Updated 23 September 2026

How to scale a recipe for any number of people

Most recipes are written for four. You are cooking for two, or for six. The arithmetic is one division, but a few ingredients do not follow the arithmetic, and those are the ones that ruin a dish. Here is the method, a worked example, and the short list of things to scale by taste instead.

We make a recipe app that does this for you. The method below works with a pencil, and we mention other apps that scale too.

The method: one number

Divide the number of people you are cooking for by the number the recipe serves. That is your factor. Multiply every ingredient by it.

Scaling in three steps

1Find the factorPeople you are feeding, divided by what the recipe serves. 6 ÷ 4 = 1.5

2Multiply everything3 tbsp soy sauce × 1.5 = 4½ tbsp

3Round and tasteRound the eggs. Add salt and spice gradually.

A worked example

Fried rice written for four, cooked for two (× 0.5) and for six (× 1.5):

Ingredient	For 4 (as written)	For 2 (× 0.5)	For 6 (× 1.5)
Cooked rice	4 cups	2 cups	6 cups
Eggs	3	1½ → 1 large, or 2 small	4½ → 4 or 5
Soy sauce	3 tbsp	1½ tbsp	4½ tbsp
Oil	2 tbsp	1 tbsp	3 tbsp
Garlic	2 cloves	1 clove	3 cloves
Salt	½ tsp	¼ tsp, then taste	¾ tsp, then taste

Half an egg is the classic problem. Either round to the nearest whole egg, or beat one and use about half of it (a large egg is roughly three tablespoons beaten).

Awkward amounts: the conversions you need

Scaling turns tidy measures into odd ones. These are the US measures:

You get	Measure it as
1½ tbsp	1 tbsp + 1½ tsp
4½ tbsp	¼ cup + ½ tbsp
¾ cup, halved	6 tbsp
⅓ cup, halved	2 tbsp + 2 tsp
½ cup, × 1.5	¾ cup

1 tbsp = 3 tsp. ¼ cup = 4 tbsp. 1 cup = 16 tbsp. If you have a kitchen scale, grams are easier: they multiply cleanly.

What does not scale in a straight line

Multiply, or scale with care

MULTIPLYMain ingredientsMeat, vegetables, rice, pasta, stock, sauces.Scale exactly

BY TASTESalt, spice, chilliAdd most of the scaled amount, then taste before adding the rest.Scale, then check

NOT BY FACTORTime and heatA bigger pot takes longer to boil. A wider pan reduces a sauce faster.Watch, do not multiply

BAKINGCakes and breadA larger cake in a deeper pan bakes differently. Use more pans of the same size.Change the pans, not the depth

Cooking time is the one people get wrong. Twice the chicken does not take twice as long; it depends on how thick each piece is and how crowded the pan is. Cook to the sign the recipe gives you, "golden", "tender", "juices run clear", rather than to the scaled minutes.

Crowding. Doubling a stir-fry or a pan of roast vegetables in the same pan steams them instead of browning them. Cook in two batches, or use two pans.

Let an app do the arithmetic

Most recipe managers can scale a saved recipe. Paprika scales to a serving size and converts between measurements; Recipe Keeper and Crouton scale too. None of them can taste for you, so the "by taste" list above still applies.

In Repimame (ours), tap the number of servings at the top of a recipe and the whole ingredient list is recalculated for the new number. Your saved recipe is not changed. When you add a recipe to your shopping list you can pick the number of people there too, and the list gets the scaled amounts. Many TikTok and Instagram captions never say how many they serve, so for those the app asks you first.

Try Repimame
Completely free. iPhone and iPad.

Repimame Save a TikTok recipe Paprika alternatives Support Privacy

Written 23 September 2026.