Doubling a recipe or cutting it in half? This free recipe scaling calculator converts any ingredient amount to match a new serving size, and gives you a single multiplier to apply across your entire recipe.
Enter one ingredient’s amount to see it scaled, or leave blank to just get the multiplier for the whole recipe.
Note: scaling works well for most ingredients, but leavening agents, spices and cooking times don’t always scale perfectly linearly.
What This Recipe Scaling Calculator Shows You
A recipe scaling calculator finds the ratio between your desired servings and the original recipe’s servings, then applies that same multiplier to any ingredient amount you enter – or gives you the multiplier alone to apply across the whole recipe.
How Scaling Is Calculated
Scale Factor = Desired Servings ÷ Original Servings
Going from 4 servings to 6 gives a scale factor of 1.5. Multiply every ingredient amount in the original recipe by 1.5 to scale the whole thing up.
Ingredients That Don’t Scale Perfectly
- Leavening agents (baking soda, baking powder, yeast) – scale these more conservatively, especially at large multiples.
- Spices and salt – taste and adjust rather than scaling linearly, since flavor intensity doesn’t always scale with volume.
- Cooking and baking times – a doubled dish often needs more time, but rarely exactly double.
- Pan size – scaling ingredients up may require a larger pan, which changes cook time and texture.
Tips for Scaling Baking Recipes Specifically
Baking is more chemistry-dependent than general cooking, so large scale-ups (more than doubling) are riskier. When possible, make multiple batches of the original recipe rather than one very large scaled batch for the best results.
Check nutrition per serving with our Recipe Nutrition Calculator, or plan portions with our Meal Prep Portion Calculator.