BYTETOOLS

Recipe Scaler

Paste an ingredient list and scale every quantity to a new serving count. Handles mixed numbers and fractions like 1 1/2 and ¾, with tidy fraction output.

Multiplier: ×1.5008 lines with a quantity

Every line is scanned for a leading quantity — a whole number, a decimal, “1 1/2”, “3/4” or a vulgar fraction such as ¾ — and multiplied by target servings ÷ original servings. Lines with no number, such as “Pinch of nutmeg”, are passed through untouched. With “simplify units” on, 3 tsp becomes 1 tbsp and 16 tbsp becomes 1 cup, and small amounts step back down. Remember that baking is not purely linear: pan size, bake time, salt, spice and leavening all need a cook's judgement, and eggs come in whole units.

What is the Recipe Scaler?

The ByteTools Recipe Scaler takes a pasted ingredient list and multiplies every quantity by your target servings ÷ the original servings.

  • Parses mixed numbers, plain fractions and unicode fractions like ¾, ⅓ and 1½
  • Output as tidy kitchen fractions or as decimals
  • Unit step-ups and step-downs: 3 tsp → 1 tbsp, ¼ cup → 4 tbsp
  • Ranges such as '2-3 tbsp' are scaled at both ends
  • Lines without a quantity are passed through unchanged
  • Copy or download the scaled recipe; nothing is uploaded

How to use the Recipe Scaler

  1. 1

    Paste or type your ingredient list into the left box, one ingredient per line.

  2. 2

    Enter what the recipe currently serves and what you want it to serve — or use Swap servings to reverse them.

  3. 3

    Choose fractions or decimals, and leave 'Simplify units' ticked to let teaspoons roll up into tablespoons.

  4. 4

    Read the scaled list on the right, with the multiplier and the number of scaled lines shown above.

  5. 5

    Copy the result to the clipboard or download it as a plain text file.

About the Recipe Scaler

The ByteTools Recipe Scaler takes a pasted ingredient list and multiplies every quantity by your target servings ÷ the original servings. It reads whole numbers, decimals, mixed numbers such as 1 1/2, plain fractions such as 3/4 and unicode fractions such as ¾ or ⅓, including the '1½' form written without a space.

Results come back as tidy kitchen fractions rounded to halves, thirds, quarters, sixths, eighths or sixteenths, or as decimals if you prefer. With unit simplification on, 3 teaspoons becomes 1 tablespoon and 16 tablespoons becomes 1 cup, and quantities that shrink below one step back down so you never see '0.31 cups'. Metric weights stay as decimals.

Lines with no quantity — 'Pinch of nutmeg', 'Salt to taste', a method step — pass through untouched, so you can paste a whole recipe. Everything happens in your browser and no recipe text is uploaded. Remember that scaling is arithmetic, not cooking: pan size, bake time, salt and leavening still need judgement.

Frequently asked questions

How do I double a recipe?

Set the original servings to what the recipe makes and the target to twice that, then every quantity is multiplied by two. Be careful with salt, chilli, strong spices and leavening — these rarely scale linearly, and doubling a cake usually means two pans rather than one deeper one.

How do I halve a recipe with 3 eggs?

Arithmetic gives 1.5 eggs, which the scaler will show. In the kitchen, beat one egg plus one yolk, or whisk two eggs and weigh out half — a large egg is about 50 g out of the shell, so 25 g is a clean half.

Does scaling a recipe change the cooking time?

Yes, though not proportionally. Bake time depends mostly on how deep the food is, not how much of it there is, so a doubled batch in two pans bakes in about the original time while the same batter in one deeper pan takes considerably longer. Check for doneness rather than trusting a scaled clock.

Why did some lines not get scaled?

Only lines that start with a recognisable quantity are scaled. 'Pinch of nutmeg', 'Salt to taste' and method steps have no leading number, so they are passed through exactly as written — which is what you want when you paste a whole recipe.

Can I scale a recipe by a multiplier instead of servings?

Yes — set the original servings to 1 and the target to your multiplier. Entering 1 and 2.5 scales everything by 2.5, and the multiplier is shown above the boxes so you can confirm it before copying.

Should I scale salt and spices the same as everything else?

Usually not. Salt, chilli, garlic and strong aromatics tend to scale sub-linearly — a tripled recipe often needs closer to double the seasoning. Scale them with the tool, then taste and adjust rather than trusting the number.

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