When you calculate the nutrition for a recipe, you may notice something surprising: adding more of an ingredient can sometimes decrease the nutrients per serving. This isn’t an error — it’s simply how recipe proportions work. This article explains why it happens and how to set up your recipe correctly.

If you prefer to learn by watching, check out this video!

How to Set Up a Recipe in ReciPal

When setting up a label you need to decide whether you want to set it up by package size or servings size.

Using Package Size

If you set up your recipe by package size, the nutrition per serving is based on the total amount of ingredients in the recipe. Adding ingredients will increase the total nutrients, unless you also change the recipe yield.

Using Serving Size

If you set up your recipe by serving size weight, the nutrition per serving is based on the percentage of each ingredient in the recipe. In this case, adding ingredients might increase or decrease nutrients depending on how the ingredient percentages change. You can see these percentages in the Nutrition Breakdown view.

Understanding Recipe Proportions

Let’s use a simple example with two ingredients: sugar and butter.

Original recipe:

• 2 oz sugar
  
• 2 oz butter
  
• Serving size: 1 oz
  

Proportions: 50% sugar, 50% butter

If you change the recipe to 4 oz sugar and 4 oz butter, the proportions stay the same (50/50). The nutrition per serving is unchanged — the recipe just produces more servings.

But if you change the recipe to 6 oz sugar and 2 oz butter, the proportions shift to 75% sugar and 25% butter. Because butter has more calories per ounce than sugar, shifting the recipe toward sugar actually decreases the calories per serving.

Final Thoughts

The way you set up your recipe matters. Using a serving size weight is a simple way to calculate nutrition, but remember that ReciPal scales everything to the percentages of your ingredients. Understanding how proportions affect nutrition will help you avoid surprises when adjusting your recipe.