Recipe Nutrition Calculator for Homemade Dishes
This recipe nutrition calculator adds up the label values of every ingredient you cook with, so you can estimate the calories, protein, fat, fibre and salt in each serving of a homemade dish.
Estimate your recipe’s nutrition
Ingredients (example dal and label values shown; replace them with your own)
Copy each value from the label together with the amount it refers to, such as per 100 g. Leave a value blank if the label does not show it; it is then treated as unknown, not as zero.
Estimate from raw-ingredient label values, rounded for display. It does not account for nutrients lost in cooking or for oil and liquid you discard, and it is not a laboratory analysis.
How the recipe nutrition calculator works
The recipe nutrition calculator works out what each ingredient adds to the pot, adds those amounts together and divides the total by your servings. For every ingredient it scales the label values to the amount you used:
ingredient value = label value × amount used ÷ label amount
per serving = sum of all ingredients ÷ number of servings
per 100 g cooked = sum of all ingredients ÷ cooked weight × 100
The amount used and the label amount are converted exactly, so 2 tablespoons of oil with a label per 100 mL, or 1 kg of chicken with a label per 100 g, both work. Weight and volume cannot be mixed: a cup of flour weighs different amounts depending on how it is packed, so the calculator asks you to enter both by weight or both by volume rather than guess a density. The energy table shows how much of the dish’s energy comes from each ingredient.
Worked example: red lentil dal for four
A simple masoor dal made with example label values, cooked down to 1,200 g and served as 4 portions:
| Ingredient | Amount used | Label values | Energy added |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red lentils (dry) | 200 g | 350 kcal, 24 g protein per 100 g | 700 kcal (67%) |
| Onion | 150 g | 40 kcal, 1.1 g protein per 100 g | 60 kcal (5.7%) |
| Tomatoes | 200 g | 18 kcal, 0.9 g protein per 100 g | 36 kcal (3.4%) |
| Cooking oil | 2 tbsp | 828 kcal, 92 g fat per 100 mL | 248 kcal (23.8%) |
| Salt | 6 g | 100 g salt per 100 g | 0 kcal (0%) |
The whole pot holds 1,044 kcal, 51.5 g protein, 141.8 g carbohydrate, 31.2 g fat, 27 g fibre and 6 g salt. Each of the 4 servings therefore has about 261 kcal, 12.9 g protein, 7.8 g fat, 6.7 g fibre and 1.5 g salt. Per 100 g of the cooked dal that is 87 kcal and 4.3 g protein. Two tablespoons of oil supply almost a quarter of the energy, which is why oil and ghee are worth measuring rather than pouring.
What happens when a label value is missing?
The recipe nutrition calculator treats a blank value as unknown, never as zero. Many loose foods have no label, and some labels skip fibre or salt, so guessing zero would quietly understate the total. Instead, the total for that nutrient is shown as “at least” the sum of the known values, and the calculator names the ingredients that are missing it. In the example, leaving the onion’s fibre blank changes the fibre line to at least 24.4 g for the pot and at least 6.1 g per serving. If a label really shows 0, type 0.
Rows with a value that is not a number, a negative value or an impossible one, such as more protein than the weight of food, are left out of the totals and named in a warning until you fix them.
Does cooking change the nutrition numbers?
Yes, so treat the result as an estimate. Cooking changes the weight of food: water evaporates from a curry, while rice and lentils absorb water. The USDA describes cooking yields as changes in weight from moisture loss, water absorption and fat gained or lost during cooking. That is why the per-serving figure uses your servings and the per-100 g figure uses the weight of the finished dish, not the raw weights.
- Discarded oil and liquid are still counted. If you drain frying oil, skim fat or pour away cooking water, the calculator cannot know. Enter only the oil you expect to stay in the food, or weigh what you discard and subtract it.
- Some vitamins and minerals are lost in cooking. This tool covers energy, macronutrients, fibre and salt, but even these can shift slightly with long cooking or frying.
- It is not a laboratory analysis. Labels are rounded and natural foods vary from batch to batch. The result is a sound estimate for meal planning, not a figure for a printed food label.
Where do I find the label values?
The values for the recipe nutrition calculator come from the nutrition panel on each pack. Copy the column you prefer and the amount it refers to, usually 100 g, 100 mL or one serving. Match the label to the form you cook with: dry lentils with a dry lentil label, raw chicken with a raw label. For fresh foods without a label, a reference database such as USDA FoodData Central lists typical values. US labels give sodium in milligrams rather than salt; salt is sodium × 2.5, and our nutrition label portion calculator converts it for you and explains per 100 g and per serving columns.
Tips for a more accurate estimate
- Weigh, don’t guess. A kitchen scale makes the amounts, and the cooked weight, far more accurate than cups and handfuls.
- Measure fats carefully. Oil, ghee and butter are the densest sources of energy in most home cooking.
- Resize first, then calculate. If you cook a recipe at a different size, scale the ingredient list with the recipe scaler and enter the new amounts.
- Save your favourites. Your inputs stay in this browser, and the copy button gives you a text summary to keep. Try it on our Karachi biryani recipe or other dishes in our recipes collection.
Sources used on this page
- USDA Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry, Release 2: cooking yields reflect moisture loss, water absorption and fat changes.
- USDA nutrient retention factors: retention of vitamins and minerals during food preparation.
- EU Regulation 1169/2011 on food information: salt = sodium × 2.5, and fat supplies 9 kcal per gram, used to reject impossible energy values.
- USDA FoodData Central: typical values for foods without a label.
For personal nutrition targets, speak to a doctor or registered dietitian. For everyday cooking, the recipe nutrition calculator gives you a clear, honest estimate of what is on your plate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Work out what each ingredient adds, add them up, then divide by the number of servings. Each ingredient adds its label value × amount used ÷ label amount. In our example, 200 g of red lentils at 350 kcal per 100 g adds 700 kcal. The whole pot of dal comes to 1,044 kcal, so each of 4 servings has about 261 kcal. The recipe nutrition calculator does these steps for you.
Enter the amount you put in the pot, in the same form as the label: dry lentils with a dry lentil label, raw chicken with a raw chicken label. Do not mix a raw weight with a cooked label. Weigh the finished dish separately and enter it as the cooked weight if you want values per 100 g of the cooked food.
Cooking adds or removes water, so the pot rarely weighs the same as the raw ingredients. The cooked weight turns the batch total into a value per 100 g that you can use for any portion. Our 1,200 g pot of dal has about 87 kcal per 100 g, so a 300 g bowl has about 261 kcal.
It means a label value was left blank for at least one ingredient. A blank is treated as unknown, not as zero, so that ingredient’s share is missing from the total and the real figure can only be higher. The calculator names the ingredient. Find the value on the pack or in a food database, or enter 0 if the label shows 0.
It is an estimate from raw-ingredient labels, not a laboratory analysis. Label values are rounded, foods vary, and cooking can change some nutrients. That is fine for everyday meal planning. If you follow a diet for diabetes, kidney disease or another condition, ask a doctor or registered dietitian how precise your numbers need to be.