Set your desired serving size and click "Scale Recipe". The tool automatically calculates the precise scaling factor and adjusts all ingredient quantities proportionally. Use the interactive controls (½, -, +, 2×) to fine-tune servings dynamically, with instant recalculation of all measurements.

Common Mistake: Forgetting that some ingredients don't scale linearly. Spices, salt, and leavening agents may need manual adjustment when scaling significantly up or down. Use your judgement for flavouring ingredients in large-scale conversions.

Pro Tip: The tool displays fractions (¼, ½, ¾) automatically for easier measurement. When scaling produces decimals like 2.33 cups, it converts to the nearest practical fraction, making cooking more intuitive with standard measuring tools.

Switch to the Pantry Tracker tab and build your ingredient inventory. Add items you currently stock with their quantities and units. Use the search function to quickly locate ingredients in larger pantries. Update quantities after shopping or cooking to maintain accuracy. The tool displays live statistics showing total items and ingredient categories.

Common Mistake: Inconsistent unit usage between recipes and pantry. Ensure your pantry items use the same units as your recipes (e.g., if recipes call for cups of flour, track flour in cups rather than grams) for accurate availability checking.

Pro Tip: Conduct a complete pantry audit quarterly. Review all stored items, discard expired goods, consolidate opened packages, and update your digital inventory to reflect actual stock. This prevents confusion during cooking and improves shopping list accuracy.

Navigate to the Check Recipe tab and click "Check Availability" to compare your scaled recipe against pantry inventory. The tool analyses each ingredient, showing visual status indicators: green checkmarks for available items, yellow warnings for partial availability with exact shortfall amounts, and red crosses for missing ingredients. Review the summary to determine if you can cook immediately or need to shop.

Common Mistake: Not accounting for ingredient quality or freshness. The tool checks quantity but not expiry dates. Before cooking, verify that available ingredients remain fresh and suitable for use, especially perishables like dairy, eggs, or fresh produce.

Pro Tip: Generate shopping lists before every shop. Click "Generate Shopping List" to create a precise list of missing ingredients with exact quantities needed. Export to CSV or copy to your phone's notes for convenient in-store reference.

To scale a recipe, divide your target servings by the original servings to calculate the scale factor. Multiply each ingredient amount by this factor. For example, to convert 4 servings to 8 servings, the scale factor is 2 (8÷4=2). Multiply all ingredients by 2: 1 cup flour becomes 2 cups, 2 eggs become 4 eggs, etc.

The Recipe Scaler automates this calculation. Simply enter your recipe with original servings, set your target servings, and click "Scale Recipe". The tool displays all adjusted ingredient quantities instantly, converting decimals to practical fractions for easier measurement.

Effective pantry tracking requires three elements: complete initial inventory, consistent updates, and regular audits. Start by cataloguing everything you have with quantities and units. Update the inventory immediately after shopping (add new items) and after cooking (subtract used items). Conduct quarterly audits to reconcile digital records against physical stock.

Use the Pantry Tracker tab to add items with names, quantities, and measurement units. The search function helps locate items quickly in large inventories. Save your pantry regularly to persist data across sessions, and export to CSV periodically for backup.

Pantry tracking reduces waste through three mechanisms: preventing duplicate purchases, facilitating ingredient-first meal planning, and identifying expiring items. Before shopping, check your inventory to avoid buying items you already have. Plan meals around existing ingredients nearing expiry rather than buying new ingredients for predetermined recipes. Track purchase dates to identify ageing items requiring priority use.

Use the "Check Recipe" feature to find dishes you can make entirely from current stock, eliminating the need to shop at all. Generate shopping lists only for missing ingredients, buying exactly what you need rather than overestimating quantities. These practices reduce food waste by 30-50% in typical households.

Most ingredients scale linearly using simple multiplication, but some require judgement. Bulk ingredients (flour, sugar, vegetables, proteins) scale proportionally—doubling servings means doubling quantities. However, flavouring agents (salt, spices, extracts) often need less scaling, especially when scaling up significantly. Start with proportional scaling, then taste and adjust.

Leavening agents (baking powder, baking soda, yeast) require precise amounts relative to flour regardless of serving size. When scaling baking recipes, use proportional amounts initially but monitor results. Cooking times also don't scale linearly—a doubled recipe may need 50% more time rather than 100% more. The tool handles mathematical scaling; apply culinary judgement for these special cases.

The Recipe Scaler maintains your chosen measurement system throughout scaling but doesn't convert between metric and imperial units. If your recipe uses cups, scaled results appear in cups. If using grams, results remain in grams. For conversions, adjust your recipe inputs before scaling or use a separate unit converter.

Common approximate conversions: 1 cup = 240ml, 1 tablespoon = 15ml, 1 teaspoon = 5ml, 1 ounce = 28g, 1 pound = 454g. Note these are approximations—precise conversions vary by ingredient density. For accuracy, use recipes already in your preferred measurement system rather than converting.

When scaling produces fractional discrete items (like 2.4 eggs), round using context and purpose. For eggs as binders (cakes, meatballs), round to the nearest whole number (2.4 → 2 eggs). For eggs as leavening or structure (soufflés, custards), round up for safety (2.4 → 3 eggs). For eggs as enrichment (pasta dough), you can use fractional amounts by beating an egg and measuring by volume (1 large egg ≈ 50ml).

Similar logic applies to other discrete items. For recipes calling for "half an onion" or "quarter lemon", the tool displays decimals (0.5 onion, 0.25 lemon). Measure these by cutting the item as specified. For very small fractional amounts (0.1 clove garlic), either use a tiny pinch of the ingredient or round up to the smallest practical amount.

The tool supports ten common measurement units: cups, tablespoons (tbsp), teaspoons (tsp), grams (g), kilograms (kg), millilitres (ml), litres (l), ounces (oz), pounds (lb), and pieces. This covers volume measurements (cups, ml, l), small volume measurements (tbsp, tsp), weight measurements (g, kg, oz, lb), and discrete counts (pieces).

Choose volume units for liquids and flexible ingredients (milk, water, roughly measured flour), weight units for precise baking ingredients (exactly measured flour, sugar, butter), and pieces for discrete items (eggs, vegetables, fruits). Consistency across recipe and pantry inventory ensures accurate availability checking.

The tool uses browser LocalStorage to save recipes and pantry data automatically. Click "Save Recipe" to store your current recipe, or "Save Pantry" to store your inventory. These saves persist across browser sessions and page reloads. Data remains accessible until you clear browser data or switch devices.

For additional backup, export your data periodically. Click "Export CSV" on the Recipe Scaler or Pantry Tracker to download data files. Store these files in cloud storage or email them to yourself. If you clear browser storage or need to access data from another device, manually reload saved recipes or re-import your pantry inventory.

Absolutely. The Recipe Scaler + Pantry Tracker excels at meal planning through systematic ingredient tracking and availability checking. Plan your week by selecting recipes, scaling each to appropriate serving sizes, and checking all recipes against your pantry. Generate a consolidated shopping list showing total quantities needed across all planned meals.

This approach prevents overbuying (only purchase what's missing), reduces waste (use existing ingredients first), and saves time (one comprehensive shop rather than multiple trips). For weekly meal prep, scale recipes to produce multiple servings, check batch feasibility against pantry stock, and cook efficiently in one session.

The tool checks for exact ingredient name matches, so "chicken breast" and "chicken thighs" are treated as different items. For accurate checking, standardise your ingredient names—use the same terminology in recipes and pantry (e.g., always "tomatoes" not sometimes "tomato" or "cherry tomatoes"). Consider general categories for flexibility: track "pasta" generically rather than specific shapes if they're interchangeable in your recipes.

For items where substitution is acceptable, maintain separate pantry entries and mentally note substitution possibilities. If a recipe needs butter but you have margarine, the tool will show butter as unavailable, but you know margarine works as a substitute. This separation maintains tracking accuracy whilst preserving culinary flexibility for experienced cooks who understand ingredient substitutions.