Home › Cooking › Recipe Scaler
Recipe Scaler
Paste an ingredient list, tell the tool how many servings the recipe makes and how many you want, and every quantity is scaled for you — fractions stay as fractions, and teaspoons convert to tablespoons when they divide evenly.
Quantities are rounded to the nearest eighth for readability; seasonings marked "to taste" and lines without a quantity pass through unchanged. Cooking times and pan sizes do not scale linearly — check doneness, do not just multiply the time.
How it works
The scale factor is desired servings ÷ original servings, and every quantity in the list is multiplied by it. Quantities are parsed as whole numbers, decimals, simple fractions (1/2) or mixed numbers (1 1/2), then rounded to the nearest eighth so the result stays cookable — "0.37 cups" is useless in a kitchen, "3/8 cup" works. Teaspoons convert to tablespoons when the scaled amount divides evenly by 3. Lines without a quantity ("salt to taste", "a pinch of pepper") pass through unchanged. Worked example: a recipe for 4 servings scaled to 8 has factor 8 ÷ 4 = 2, so 2 cups flour becomes 4 cups, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder becomes 3 tsp = 1 tbsp, and 3 eggs become 6 eggs.
Frequently asked questions
Do cooking times scale with the recipe?
No. Doubling a recipe does not double the baking time — a bigger cake needs somewhat longer, but check doneness with a skewer or thermometer rather than multiplying the time. Stovetop dishes mostly need the same time, just a bigger pan.
What happens to pinches and 'to taste' ingredients?
Lines without a number pass through unchanged. Seasonings rarely scale linearly anyway — taste and adjust, especially salt, spices and chilli.
Why are quantities rounded to eighths?
Because kitchen measures come in eighths of a cup and similar steps. An exact decimal like 0.375 cups is just 3/8 cup, but 0.333 cups has no measuring cup — rounding to 3/8 keeps the recipe usable.
Can I scale down, not just up?
Yes — halving works the same way. A recipe for 8 scaled to 2 has factor 0.25, so 2 cups become 1/2 cup and 1 tbsp becomes 3/4 tsp (3/4 of a tablespoon is not converted, since it is not a whole number of teaspoons).
What about eggs — can I use half an egg?
The calculator scales honestly: 3 eggs halved is 1 1/2 eggs. In practice, beat one egg and use about half of it, or round to whole eggs and accept a slightly richer result.