Recipe Serving Scaler
Enter the recipe as written, say how many people you need to feed, and every ingredient is scaled for you.
Answer
Multiply everything by 1.5
Your scaled ingredients
Cooking time does not scale in the same way as ingredients. Use a larger tin or two trays, keep the temperature the same and check for doneness rather than trusting the original time.
Reference and detail
What does not scale
Cooking time, tin size and pan size do not scale with the ingredients. Salt, spices, raising agents and yeast often need less than a straight multiplication, so taste as you go.
Eggs
Half an egg is awkward. Beat one egg, weigh it, and use half the weight, a medium egg is about 50 g out of its shell.
Questions and answers
Questions about scaling a recipe up or down
Can I scale eggs in a recipe the same way as other ingredients?
Not always neatly, since eggs come in whole units. Scaling a recipe up by one and a half times might call for 4.5 eggs, which isn't practical to measure.
Round to the nearest whole egg and adjust another liquid ingredient slightly to compensate, or use a fraction of a beaten egg for small adjustments.
Does a cake recipe scale directly if I change the tin size?
Not directly by serving count, tin size is about area and depth, not headcount. Work out the right tin for your scaled batter quantity separately.
Should I scale the salt and spices in a recipe by the same amount as everything else?
Not always. Salt, chilli and strong spices can taste more intense than expected when scaled up in a straight ratio, so it's worth scaling seasoning conservatively and tasting before adding the full scaled amount.
Does cooking time change in proportion when I scale a recipe?
No. A doubled batch of soup or a bigger tray bake doesn't take twice as long, cooking time depends more on the thickness or depth of the dish than the total quantity, so check for doneness rather than doubling the time.
How do I scale a recipe for a completely different number of servings than the calculator's presets?
Enter the exact number of servings you want above and the calculator will work out the scaling factor for you, rather than needing to round to a convenient multiple like double or half.
Guidance
Read the full guide
- How to Scale a RecipeWhat scales cleanly, what does not, and how to handle eggs, seasoning, tin size and cooking time when you double or halve a recipe.