# What are my recipe calories?

Adds up the calories of a recipe’s ingredients, from USDA SR Legacy values or values from a label, and divides by the number of servings, with the weight per serving.

- Page: https://www.acalculator.org/food/recipe-calorie-calculator
- JSON spec: https://www.acalculator.org/food/recipe-calorie-calculator.json
- Version: 46c29187ccad

## Default answer

Example with the default inputs (Servings 10, Ingredients [Ingredient Banana, raw, Amount 3, Unit portions; Ingredient Egg, raw, Amount 2, Unit portions; Ingredient Butter, salted, Amount 113, Unit g; Ingredient Sugar, granulated, Amount 150, Unit g; Ingredient Other (type calories per 100 g), Amount 250, Unit g, Calories per 100 g (optional) 364]): The recipe has about 2,759 calories, or 276 per serving.

## Inputs

| Key | Label | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| servings | Servings | How many servings the recipe makes. |
| items | Ingredients | One row per ingredient: the food, the amount, and its unit. |

## Outputs

| Key | Label | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| perServing | Calories per serving | Total calories ÷ servings, in kcal (the Calories on a food label). |
| total | Calories in the whole recipe | The sum over the ingredients of kcal per 100 g × grams ÷ 100. |
| kjPerServing | Energy per serving in kilojoules | Calories per serving × 4.184. |
| grams | Weight of the ingredients | All the ingredients’ grams added up, before cooking. |
| gramsPerServing | Ingredient weight per serving | The ingredients’ weight ÷ servings, before cooking. |
| per100 | Calories per 100 g of ingredients | Total calories × 100 ÷ the ingredients’ weight. |
| breakdown | Calories by ingredient | Each ingredient’s grams and calories, rounded half up to whole numbers. |

## Method

calories = Σ (kcal per 100 g × grams ÷ 100) over the ingredients; per serving = calories ÷ servings; grams = portions × portion weight, or the weight in g, oz, lb or kg.

## Assumptions

- Energy values and portion weights are from USDA SR Legacy (April 2018) for 154 common foods; a value typed from a label replaces the table value.
- Ingredients are weighed as listed (raw unless the food says cooked). Cooking changes the weight, mostly water, but not the calories, so the calories are for the whole dish.
- Servings are equal shares of the whole dish.
- Calories are kilocalories (the Calories on a food label); 1 kcal = 4.184 kJ.

## Worked examples

1. items = {"food":"9040","amount":3,"unit":"portion"} or {"food":"1123","amount":2,"unit":"portion"}, servings = 10 gives total = 2,758.77, perServing = 275.877, grams = 967, per100 = 285.291624, kjPerServing = 1,154.269368. Source: USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy: 09040 Bananas, raw 89 kcal per 100 g, 1 medium = 118 g; 19335 Sugars, granulated 387 kcal (https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/, retrieved 2026-09-30).
2. items = {"food":"20045","amount":2,"unit":"portion"} or {"food":"5064","amount":8,"unit":"oz"}, servings = 2 gives total = 785.013705, perServing = 392.506853, grams = 542.796185, per100 = 144.624028. Source: USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy: 20045 Rice, white, long-grain, cooked 130 kcal per 100 g, 1 cup = 158 g; 05064 Chicken, broilers or fryers, breast, meat only, roasted 165 kcal (https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/); NIST SP 811: 1 oz = 28.349523125 g.

## FAQ

### How do I count the calories in a recipe?

For each ingredient, multiply its calories per 100 g by its weight in grams and divide by 100. Add the results for the whole dish, then divide by the number of servings. Three medium bananas (354 g at 89 kcal per 100 g) are 354 × 89 ÷ 100 = 315 kcal.

### What if an ingredient is not in the list?

Pick Other and type its calories per 100 g from the Nutrition Facts label. If the label gives calories per serving, divide by the serving weight in grams and multiply by 100: 110 kcal per 30 g serving is 367 kcal per 100 g.

### Does cooking change the calories?

Cooking mostly adds or removes water, which changes the weight but not the calories, so the dish’s total stays the sum of its ingredients. Frying adds the oil the food absorbs; count the oil you use as an ingredient.

### How do I find the calories per serving by weight?

Weigh the whole cooked dish, then use the calories in the whole recipe ÷ the cooked weight × the weight of your portion. The page gives the weight of the raw ingredients, which is not the cooked weight.

### Where do the calorie values come from?

From USDA SR Legacy (April 2018), the final release of the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, published in FoodData Central. It is public domain and no longer changes. A value you type from a label replaces it.

### Are calories and kilocalories the same?

On food labels, yes: the Calories on a label are kilocalories (kcal). In kilojoules, 1 kcal = 4.184 kJ.

## Sources

- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central: SR Legacy, April 2018 (energy, kcal per 100 g; household portion weights), public domain, retrieved 2026-09-30. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration, How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label, retrieved 2026-10-01. https://www.fda.gov/food/nutrition-facts-label/how-understand-and-use-nutrition-facts-label
- NIST Special Publication 811, Appendix B (1 oz = 28.349523125 g, 1 lb = 453.59237 g, thermochemical calorie = 4.184 J). https://www.nist.gov/pml/special-publication-811