Shopping List Combiner
Use this shopping list combiner to merge the ingredients from several recipes into one grocery list and subtract what is already in your kitchen.
Build your combined list
Ingredients from all your recipes (example list shown; replace it with your own)
How does the shopping list combiner work?
The shopping list combiner adds up the same ingredient across all your recipes, subtracts what you already have, and shows only what is left to buy. Enter one line per ingredient per recipe, with its name, amount and unit, and optionally how much of it is already at home. Lines are merged when two things match: the name, and the kind of unit.
to buy = total needed − already have, never below zero
The name match ignores capital letters and extra spaces, so “Onions”, “onions” and “ONIONS ” are one ingredient. The kind of unit means weight (g, kg, oz, lb), volume (mL, L, spoons, cups) or count (items, dozens). Inside one kind, units are converted exactly before adding, so 1 kg and 500 g make 1.5 kg and 100 mL plus 3 tablespoons make 145 mL.
Worked example: biryani, pulao and raita
The example list on this page mixes the needs of three dishes. The same ingredient appears on several lines, and some pantry stock is already at home:
| Item | Lines entered | Total needed | Already have | To buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basmati rice | 1 kg + 500 g | 1.5 kg | 500 g | 1 kg |
| Onions | 4 items + 1.5 items | 5.5 items | 1 item | 5 items (rounded up from 4.5) |
| Cooking oil | 100 mL + 3 tbsp | 145 mL | 1 L | Enough at home |
| Yoghurt | 250 g | 250 g | none | 250 g |
| Yoghurt | 1 cup | 250 mL | none | 250 mL |
The two yoghurt lines are kept apart on purpose, because one is a weight and the other a volume. The tool marks them “measured differently; not combined”. For a full recipe such as Karachi biryani, you would list every ingredient this way.
Why are some lines not combined?
Lines are kept apart whenever the tool cannot be sure they are the same thing. There are two cases, and both are deliberate.
- Different kinds of unit. A cup of rice is a volume and a kilogram of rice is a weight. Turning one into the other needs the density of that food and how it is packed, which varies, so the tool never converts between weight and volume. If you can, use one kind of unit for each ingredient. The recipe scaler can change a recipe’s amounts first.
- Slightly different names. “Tomato” and “tomatoes” are treated as two names, and so are “chilli” and “green chillies”. Type each ingredient the same way in every recipe and the amounts merge. The unmerged lines are easy to spot in the list, so you can fix a spelling and watch them join.
How do I use the list?
Copy the checklist and paste it into a notes app or message. Each line reads like “- [ ] Basmati rice: 1 kg (have 500 g)”, so you can tick items off as you shop. Items you already have enough of appear at the end of their line as “enough at home” so you can skip them. If any row was left out because of a missing or invalid amount, the copied text says the list is incomplete and names the row.
Once you know what to buy, compare pack sizes with the grocery unit price comparator, price the full dish with the recipe cost calculator, or plan a week of cooking with the meal prep calculator.
What does this tool not know?
- Pack sizes. It tells you the amount still needed, not whether the shop sells it in 500 g or 1 kg packs.
- Use-by dates. Stock you enter as “already have” is assumed to be fresh enough to use.
- Waste and trimming. Recipe amounts are taken as given. Peeling, bones and spoilage may mean you need to buy a little more.
- Rounding. Counts are rounded up to whole items. Weights and volumes are shown to a few decimal places, which is accurate to about a gram or millilitre.
For meal ideas that give you a reason to start a list, browse our healthy quinoa salad recipe or the Mediterranean diet guide. A tidy shopping list combiner habit saves money by cutting duplicate buying and forgotten items.
Frequently Asked Questions
List every ingredient from every recipe, one line each, with the amount and unit. Type the same name the same way each time. The shopping list combiner adds lines that share a name and a kind of unit, so 1 kg of rice and 500 g of rice become 1.5 kg. Then enter what is in your cupboard to see only what is left to buy.
The tool matches names exactly, ignoring capital letters and extra spaces, but it does not guess that two spellings mean the same food. “Tomato” and “tomatoes” are different names, so they stay separate. Type one name for each ingredient across every recipe, and the amounts will merge into a single line.
No. A cup measures volume and a kilogram measures weight, and the weight of a cup depends on the food and how it is packed. The tool never guesses a density, so it keeps the two as separate lines and marks them “measured differently; not combined”. Use the same kind of unit for an ingredient if you want one total.
You cannot buy half an onion in most shops, so counts are rounded up to whole items for buying. If recipes need 5.5 onions and you have 1 at home, the shortfall is 4.5, and the list says to buy 5. Weights and volumes are not rounded up; they show the exact amount still missing.
A blank “already have” box counts as nothing at home, so the whole amount goes on the list. If you type something that is not a number, the row is left out and named on screen, and the list is marked incomplete. If you have the ingredient in several rows, enter the stock on one row only.