Recipe scaler for meal prep
Paste a recipe, say how many servings it makes and how many containers you want. Every quantity is rescaled instantly, fractions included.
Scaled ×2.5
- 5lb boneless chicken thighs
- 3¾ cups dry white rice
- 7½tbsp soy sauce
- 5tbsp honey
- 7½cloves garlic, minced
- 2½large head broccoli
- 1¼ tsp chili flakes
Lines without a leading amount (like "salt to taste") are left as they are and shown in grey.
Scaling recipes up for batch cooking
Most recipes are written for 4 servings; most meal preps need 8 to 12. Multiplying the ingredients is the easy part. What changes when you scale:
- Pan space, not temperature. Keep the oven temperature. Spread over more trays so food roasts in a single layer; a crowded tray steams.
- Liquids in big pots. A wide pot loses less water per portion than a small one. For stews and curries, hold back about 10% of the liquid and add it if needed.
- Seasoning. Go to about three-quarters of the scaled salt and heat, taste at the end, then adjust.
- Rice and grains. Water ratios scale linearly in a rice cooker, but on the stove a big batch needs slightly less water per cup.
After scaling, split the finished batch evenly with the container calculator, or turn the list into a shopping list with the grocery list generator.
Questions people ask
How do I scale a recipe for meal prep?
Divide the number of containers you want by the servings the recipe makes, and multiply every ingredient by that factor. A recipe for 4 scaled to 10 containers uses a factor of 2.5. Paste it into the scaler above to do every line at once.
Do cooking times change when I double a recipe?
Oven temperature stays the same, but a fuller pan or deeper pot takes longer: often 10–25% more time. Use two sheet pans rather than piling food on one, so it roasts instead of steaming. Check doneness with a thermometer.
Should I scale spices and salt exactly?
Start with about 75% of the scaled amount for salt, chili and strong spices when scaling up a lot (3× or more), then taste and adjust. Evaporation in a big pot is proportionally lower, so flavours don’t concentrate as much.
Does the scaler handle fractions?
Yes. It reads whole numbers, decimals, fractions like 1/2 and 1 1/2, ranges like 2–3, and symbols like ½ and ¾, and returns cup and spoon amounts as friendly fractions.