diff --git a/src/lib/components/Search.svelte b/src/lib/components/Search.svelte
index 501f0f4a..74e42f9b 100644
--- a/src/lib/components/Search.svelte
+++ b/src/lib/components/Search.svelte
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <script>
-    import {onMount, onDestroy} from "svelte";
+    import {onMount} from "svelte";
     import { browser } from '$app/environment';
     import "$lib/css/nordtheme.css";
 
@@ -24,8 +24,47 @@
     });
 
     let searchQuery = $state('');
-    let worker = $state(null);
-    let isWorkerReady = $state(false);
+
+    // Perform search directly (no worker)
+    function performSearch(query) {
+        // Empty query = show all recipes
+        if (!query || query.trim().length === 0) {
+            onSearchResults(
+                new Set(recipes.map(r => r._id)),
+                new Set(recipes.map(r => r.category))
+            );
+            return;
+        }
+
+        // Normalize and split search query
+        const searchText = query.toLowerCase().trim()
+            .normalize('NFD')
+            .replace(/\p{Diacritic}/gu, "");
+        const searchTerms = searchText.split(" ").filter(term => term.length > 0);
+
+        // Filter recipes
+        const matched = recipes.filter(recipe => {
+            // Build searchable string from recipe data
+            const searchString = [
+                recipe.name || '',
+                recipe.description || '',
+                ...(recipe.tags || [])
+            ].join(' ')
+                .toLowerCase()
+                .normalize('NFD')
+                .replace(/\p{Diacritic}/gu, "")
+                .replace(/&shy;|­/g, ''); // Remove soft hyphens
+
+            // All search terms must match
+            return searchTerms.every(term => searchString.includes(term));
+        });
+
+        // Return matched recipe IDs and categories
+        onSearchResults(
+            new Set(matched.map(r => r._id)),
+            new Set(matched.map(r => r.category))
+        );
+    }
 
     // Build search URL with current filters
     function buildSearchUrl(query) {
@@ -43,45 +82,34 @@
             return searchResultsUrl;
         }
     }
-    
+
     function handleSubmit(event) {
         if (browser) {
             // For JS-enabled browsers, prevent default and navigate programmatically
-            // This allows for future enhancements like instant search
             const url = buildSearchUrl(searchQuery);
             window.location.href = url;
         }
         // If no JS, form will submit normally
     }
-    
+
     function clearSearch() {
         searchQuery = '';
-        // Trigger search with empty query to show all results
-        if (worker && isWorkerReady) {
-            worker.postMessage({
-                type: 'search',
-                data: { query: '' }
-            });
-        }
+        performSearch('');
     }
 
-    // Effect to update worker data when recipes change (e.g., language switch)
+    // Debounced search effect - only triggers search 100ms after user stops typing
     $effect(() => {
-        if (worker && isWorkerReady && browser && recipes.length > 0) {
-            worker.postMessage({
-                type: 'init',
-                data: { recipes }
-            });
-        }
-    });
+        if (browser && recipes.length > 0) {
+            // Read searchQuery to track it as a dependency
+            const query = searchQuery;
 
-    // Effect to trigger search when query changes
-    $effect(() => {
-        if (worker && isWorkerReady && browser) {
-            worker.postMessage({
-                type: 'search',
-                data: { query: searchQuery }
-            });
+            // Set debounce timer
+            const timer = setTimeout(() => {
+                performSearch(query);
+            }, 100);
+
+            // Cleanup function - clear timer on re-run or unmount
+            return () => clearTimeout(timer);
         }
     });
 
@@ -100,54 +128,9 @@
         const urlQuery = urlParams.get('q');
         if (urlQuery) {
             searchQuery = urlQuery;
-        }
-
-        // Initialize Web Worker for search
-        if (recipes.length > 0) {
-            worker = new Worker(
-                new URL('./search.worker.js', import.meta.url),
-                { type: 'module' }
-            );
-
-            // Handle messages from worker
-            worker.onmessage = (e) => {
-                const { type, matchedIds, matchedCategories } = e.data;
-
-                if (type === 'ready') {
-                    isWorkerReady = true;
-                    // Perform initial search if URL had query
-                    if (urlQuery) {
-                        worker.postMessage({
-                            type: 'search',
-                            data: { query: urlQuery }
-                        });
-                    } else {
-                        // Show all recipes initially
-                        worker.postMessage({
-                            type: 'search',
-                            data: { query: '' }
-                        });
-                    }
-                }
-
-                if (type === 'results') {
-                    // Pass results to parent component
-                    onSearchResults(new Set(matchedIds), matchedCategories);
-                }
-            };
-
-            // Initialize worker with recipe data
-            worker.postMessage({
-                type: 'init',
-                data: { recipes }
-            });
-        }
-    });
-
-    onDestroy(() => {
-        // Clean up worker
-        if (worker) {
-            worker.terminate();
+        } else {
+            // Show all recipes initially
+            performSearch('');
         }
     });
 
diff --git a/src/lib/components/search.worker.js b/src/lib/components/search.worker.js
deleted file mode 100644
index f8e529dc..00000000
--- a/src/lib/components/search.worker.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,60 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * Web Worker for recipe search
- * Handles text normalization and filtering off the main thread
- */
-
-let recipes = [];
-
-self.onmessage = (e) => {
-  const { type, data } = e.data;
-
-  if (type === 'init') {
-    // Initialize worker with recipe data
-    recipes = data.recipes || [];
-    self.postMessage({ type: 'ready' });
-  }
-
-  if (type === 'search') {
-    const query = data.query;
-
-    // Empty query = show all recipes
-    if (!query || query.trim().length === 0) {
-      self.postMessage({
-        type: 'results',
-        matchedIds: recipes.map(r => r._id),
-        matchedCategories: new Set(recipes.map(r => r.category))
-      });
-      return;
-    }
-
-    // Normalize and split search query
-    const searchText = query.toLowerCase().trim()
-      .normalize('NFD')
-      .replace(/\p{Diacritic}/gu, "");
-    const searchTerms = searchText.split(" ").filter(term => term.length > 0);
-
-    // Filter recipes
-    const matched = recipes.filter(recipe => {
-      // Build searchable string from recipe data
-      const searchString = [
-        recipe.name || '',
-        recipe.description || '',
-        ...(recipe.tags || [])
-      ].join(' ')
-        .toLowerCase()
-        .normalize('NFD')
-        .replace(/\p{Diacritic}/gu, "")
-        .replace(/&shy;|­/g, ''); // Remove soft hyphens
-
-      // All search terms must match
-      return searchTerms.every(term => searchString.includes(term));
-    });
-
-    // Return matched recipe IDs and categories with results
-    self.postMessage({
-      type: 'results',
-      matchedIds: matched.map(r => r._id),
-      matchedCategories: new Set(matched.map(r => r.category))
-    });
-  }
-};
diff --git a/src/routes/[recipeLang=recipeLang]/+page.svelte b/src/routes/[recipeLang=recipeLang]/+page.svelte
index b9071550..3a0ea011 100644
--- a/src/routes/[recipeLang=recipeLang]/+page.svelte
+++ b/src/routes/[recipeLang=recipeLang]/+page.svelte
@@ -25,6 +25,45 @@
 		? ["Main course", "Noodle", "Bread", "Dessert", "Soup", "Side dish", "Salad", "Cake", "Breakfast", "Sauce", "Ingredient", "Drink", "Spread", "Cookie", "Snack"]
 		: ["Hauptspeise", "Nudel", "Brot", "Dessert", "Suppe", "Beilage", "Salat", "Kuchen", "Frühstück", "Sauce", "Zutat", "Getränk", "Aufstrich", "Guetzli", "Snack"]);
 
+	// Pre-compute category-to-recipes Map for O(1) lookups
+	const recipesByCategory = $derived.by(() => {
+		const map = new Map();
+		for (const recipe of data.all_brief) {
+			if (!map.has(recipe.category)) {
+				map.set(recipe.category, []);
+			}
+			map.get(recipe.category).push(recipe);
+		}
+		return map;
+	});
+
+	// Memoized filtered recipes by category
+	const filteredRecipesByCategory = $derived.by(() => {
+		if (!hasActiveSearch) {
+			// No search active - return all recipes by category
+			return recipesByCategory;
+		}
+
+		// Filter each category's recipes based on search results
+		const filtered = new Map();
+		for (const [category, recipes] of recipesByCategory) {
+			const matchedInCategory = recipes.filter(r => matchedRecipeIds.has(r._id));
+			if (matchedInCategory.length > 0) {
+				filtered.set(category, matchedInCategory);
+			}
+		}
+		return filtered;
+	});
+
+	// Memoized season recipes
+	const seasonRecipes = $derived.by(() => {
+		const recipes = data.season;
+		if (!hasActiveSearch) {
+			return recipes;
+		}
+		return recipes.filter(recipe => matchedRecipeIds.has(recipe._id));
+	});
+
 	const labels = $derived({
 		title: isEnglish ? 'Recipes' : 'Rezepte',
 		subheading: isEnglish
@@ -64,28 +103,20 @@ h1{
 
 <Search lang={data.lang} recipes={data.all_brief} onSearchResults={handleSearchResults}></Search>
 
-{#if true}
-	{@const seasonRecipes = data.season.filter(recipe =>
-		!hasActiveSearch || matchedRecipeIds.has(recipe._id)
-	)}
-	{#if seasonRecipes.length > 0}
-		<LazyCategory title={labels.inSeason} eager={true}>
-			{#snippet children()}
-				<MediaScroller title={labels.inSeason}>
-				{#each seasonRecipes as recipe}
-					<Card {recipe} {current_month} loading_strat={"eager"} do_margin_right={true} isFavorite={recipe.isFavorite} showFavoriteIndicator={!!data.session?.user} routePrefix="/{data.recipeLang}"></Card>
-				{/each}
-				</MediaScroller>
-			{/snippet}
-		</LazyCategory>
-	{/if}
+{#if seasonRecipes.length > 0}
+	<LazyCategory title={labels.inSeason} eager={true}>
+		{#snippet children()}
+			<MediaScroller title={labels.inSeason}>
+			{#each seasonRecipes as recipe}
+				<Card {recipe} {current_month} loading_strat={"eager"} do_margin_right={true} isFavorite={recipe.isFavorite} showFavoriteIndicator={!!data.session?.user} routePrefix="/{data.recipeLang}"></Card>
+			{/each}
+			</MediaScroller>
+		{/snippet}
+	</LazyCategory>
 {/if}
 
 {#each categories as category, index}
-	{@const categoryRecipes = data.all_brief.filter(recipe =>
-		recipe.category === category &&
-		(!hasActiveSearch || matchedRecipeIds.has(recipe._id))
-	)}
+	{@const categoryRecipes = filteredRecipesByCategory.get(category) || []}
 	{#if categoryRecipes.length > 0}
 		<LazyCategory
 			title={category}