Recipe Scaling Calculator
Scale a recipe to more or fewer servings, with amounts written as kitchen fractions, tiny amounts moved to spoons, and eggs kept whole.
Result
Scaled ingredients: 3 cups flour; 1 1/2 cups sugar; 5 eggs; 3/4 tsp salt
Amounts in cups and spoons are rounded to the nearest kitchen fraction; the note says by how much.
- Scaling factor
- 1.5
- Where amounts were rounded
- eggs: 4.5 rounded to 5
- Makes
- 6 servings
https://calcgallery.com/recipe/recipe-scaling-calculator/
Results are arithmetic on the figures you enter. Cooking times are estimates: ovens, cuts and starting temperatures vary, so check doneness with a thermometer. Safe temperatures are the USDA's; guidance differs by country, so check your own. Read the full disclaimer
How to use the Recipe Scaling Calculator
- Enter how many servings the recipe makes and how many you want, or a factor such as 2 to double or 0.5 to halve.
- List the ingredients with their amounts and measures. Choose "whole" for eggs, cloves, lemons and anything else counted rather than measured.
- Read the scaled list. Where an amount had to be rounded to something you can measure, the page says by how much.
Reading the results
Cooks measure with cups and spoons, so the page writes US volumes as the fractions a set of measures can make: halves, thirds, quarters and eighths. When a scaled amount falls below a quarter of a cup it switches to tablespoons, and below a tablespoon to teaspoons, since ⅛ cup is much easier to measure as 2 tablespoons. Where the nearest fraction is not exact, the rounding note says what the precise amount was.
Grams, kilograms, millilitres and litres are kept as decimals, because a scale or a measuring jug reads them directly.
What does not scale
The ingredient amounts scale in proportion. Several other things do not:
- Cooking time, which follows the thickness of the food, not its weight.
- Pan size, which has to change with the volume, or the depth changes instead.
- Seasoning and spices, which often need a little less than proportional when scaling up. Add the scaled amount gradually and taste.
- Evaporation, which depends on the surface of the pot, so a larger batch of sauce may reduce more slowly.
With your numbers
- Every amount × 1.5
Quick reference
Amounts in cups and spoons are rounded to the nearest kitchen fraction; the note says by how much.
| Example | Scaled ingredients |
|---|---|
| 4 servings to 6 | 3 cups flour; 1 1/2 cups sugar; 5 eggs; 3/4 tsp salt |
| Halve | 1 cup flour; 1/2 cup sugar; 2 eggs; 1/4 tsp salt |
| Double | 4 cups flour; 2 cups sugar; 6 eggs; 1 tsp salt |
| Triple | 6 cups flour; 3 cups sugar; 9 eggs; 1 1/2 tsp salt |
| 4 servings to 2 | 1 cup flour; 1/2 cup sugar; 2 eggs; 1/4 tsp salt |
| 4 servings to 10 | 5 cups flour; 2 1/2 cups sugar; 8 eggs; 1 1/4 tsp salt |
Common questions about the Recipe Scaling Calculator
- How do I halve a recipe with 3 eggs?
- Half of 3 is 1½, and there is no half an egg in a carton. Either round to 2 and accept a slightly richer result, or beat one egg, weigh it, and use half of it by weight. The page rounds whole items to the nearest whole and tells you what it did, so you can choose.
- Does the cooking time double when I double a recipe?
- No. Time depends on how far heat has to travel into the food, which depends on its thickness, not its quantity. A doubled stew in a wider pot may take about the same time; a doubled cake batter in the same pan is twice as deep and will take much longer, with a risk of a raw centre. Use a larger pan or two pans and judge doneness rather than multiplying the time.
- Can I scale a baking recipe?
- Usually, with care. Flour, sugar, fat and liquid scale in proportion. Leavening such as baking powder mostly does too, but small amounts are hard to measure accurately, and a large batch in a deeper pan bakes differently. Scaling by weight rather than cups is more reliable for baking; the baker’s percentage page works that way.
- What about the pan size?
- A scaled batter needs a pan with a matching area, or it will be deeper or shallower than the recipe intended. The baking pan conversion page compares pans by the depth of batter they give, which is what changes the bake.