How to Scale a Recipe Up or Down

The recipe serves four. You're feeding nine. Or it's just you tonight and the recipe makes a lasagna for a small army.

Scaling a recipe is mostly simple math. The trouble is the handful of things that don't follow the math, and those are what ruin dinner.

The Short Answer

To scale a recipe, divide the servings you want by the servings the recipe makes. That number is your scaling factor. Multiply every ingredient by it. Want 6 servings from a recipe for 4? 6 ÷ 4 = 1.5, so use 1.5 times every amount. Then adjust the few things that don't scale evenly: salt and spices, pan size, and cooking time.

How to Scale a Recipe, Step by Step

1. Find the recipe's yield. It's usually at the top: "Serves 4" or "Makes 24 cookies."
2. Work out your scaling factor. Servings you want ÷ servings the recipe makes. Doubling is 2. Halving is 0.5. Going from 4 to 6 is 1.5.
3. Multiply each ingredient. 2 cups of broth × 1.5 = 3 cups. 1 lb of chicken × 1.5 = 1.5 lb.
4. Convert awkward amounts. 1.5 × ⅓ cup is ½ cup. Half of 3 tablespoons is 1½ tablespoons, or 4½ teaspoons. Use the cheat sheet below.
5. Go easy on salt, spice, and heat. Add about three quarters of the scaled amount, taste, then add more.
6. Pick the right pan. More food needs a bigger pan or two pans. Less food needs a smaller one.
7. Watch the food, not the timer. Cooking times change. Use the recipe's doneness cues: golden brown, bubbling, a clean toothpick, the right internal temperature.

What Doesn't Scale Evenly

Salt, spices, and chili. Rounding adds up, and big pots reduce differently, so the seasoning may not scale evenly. Hold some back and season to taste at the end.

Cooking time. A double batch of soup takes longer to come to a simmer. A half batch of brownies in a smaller pan may bake faster. Start checking early.

Pan size. This matters most of all. If you double a recipe but keep the same pan, the food sits deeper, steams instead of browns, and cooks unevenly. If you halve a recipe in a full-size pan, it spreads thin and can burn. Aim to keep the food at about the same depth as the original.

Oil for cooking. The oil you heat in the pan depends on pan size, not servings. A bigger pan needs a little more. A double batch in the same pan doesn't need double the oil.

Eggs. Half of 3 eggs is 1½. Beat one egg, then use about half of it (about 1½ tablespoons, or 25 g by weight) for the "half egg."

Baking. Cakes, breads, and pastry are touchy. Doubling a cookie dough is usually fine. Doubling a cake in one deeper pan often isn't. For baking, it's often safer to make two separate batches than one giant one. A kitchen scale helps a lot here: weights scale cleanly, while cups and spoons get rounded. Baking powder and baking soda scale normally when you double a recipe; for three times or more, make separate batches. Keep the oven temperature the same; only the time changes.

Kitchen Measurement Cheat Sheet

Common halves: half of ¼ cup is 2 tablespoons. Half of ⅓ cup is 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons. Half of 1 tablespoon is 1½ teaspoons.

Common doubles: double ⅓ cup is ⅔ cup. Double ¾ cup is 1½ cups. Double 1½ teaspoons is 1 tablespoon.

Doing It With Aldenté

On iPhone and iPad, Aldenté does the math for you.

1. Save the recipe from a website, TikTok, Instagram, or Pinterest by sharing it to Aldenté. You can also type it, say it, or share photos of a cookbook page.
2. Open the recipe and change the servings. Tap + or − next to Servings, anywhere from 1 to 20. The ingredient amounts update to match. (The control shows when the recipe lists a serving count. If it doesn't, edit the recipe and add one.)
3. Ask the chef about what doesn't scale. Every recipe has a chef chat. Ask "I'm making this for 10, what pan should I use?" or "how long should a half batch bake?" and get an answer for that recipe.
4. Shop and cook. Add the ingredients to your grocery list, then cook step by step in Cook Mode, with timers on the steps that need them.

Saving, scaling, the grocery list, Cook Mode, and chat with Sage plus one chef you pick are free. Premium ($7.99/mo or $47.99/yr) adds all seven chefs and meal plan generation. Aldenté is iPhone and iPad only.

Get Aldenté free on the App Store

Doing It Without an App

A pencil and the cheat sheet above are all you need. Write the scaling factor at the top of the recipe, then write each new amount next to the old one before you start cooking. Doing the math first, not mid-recipe, is what keeps you from adding the original amount of salt by habit. And if scaling up leaves you short on something, here's how to substitute a missing ingredient.

If you cook from a lot of recipes, our guides on what to do with recipe screenshots and the best cooking apps for beginners can help you set up a system.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you calculate a recipe scaling factor?

Divide the number of servings you want by the number the recipe makes. For 10 servings from a recipe that serves 4, the factor is 10 ÷ 4 = 2.5. Multiply every ingredient amount by 2.5.

Can you double any recipe?

Most stovetop recipes, soups, stews, and sauces double well in a bigger pot. Baked goods are less forgiving: doubling a cake in a deeper pan can change how it bakes. For baking, two separate batches are often the safer choice.

Do you double the cooking time when you double a recipe?

No. Cooking time doesn't scale with the amount of food. A bigger batch usually takes somewhat longer, especially to heat through, but not twice as long. Check early and use doneness cues like color, texture, and internal temperature.

How do you halve an egg?

Beat one egg in a small bowl, then measure out about half, which is about 1½ tablespoons, or 25 g by weight. Save the rest for scrambled eggs or an egg wash.

Should I scale salt and spices exactly?

Start with about three quarters of the scaled amount, then taste and add more. Strong seasonings can come across stronger in a big batch, and you can always add salt but you can't take it out.

Is there an app that scales recipes automatically?

Yes. In Aldenté, open a saved recipe and tap + or − next to Servings (1 to 20), and the ingredient amounts update. You can also ask the recipe's chef about pan size and cooking time. It's free on iPhone and iPad. Meet the chefs in our guide to the Aldenté chefs.

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Feeding a crowd or cooking for one, the recipe can fit your table. Do the math once, season to taste, and cook.