About the Recipe Calorie Calculator
This recipe nutrition calculator totals the calories and macros of a home-cooked dish and divides them by the number of servings. Type one ingredient per line with its calories and, optionally, grams of protein, carbohydrate and fat — copied from package labels or a food database such as USDA FoodData Central — and the calculator does the arithmetic.
It is ideal for meal preppers logging batch cooking, parents working out the nutrition of family meals, food bloggers adding per-serving info to recipes, and anyone tracking macros who cooks from scratch. You also get the macro split per serving and a check of whether the macro grams match the calories you entered.
For best accuracy, weigh ingredients and use values for the state you weigh them in (raw vs cooked). To split a dish by weight instead of portions, weigh the finished dish and enter its weight in grams as the number of servings: the result is then calories per gram, which you multiply by the grams on your plate.
With the default inputs, the calories per serving is 480 kcal. Change any value above to recalculate instantly.
How to use the recipe calorie calculator
- 1Type or paste one ingredient per line: name, calories, then protein, carbs and fat in grams.
- 2Use nutrition for the exact amount you use (e.g. 500 g chicken, 2 tbsp oil).
- 3Enter how many servings the recipe makes.
- 4Read calories and macros per serving, and check the ingredient table for mistakes.
Formula and method
The calculator adds up the calories, protein, carbohydrate and fat of every ingredient line to get recipe totals, then divides each total by the number of servings. Missing macro fields count as zero, so you can enter calories only.
As a sanity check it also converts the per-serving macros back into calories with the Atwater factors (4 kcal/g for protein and carbohydrate, 9 kcal/g for fat). If that figure differs from your calorie total by more than about 10%, a value is probably missing or mistyped. Cooking losses such as fat left in the pan are not modelled.
- Σ
- Sum over all ingredient lines
- P, C, F
- Protein, carbohydrate and fat grams per serving
Worked examples
Chicken, rice and broccoli meal prep (4 servings)
The five ingredients total 1,921 kcal, 181.6 g protein, 174.4 g carbs and 51.6 g fat. Divided into four boxes, each serving is about 480 kcal with 45 g protein, 44 g carbs and 13 g fat.
Pancake batter, calories only, 6 servings
With calories only, the five lines add to 1,551 kcal, or about 259 kcal for each of six servings. Macros show as zero because none were entered.
Overnight oats for 2
Semicolon-separated lines work too. The oats, yogurt, blueberries and honey total 570 kcal, so each jar is 285 kcal with about 15.7 g protein, 46.8 g carbs and 4.7 g fat.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate calories per serving of a recipe?+
Add the calories of every ingredient in the amounts used, then divide by the number of servings. For macros, do the same with grams of protein, carbohydrate and fat. This calculator does both at once.
Should I use raw or cooked weights?+
Use values that match how you weighed the food. Raw weights are usually more consistent; if you weigh meat or rice after cooking, use cooked nutrition values, since water loss or absorption changes calories per gram.
How do I portion by weight instead of servings?+
Weigh the whole finished dish in grams and enter that number as the servings, which gives calories per gram. Multiply by the grams on your plate to get your portion’s calories.
Where can I find ingredient nutrition data?+
Package nutrition labels are the most accurate for branded products. For whole foods, USDA FoodData Central lists calories and macros for thousands of foods per 100 g and per common household measure.
Does cooking change the calories?+
Cooking does not create or destroy many calories, but it changes weight through water loss, and some fat drips away from meat. Oil absorbed during frying adds calories, so count any oil you use.
This tool gives general estimates and is not medical advice. Talk to a doctor or qualified professional about your health, diet or training.
Sources