Recipe Serving Calculator
Cooking for two from a recipe that serves eight, or feeding a crowd from a family-size recipe? This recipe serving calculator scales every ingredient by the same factor. Type the servings in the recipe, the servings you want and each ingredient line as written, such as 1 1/2 tsp salt. Amounts come back as fractions you can measure, with spoons and cups converted when that makes measuring easier.
Updated
Results
- Ingredient 1
- Ingredient 2
- Ingredient 3
- Ingredient 4
- Ingredient 5
- Ingredient 6
- Ingredient 7
- Ingredient 8
- Ingredient 9
- Ingredient 10
- Ingredients scaled
- Lines kept as writtenLines without a leading amount, such as Salt to taste
| Ingredient | Original | Scaled |
|---|
Results are estimates. See the methodology below.
How to use the calculator
- Servings: enter how many servings the recipe makes and how many you want.
- Ingredients: type or paste one ingredient per field, amount first: 2 cups flour, 1½ cups sugar, 2-3 cloves garlic, 200g chocolate. Three fields are open; More ingredients adds up to ten.
- Simplify units (on by default) switches to a handier measure, for example 1/2 cup ÷ 4 becomes 2 tbsp instead of 1/8 cup. Turn it off to keep the original units.
Scaled lines appear in the results; the table shows them next to the originals. Lines that don't start with a number, such as Salt to taste or Juice of 1 lemon, are kept unchanged and counted separately.
How the scaling works
The scaling factor is servings you want ÷ servings in the recipe, and every amount is multiplied by it.
- Reading amounts: whole numbers, decimals, fractions (3/4), mixed numbers (1 1/2 or 1-1/2), fraction characters (½, ¼, ⅔) and ranges (2-3 or 2 to 3). Units include tsp (or a lowercase t), tbsp (or a capital T), cup, fl oz, pint, quart, gallon, oz, lb, g, kg, mg, ml and l, plus counted words like clove, can, stick, pinch or slice.
- Rounding: cups, spoons, ounces and counted items are rounded to the nearest eighth or third, whichever is closer, because 1/3 and 2/3 cup are standard measures. Amounts below 1/16 are shown as decimals. Metric amounts are always decimals.
- Simplifying: 1 tbsp = 3 tsp, 1 cup = 16 tbsp and 1 lb = 16 oz. Grams switch to kilograms at 1,000, and milliliters to liters. Ranges keep their original unit.
Things not scaled or converted: numbers inside an ingredient, like 2% milk or a 2-inch piece of ginger; the second part of a compound amount such as 1 lb 4 oz; volume to weight, which depends on the ingredient's density; and fluid ounces to cups. Nouns aren't pluralized either, so 1 egg × 3 reads 3 egg.
Worked examples
1. From 4 to 6 servings (factor 1.5)
2 cups all-purpose flour becomes 3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder becomes 2 1/4 tsp baking powder and 3 large eggs become 4 1/2 large eggs.
2. From 8 servings down to 2 (factor 0.25)
| Original line | Scaled line |
|---|---|
| 1 cup sugar | 1/4 cup sugar |
| 1/2 cup butter | 2 tbsp butter |
| 2 tsp vanilla extract | 1/2 tsp vanilla extract |
| 1 lb ground beef | 4 oz ground beef |
| 200 g chocolate | 50 g chocolate |
| 2-3 cloves garlic | 1/2–3/4 cloves garlic |
| Salt to taste | Salt to taste |
3. Tripling a recipe (4 to 12 servings)
1 1/2 tsp salt becomes 1 1/2 tbsp salt, 3/4 cup milk becomes 2 1/4 cups milk, 1 tbsp olive oil becomes 3 tbsp olive oil, 400 ml coconut milk becomes 1.2 L coconut milk, and 6 oz cheddar becomes 18 oz cheddar. The cheddar stays in ounces because 18 oz isn't a quarter-pound step.
4. Scaling by two-thirds (6 to 4 servings)
1 cup sugar becomes 2/3 cup sugar, 1/2 cup oil becomes 1/3 cup oil and 3 tbsp honey becomes 2 tbsp honey.
Before you start cooking
A larger or smaller batch may need a different pan, and baking or cooking times don't change in proportion to the amount, so check doneness rather than the clock. Leavening, salt and strong spices may need adjusting when you scale a lot, so taste as you go. For baking, weighing is more consistent than using cups: NIST calls measuring by mass with a kitchen scale a best practice.
Frequently asked questions
How do I scale a recipe to a different number of servings?
Divide the servings you want by the servings the recipe makes, then multiply every ingredient by that factor. Going from 4 to 6 servings gives a factor of 1.5, so 2 cups of flour becomes 3 cups.
How many teaspoons are in a tablespoon, and tablespoons in a cup?
The calculator uses 3 teaspoons per tablespoon, 16 tablespoons per cup and 16 ounces per pound. So 12 tsp is 1/4 cup and 1/2 cup divided by 4 is 2 tbsp. NIST gives the metric sizes as about 4.93 mL for a teaspoon, 14.79 mL for a tablespoon and 0.24 L for a cup.
How do I halve an egg?
Beat the egg and use half of it by volume or weight. In forgiving dishes you can round to a whole egg; in baking, measuring keeps the recipe in balance.
Can it convert cups to grams?
No. A cup of flour and a cup of sugar weigh different amounts, so cups can't be turned into grams without each ingredient's density. If your recipe is already in grams, the calculator scales the grams directly.
Why does 1/4 tsp become 3/8 tsp?
Multiplying by 1.5 gives exactly 3/8. Amounts are rounded to the nearest eighth or third, so you may see measures your spoon set doesn't have; a level 1/4 tsp plus half of another is the same.
What is a cup in milliliters?
It depends on context. NIST lists the U.S. customary cup as about 0.24 L, and the FDA defines a cup as 240 mL for nutrition labeling, with a teaspoon at 5 mL and a tablespoon at 15 mL.
Sources
Scaled amounts are rounded to practical measures and are a starting point. Taste as you go and check doneness, especially when baking.