Recipe Conversion Calculator

Easily scale your favorite recipes up or down to match your desired yield. Whether you're cooking for a crowd or just for one, this calculator helps you adjust ingredient quantities accurately.

Original Recipe Yield (e.g., servings, cups): Desired Recipe Yield (e.g., servings, cups): Original Ingredient Quantity (e.g., 2.5): Ingredient Unit (e.g., cups, tsp, grams):

Calculated New Quantity:

Understanding Recipe Scaling

Recipe scaling involves adjusting the quantities of ingredients in a recipe to change the total yield (e.g., number of servings). The core principle is to find a "conversion factor" by dividing your desired yield by the original recipe's yield. This factor is then multiplied by each ingredient's original quantity to get the new amount.

For example, if a recipe yields 4 servings and you want to make 6 servings:

Original Yield: 4 servings
Desired Yield: 6 servings
Conversion Factor = Desired Yield / Original Yield = 6 / 4 = 1.5

If the original recipe calls for 2 cups of flour, you would multiply 2 cups by the conversion factor (1.5) to get 3 cups of flour for your new recipe.

How to Use This Calculator

Original Recipe Yield: Enter the number of servings or the total yield (e.g., 8 cups of soup) that your original recipe produces.
Desired Recipe Yield: Enter the number of servings or the total yield you want to achieve.
Original Ingredient Quantity: Input the numerical amount of a specific ingredient from your original recipe (e.g., '2' for 2 cups, '1.5' for 1.5 teaspoons).
Ingredient Unit: Enter the unit for that ingredient (e.g., 'cups', 'tsp', 'grams', 'oz'). This unit will be carried over to your result.
Calculate: Click the "Calculate New Quantity" button to see the adjusted amount for that ingredient.

Tips for Successful Recipe Conversion

Baking vs. Cooking: Baking is often more precise than cooking. Small changes in ratios for leavening agents (baking soda, baking powder), flour, and liquids can significantly impact the outcome. For cooking, there's usually more flexibility.
Tricky Ingredients: Some ingredients don't scale linearly. Spices, herbs, garlic, and hot peppers might need to be adjusted more cautiously (e.g., start with less and add more to taste). Eggs can also be tricky; you might need to use half an egg or adjust other liquids.
Cooking Times: Scaling a recipe doesn't always mean scaling the cooking time proportionally. A larger quantity might take longer to heat through, but a smaller quantity might not cook significantly faster, especially in an oven. Monitor closely.
Equipment: Ensure you have appropriately sized pots, pans, and baking dishes for your scaled recipe.
Measure Accurately: Use proper measuring tools. For baking, weighing ingredients (especially flour) is often more accurate than using volume measurements.

Example Calculation

Let's say you have a cookie recipe that makes 24 cookies and calls for 1.5 cups of sugar. You want to make enough for a party, so you need 36 cookies.

Original Recipe Yield: 24
Desired Recipe Yield: 36
Original Ingredient Quantity: 1.5
Ingredient Unit: cups

Using the calculator:

Conversion Factor = 36 / 24 = 1.5
New Sugar Quantity = 1.5 cups * 1.5 = 2.25 cups

The calculator would tell you that you need 2.25 cups of sugar.

Conclusion

This recipe conversion calculator is a handy tool for any home cook or baker. It helps you avoid guesswork, reduce food waste, and confidently adjust recipes to fit any occasion. Happy cooking!