What should not be scaled linearly?

Leaveners, salt, strong spices, and alcohol are often reduced from the exact multiple. Cooking time, pan size and heat are adjusted by feel rather than doubled.

How to Scale a Recipe Up or Down

Q: What is the formula for scaling a recipe?

Desired servings divided by original servings gives a multiplier. Multiply every ingredient amount by that multiplier.

Q: Do you double the cooking time when doubling a recipe?

No. Temperature usually stays the same and time increases only slightly. Larger batches often need a little longer, so check a few minutes before the original time is up.

Scaling a recipe is simple arithmetic — but a few ingredients and the cooking process itself do not scale perfectly. Here is the formula, then the fine print.

The scaling formula

Divide the number of servings you want by the number the recipe makes:

Multiplier = desired servings ÷ original servings
Then multiply every ingredient amount by that multiplier.

Going from 4 to 6 servings = 6 ÷ 4 = 1.5. So 200 g flour becomes 300 g. Halving a recipe for 8 down to 4 = 0.5, so everything is cut in half.

Do it automatically →

What to adjust by feel, not by maths

Leaveners (baking powder/soda): scaling these exactly is usually fine up to double, but very large batches can taste metallic — cap at roughly 1.5× the original per batch and bake in two tins instead.
Salt and strong spices: scale by about 0.8× the multiplier — a doubled recipe rarely needs double the salt or chili.
Alcohol: reduce the multiple; flavour concentrates and it does not all cook off.
Cooking time and temperature: do not double. Keep the temperature and start checking at the original time. Deeper or fuller pans need longer; thinner layers need less.
Pan size: doubling a cake? Use two pans or one with about double the area, not double the depth, or the centre will stay raw.

Scaling by weight beats scaling by volume

Multiplying "1 ¾ cups" gets messy fast. If you weigh ingredients, scaling is one clean multiplication: 175 g × 1.5 = 262 g. That is why professional recipes use grams — see our cups-to-grams chart to switch your recipe over.

Handy multipliers

From → To	Multiplier
6 → 2 servings	0.33×
4 → 2 servings	0.5×
4 → 6 servings	1.5×
4 → 8 servings	2×
8 → 12 servings	1.5×

Common questions

What is the formula for scaling a recipe?

Desired servings ÷ original servings = the multiplier you apply to every ingredient.

Do you double the cooking time when doubling a recipe?

No — keep the temperature, increase the time only slightly, and check early.

Can I scale any recipe?

Cooking recipes scale easily. Baking is more sensitive because of chemistry, so stick closer to the maths and watch the leaveners.

Ready to do it? Use the free recipe scaler — enter both serving counts and it recalculates every ingredient.