Recipe Batch Scaling Cost Calculator

How it is calculated

Three numbers go in: the servings the recipe was written for, the servings you want to make, and the total ingredient cost of the original batch (the whole batch, not per serving). The tool computes factor = target servings / original servings, then scaled cost = original cost × factor, then cost per serving = scaled cost / target servings. The factor is displayed with three decimals and the money values in dollars with two. Original servings must be above zero and the cost cannot be negative. A target of 0 is accepted and simply returns zeros. The calculation is purely linear: it assumes every ingredient scales in proportion and ignores bulk discounts, pack-size rounding and waste.

Common mistakes

• Entering the cost per serving instead of the total cost of the original batch. The tool multiplies whatever you give it by the factor, so a per-serving price gives a wildly low batch cost.
• Typing the factor (for example 2) into the target servings field. The target is the number of servings you want, such as 8, not how many times larger the batch is.
• Expecting the per-serving cost to drop for large batches. Here it never changes; real bulk prices, whole-pack purchases and leftover ingredients are not modelled.
• Leaving out cheap items such as oil, salt or spices from the original cost, which makes both the scaled total and the per-serving figure too low.