Nutrition Value Recipe Calculator v8
Nutrition Value Recipe Calculator v8
It is not always feasible to calculate nutrition information for all of your recipes, but having information for some of your meal
nothing at all. Calculating nutrition information for more standard recipes is a great place to start.
We hope you find the following suggestions on how to calculate calorie and nutrient information in three scenarios helpful:
1). Single Ingredient Meals 2). Recipes and Mixed Dishes 3). Full Meals
The calorie and nutrient content of single ingredients and individual foods can usually be found in the USDA’s National Nutrien
most packaged foods list information in the Nutrition Facts panel. Follow the steps below to find nutrition information for a sin
1. Go to the USDA Nutrient Database at http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/list.
2. Search and select food item of interest. Sometimes there are multiple options (e.g. chicken breast with and without sk
choose the option that is the best match for the food you are using.
3. Input the amount of food and click “apply changes.” Note that the values are given in grams, which is the same unit us
Facts label.
a. For example, if you want to know the calorie content of 2 cups of a food item, adjust the numerical value in the co
b. Other unit conversions may sometimes be necessary if the unit of interest is not an available option. For example
calorie content of 8 oz of a food item but the value for 100 grams is available, then you will need to adjust the num
column titled ‘value per 100 grams’ to 2.27.
1 oz = 28.4 grams
8 oz = 227 grams (8 x 28.4 grams)
227 grams/100 grams = 2.27 (so you would need 2.27 times the 100 gram value)
Calories, nutrients and weights displayed for each food are for the edible portion of food (for example – without bones,
A lot of the foods we eat have more than one ingredient. For example, a chicken breast is rarely prepared plain and may includ
during cooking, a sauce added afterward, or other ingredients. Multi-ingredient recipes can be calculated by entering data for
ingredient into a MS Excel® spreadsheet that has been set up for this purpose. The spreadsheet gives you the option to list ho
recipe makes and will calculate the calories and nutrients per serving. Follow the steps below to calculate the nutrition inform
ingredient food or recipe.
1. Type the names and amounts of each ingredient into the spreadsheet.
2. Go to http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/list. Determine calories and nutrients for each individual ingredient in the co
described above.
3. Enter the data into the spreadsheet and it will add up values for the total recipe. When you enter the number of servin
determine calories and nutrients per serving.
Calculating Calories for Full Meals
Typically a meal consists of several different foods, some of which may be recipes that contain multiple ingredients. An examp
(recipe with multiple ingredients) with a side of rice (single ingredient). Calorie and nutrient values for meals can be calculated
for the individual ingredients and for the single serving portion of recipes into a downloadable MS Excel® spreadsheet that is s
Follow the steps below to calculate the nutrition information for a meal.
1. Type the names of the ingredients and the recipes, along with the amounts of each into the spreadsheet.
2. Go to http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/list and look up the calories and nutrients for each individual ingredient in th
the Recipe Calculator to determine the calories and nutrients for a single serving of the recipes in the meal.
3. Enter the information into the Meal Calculator spreadsheet which will sum calories and nutrients giving you values for
Notes
The USDA database does contain some ready calculated meals. However, we recommend you calculate for your own dishes a
that the composition is accurate for your own recipes.
Remember, the more precise you can be with the exact food, amount, and servings per recipe, the more accurate the calories
be. Also be aware of often forgotten ingredients such as oil, butter, or broth used in cooking.
The methods described above assume that all of the fat used in cooking is consumed. For deep fried items, however, selected
directly from the USDA database.
Recipe: Values are rounded to the nearest whole number
Totals
Recipe: Whole recipe 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Per single serving #DIV/0! #DIV/0! #DIV/0! #DIV/0! #DIV/0! #DIV/0! #DIV/0! #DIV/0! #DIV/0!
Meal: Values are rounded to the nearest whole number
Recipe 2:
Recipe 3:
Meal: Chicken Stir Fry Values are rounded to the nearest whole number