diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 81a8f64..c082a85 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+0.7.4
+ - enh: add user preference for default recipe
 0.7.3
  - fix: segmentation fault due to mixing threading.Thread with PyQt6
  - enh: introduce logging and make logging Path available to the user
diff --git a/mpl_data_cast/gui/main.py b/mpl_data_cast/gui/main.py
index 732d802..70116e7 100644
--- a/mpl_data_cast/gui/main.py
+++ b/mpl_data_cast/gui/main.py
@@ -74,8 +74,13 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         recipes = mpldc_recipe.get_available_recipe_names()
         for rr in recipes:
             self.comboBox_recipe.addItem(rr, rr)
-        # Set default recipe to "CatchAll"
-        default = recipes.index("CatchAll")
+        # Set recipe according to preferences
+        recipe_settings = self.settings.value("main/recipe",
+                                              "CatchAll")
+        if recipe_settings in recipes:
+            default = recipes.index(recipe_settings)
+        else:
+            default = recipes.index("CatchAll")
         self.comboBox_recipe.setCurrentIndex(default)
         self.on_recipe_changed()
 
diff --git a/mpl_data_cast/gui/preferences.py b/mpl_data_cast/gui/preferences.py
index 1b6109a..921f9e3 100644
--- a/mpl_data_cast/gui/preferences.py
+++ b/mpl_data_cast/gui/preferences.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 from PyQt6 import uic, QtCore, QtWidgets
 
+from .. import recipe as mpldc_recipe
 from ..util import is_dir_writable
 
 
@@ -21,10 +22,15 @@ def __init__(self, parent, *args, **kwargs):
         self.settings = QtCore.QSettings()
         self.parent = parent
 
+        # Populate the recipe list
+        self.available_recipes = mpldc_recipe.get_available_recipe_names()
+        for rr in self.available_recipes:
+            self.comboBox_recipe.addItem(rr, rr)
         #: configuration keys, corresponding widgets, and defaults
         self.config_pairs = [
             ["main/output_path", self.lineEdit_output_path,
              pathlib.Path.home()],
+            ["main/recipe", self.comboBox_recipe, "CatchAll"]
         ]
         self.reload()
 
@@ -50,6 +56,9 @@ def reload(self):
                 widget.setText(str(value))
             elif isinstance(widget, QtWidgets.QSpinBox):
                 widget.setValue(int(value))
+            elif widget is self.comboBox_recipe:
+                recipe_idx = self.available_recipes.index(str(value))
+                widget.setCurrentIndex(recipe_idx)
             else:
                 raise NotImplementedError("No rule for '{}'".format(key))
 
@@ -68,6 +77,8 @@ def on_settings_ok(self):
                         value = str(pathlib.Path.home())
             elif isinstance(widget, QtWidgets.QSpinBox):
                 value = int(widget.value())
+            elif isinstance(widget, QtWidgets.QComboBox):
+                value = widget.currentData()
             else:
                 raise NotImplementedError("No rule for '{}'".format(key))
             self.settings.setValue(key, value)
diff --git a/mpl_data_cast/gui/preferences.ui b/mpl_data_cast/gui/preferences.ui
index de939ab..5b1646b 100644
--- a/mpl_data_cast/gui/preferences.ui
+++ b/mpl_data_cast/gui/preferences.ui
@@ -17,43 +17,61 @@
    <iconset theme="gtk-preferences">
     <normaloff>../../../../.designer/backup</normaloff>../../../../.designer/backup</iconset>
   </property>
-  <layout class="QVBoxLayout" name="verticalLayout">
+  <layout class="QVBoxLayout" name="verticalLayout_2">
    <item>
-    <layout class="QGridLayout" name="gridLayout">
-     <item row="2" column="0">
-      <spacer name="verticalSpacer">
-       <property name="orientation">
-        <enum>Qt::Vertical</enum>
-       </property>
-       <property name="sizeHint" stdset="0">
-        <size>
-         <width>20</width>
-         <height>40</height>
-        </size>
-       </property>
-      </spacer>
-     </item>
-     <item row="1" column="0">
+    <layout class="QVBoxLayout" name="verticalLayout">
+     <item>
       <layout class="QGridLayout" name="gridLayout_2">
-       <item row="0" column="2">
-        <widget class="QPushButton" name="pushButton_output_path">
+       <item row="0" column="0">
+        <widget class="QLabel" name="label_7">
          <property name="text">
-          <string>Select directory</string>
+          <string>Default output directory:</string>
          </property>
         </widget>
        </item>
        <item row="0" column="1">
         <widget class="QLineEdit" name="lineEdit_output_path"/>
        </item>
+       <item row="0" column="2">
+        <widget class="QPushButton" name="pushButton_output_path">
+         <property name="text">
+          <string>Select directory</string>
+         </property>
+        </widget>
+       </item>
+      </layout>
+     </item>
+     <item>
+      <layout class="QGridLayout" name="gridLayout_3">
        <item row="0" column="0">
-        <widget class="QLabel" name="label_7">
+        <widget class="QLabel" name="label_8">
          <property name="text">
-          <string>Default output directory:</string>
+          <string>Default recipe:</string>
+         </property>
+        </widget>
+       </item>
+       <item row="0" column="1">
+        <widget class="QComboBox" name="comboBox_recipe">
+         <property name="insertPolicy">
+          <enum>QComboBox::InsertAlphabetically</enum>
          </property>
         </widget>
        </item>
       </layout>
      </item>
+     <item>
+      <spacer name="verticalSpacer">
+       <property name="orientation">
+        <enum>Qt::Vertical</enum>
+       </property>
+       <property name="sizeHint" stdset="0">
+        <size>
+         <width>20</width>
+         <height>40</height>
+        </size>
+       </property>
+      </spacer>
+     </item>
     </layout>
    </item>
    <item>