Recipe Scaler
Paste a recipe, say how many it should serve, and get tidy amounts back. Halve it, double it or resize it for a crowd.
Or enter a multiplier instead:
How to use the scaler
Type or paste your ingredients with the amount first, for example 1½ cups flour, 250 g sugar or 3 eggs. Fractions can be typed as 1/2, 1 1/2 or ½, and ranges such as 2-3 cloves are scaled at both ends. Lines the scaler cannot read, such as "salt to taste", are kept as written and left unscaled.
What to watch when you scale
- Raising agents and salt. Baking powder, baking soda, yeast and salt do not always scale in a straight line. For big increases, start with a little less and adjust.
- Spices. Strong spices such as chilli, cayenne and cloves can become overpowering. Scale them a little cautiously and taste as you go.
- Eggs. If the scaled number is not whole, round to the nearest whole egg or beat one egg and measure it.
- Pan size and time. A bigger batch needs a bigger pan and usually longer cooking. Use the baking pan converter to match the pan.
A worked example: pancakes for 4, scaled to 10
The recipe serves 4 and you've got 10 people. The multiplier is 10 ÷ 4 = 2.5. Here's what happens to each line:
| Original | × 2.5 | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 1½ cups flour | 3¾ cups | |
| 1 tbsp sugar | 2½ tbsp | |
| 1 tbsp baking powder | 2½ tbsp | Start a little under and test |
| ¼ tsp salt | ⅝ tsp | About ½ tsp plus a pinch |
| 1¼ cups milk | 3⅛ cups | |
| 3 tbsp butter | 7½ tbsp | A little under ½ cup |
| 1 egg | 2½ eggs | Use 2 and add a splash of milk, or beat 3 and use most of it |
Paste your own ingredients into the tool above and it does exactly this, with the fractions tidied up.
What doesn't scale in a straight line
Multiplying the ingredients is the easy part. These are the things that don't just multiply:
- Cooking time. A double batch of cookies takes the same time per tray. A bigger roast or a deeper cake takes longer. Go by how it looks and feels, not by the clock.
- The size of the pan or pot. Soups and sauces reduce differently in a bigger pot, because there's a different surface for the water to leave from. Use the baking pan converter for cakes and bakes.
- Raising agents. Baking powder, baking soda and yeast can taste soapy or rise unevenly when simply multiplied. For big increases, go a little under and test.
- Salt and strong spices. Chilli, cayenne and cloves can take over. Add most of it, then taste.
- Frying and oven space. A crowded pan or tray steams instead of browning. Cook in batches.
- Yeast dough. A bigger dough takes longer to warm up and can ferment at a different rate, so watch the dough, not the clock.
Halving and doubling cheat sheet
| Original | Half | Double |
|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | ½ cup | 2 cups |
| ¾ cup | 6 tbsp | 1½ cups |
| ⅔ cup | ⅓ cup | 1⅓ cups |
| ½ cup | ¼ cup | 1 cup |
| ⅓ cup | 2 tbsp + 2 tsp | ⅔ cup |
| ¼ cup | 2 tbsp | ½ cup |
| 1 tbsp | 1½ tsp | 2 tbsp |
| 1 tsp | ½ tsp | 2 tsp |
| ½ tsp | ¼ tsp | 1 tsp |
| ¼ tsp | ⅛ tsp (a pinch) | ½ tsp |
| 1 large egg | 1½ tbsp beaten egg | 2 eggs |
Cooking for one or two
Scaling down is where most people go wrong, because the ingredients shrink but the pan, the pot and the oven don't. A few things help:
- Use a smaller pan or pot, so the food isn't spread thin and dries out.
- Expect things to cook faster, and start checking early.
- For a part egg, beat one egg in a cup and measure out the amount you need. A large egg is about 3 tablespoons.
- If a recipe is awkward to scale, make the full amount and freeze the rest in portions.
When a scaled recipe goes wrong, it's rarely the quantities. It's usually the heat, the time or the size of the pan. The tool gets the numbers right. The notes above keep the rest on track.
Related tools
Frequently asked questions
How do I halve or double a recipe?
Multiply every ingredient by 0.5 to halve a recipe or by 2 to double it. Paste the ingredients into the scaler, set the original servings and the servings you want, and it does the multiplication and tidies the result into usable fractions such as ¾ cup and 1½ tbsp.
How do I scale a recipe for a different number of servings?
Divide the number of servings you want by the number the recipe makes. A recipe for 4 that you want to serve 10 needs a factor of 10 ÷ 4 = 2.5, so 1½ cups of flour becomes 3¾ cups.
Do all ingredients scale in a straight line?
Most do, but not all. Baking powder, baking soda, yeast, salt and strong spices can taste or behave differently in large batches, so scale them a little cautiously and adjust to taste. Cooking time, pan size and oven temperature usually change too: a larger batch in a deeper dish takes longer, while a smaller batch cooks faster.
What do I do with a recipe that needs half an egg?
Beat one egg, measure it (a large egg is about 50 ml or 3 tablespoons) and use half. For a recipe scaled by 1.5, use one whole egg plus half of a second.
How do I change the pan size when I scale a recipe?
A bigger or smaller batch needs a pan with a matching volume. Use the baking pan converter to compare your pan with the one the recipe calls for.