/var/lib/postgresql"
      - "/docker/config/postgresql/socket:/var/run/postgresql"
    restart: "unless-stopped"
    command: postgres -c log_line_prefix='%m [%p] %q[%u@%d] %h:%p '
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "pg_isready", "-U", "postgres"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
    logging:
      driver: json-file
      options:
        max-file: "1"
        max-size: "10M"

  mealie:
    container_name: mealie
    hostname: mealie
    image: ghcr.io/mealie-recipes/mealie:latest
    depends_on:
      nginx:
        condition: service_healthy
      postgresql:
        condition: service_healthy
    deploy:
      resources:
        limits:
          memory: 1000M
    volumes:
      - "/docker/config/mealie:/app/data/"
    environment:
      PUID: "1003"
      PGID: "998"
      TOKEN_TIME: "8760"
      TZ: "America/New_York"
      WEB_CONCURRENCY: "2"
      BASE_URL: "https://[redacted]"
      DB_ENGINE: "postgres"
      POSTGRES_USER: "mealie"
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: "[redacted]"
      POSTGRES_SERVER: "postgresql"
      POSTGRES_DB: "mealie"
      POSTGRES_PORT: "5432"
      SMTP_HOST: "smtp.fastmail.com"
      SMTP_PORT: "587"
      SMTP_FROM_NAME: "Mealie"
      SMTP_AUTH_STRATEGY: "TLS"
      SMTP_FROM_EMAIL: "[redacted]"
      SMTP_USER: "[redacted]"
      SMTP_PASSWORD: "[redacted]"
    restart: "unless-stopped"
    logging:
      driver: json-file
      options:
        max-file: "1"
        max-size: "10M"

Well, fwiw, now I basically just feed it a URL from a recipe I like, and it translates it to LaTex in a second. Or I've been able to take a photo of a recipe from my phone and do the same thing. But I understand if that's too much effort.

The sad truth of recipe solutions is its hard to overcome the convenience of paper and pen. Web interfaces always feel a bit clunky for this, but hey if you can make it work, well done!