§ 01 / TOOL
Scale recipe from 6 to 4.
STATUS ACTIVEPARSING FRACTION-SMARTLATENCY <1MS
> INPUT
ORIGINAL SERVINGS
SCALE TO
SCALE TO
TARGET SERVINGS
INGREDIENTS · ONE PER LINE
SCALED RECIPE.
×0.67
// RESULT
6 → 4 (×0.67)
// INGREDIENTS8 SCALED · 1 PASSED
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flourwas: 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup sugarwas: 1 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup butterwas: 1/2 cup butter
- 2/3 tsp vanilla extractwas: 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggswas: 3 eggs
- 0.17 tsp saltwas: 1/4 tsp salt
- 2/3 cup milkwas: 1 cup milk
- 1 1/3 tsp baking powderwas: 2 tsp baking powder
- pinch of cinnamonpassed through
// FORMULA
Scale factor: 4 / 6 = 0.67
Scaling from 6 servings to 4 is ×0.67. 8 ingredients scaled; 1 passed through unchanged.
§ 02 / ABOUT
How to use this.
Scaling a recipe means adjusting every ingredient amount for a different serving count. Doubling a recipe that serves 4 to feed 8 means doubling everything — simple in theory, tedious in practice when there are twelve ingredients and half of them are fractions.
This tool takes your original and target serving counts, computes the scale factor, and rescales every numeric line in your ingredient list. It handles integers, decimals, fractions like 1/2, mixed fractions like 1 1/2, and ranges like 2-3. Lines without numbers — "pinch of salt", "to taste", "for the glaze:" — pass through unchanged.
// WHEN SCALING WORKS WELL
- Savory cooking. Soups, stews, stir-fries, curries, pasta sauces — everything scales cleanly. Double or triple without thinking.
- Most baking at 2× or less. Cakes, cookies, breads usually work when doubled. Larger scales start to have trouble.
// WHEN TO BE CAREFUL
- Spices and salt. At 3× or more, spice amounts can overwhelm. Scale to 1.5–2× what the calculator says when tripling a savory dish.
- Leavening agents. Baking powder and baking soda often need less than linear scaling, especially above 2×. 3× recipe usually needs ~2.5× leavening.
- Pan size. A doubled cake batter does not fit in a doubled pan — pan volume scales with the square of linear dimensions. Use two pans or a bigger one.
- Cook times. A doubled roast doesn\'t cook in 2× the time. Use internal temperature, not the clock.
After scaling, if your recipe is in cups and you want to switch to weight, run the results through the Cups to Grams converter.
§ 03 / FAQ
Questions. Answered.
How does it know which part of each line is the amount?+
It grabs the numeric prefix at the start of the line — integer ("2"), decimal ("2.5"), fraction ("1/2"), mixed fraction ("1 1/2"), or range ("2-3", uses the lower bound). Everything after the number passes through unchanged. So "2 cups flour" becomes "4 cups flour" when doubled; "1 1/2 tsp vanilla" becomes "3 tsp vanilla".
What about lines without numbers?+
"Pinch of salt", "to taste", "splash of vanilla" — lines without a numeric prefix pass through unchanged. Scaling a pinch is meaningless; those ingredients are "as needed" regardless of serving count.
Why does the result show fractions instead of decimals?+
Because recipes read that way. "1 1/2 cups" is natural; "1.5 cups" is awkward. When a scaled amount lands near a common fraction (1/8, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, etc.), we render it as a fraction. Odd results fall back to decimals.
Do all ingredients scale linearly?+
Most do. Some don't: leavening agents (baking powder, baking soda, yeast) often need less than a linear scale. Salt and spices can overwhelm at large multiples. Pan dimensions don't scale linearly with volume. For baking, double-check spice totals when scaling up 3× or more.
Can I paste a full recipe in?+
Yes. Paste it into the ingredient box — newlines separate items. The parser handles most real-world recipe formats, including sections like "For the glaze:" (those pass through as-is since they have no numeric prefix).
Does the shared URL include my recipe?+
No — only the serving counts (e.g. /recipe-scaler/4-to-8). The ingredient list stays in your browser. Use the COPY LIST button to grab the scaled result and paste it wherever you need it.
§ 04 / TOOLS
Related calculators.
§ 05 / READING