How to Use the Recipe Scaling Calculator
The Simple Answer
The Recipe Scaling Calculator scales a whole list of ingredients to the number of servings you want. It shows the exact multiplication and a practical kitchen measure for each line.
What the tool does
The page divides the servings you want by the servings the recipe makes to get a multiplier, then multiplies every amount by it. That part is exact. An exact answer is often not something you can measure, so each line is also rounded to a practical kitchen measure: eighths of a cup, half tablespoons, eighths of a teaspoon, quarters of an ounce. Where the rounding changed the amount, the page says about.
How to use it
- Say how many servings the recipe makes and how many you want.
- Paste the ingredients, one per line, starting each with the amount: 1 1/2 cups flour.
- Read each scaled amount. The practical measure is the one to use.
- Check the notes if you are scaling a long way.
A worked example
A recipe for 4 that you want to serve 10 has a multiplier of 10 / 4 = 2.5. So 1 1/2 cups of flour becomes 3 3/4 cups, and 2 tablespoons of butter becomes 5 tablespoons. A line with a count, such as 3 eggs, is scaled and shown in simple fractions. A line that starts with no number, such as a heading, is left alone.
Things to know
- Servings scale in a straight line, and every amount is multiplied by the same number.
- Cooking times, pan sizes and seasoning are not changed. Taste as you go and check doneness.
- Scaling a recipe a long way changes more than the amounts, so read the notes the page shows.
Common questions
Do cooking times scale too? No. Larger batches often need different pans and times. Check for doneness instead of trusting the clock.
What units does it understand? Teaspoon, tablespoon, cup, fluid ounce, pint, quart, gallon, milliliter, liter, gram, kilogram, ounce and pound, and amounts such as 1 1/2 or 1½.
Recipe Scaling Calculator: Open the Recipe Scaling Calculator and try your own numbers.