Scale a recipe up or down

beginner⏱ Rough guide only: 10–15 minutes each time

Last reviewed by Amara Lewis

Can AI scale a recipe for more or fewer people?

Paste the recipe into ChatGPT or Gemini, say how many people it serves now and how many you need, and ask it to scale the quantities, convert units and flag changes to tin size or cooking time. Double-check the maths on anything critical, especially baking.

Copy-and-paste prompt

Swap the bits in [square brackets] for your own details.

Here's a recipe for [number] people: [paste recipe]. Scale it to serve [new number]. Convert to [metric/cups] measurements, round to amounts I can actually measure, and tell me if the tin size, oven temperature or cooking time should change.

How to do it

  1. Open ChatGPT or Gemini and start a new chat.
  2. Copy the prompt below and replace everything in [square brackets] with your details.
  3. Read the answer and ask follow-up questions to adjust it.
  4. Check anything important yourself, then save or print the result.

What a good answer looks like

Illustrative example written by the AI My Day team to show the kind of answer you can expect. Real results vary.

Spaghetti bolognese: 4 → 6 servings • Beef mince 500g → 750g • Chopped tomatoes 1 tin → 1½ tins (use 2 and simmer longer) • Onion 1 → 1 large or 2 small • Spaghetti 320g → 480g Cooking time: sauce needs about 10 minutes longer to reduce. Pan: use your largest saucepan or a casserole dish.

Recommended tools

Quick at maths and can convert units and cooking times in one go.

ChatGPT

A general-purpose AI assistant you can chat to by typing, talking or sharing photos.

Free planbeginner

Gemini

Google's AI assistant, which works alongside Gmail, Docs and other Google apps.

Free planbeginner

Top tips

  • Baking is less forgiving than cooking – scale cakes carefully.
  • Ask for the tin size in cm.

Frequently asked questions

Is the maths reliable?

Usually, but check a couple of amounts yourself – AI can slip up.

Does it work for baking?

With care: baking times and tin sizes change, so watch the first batch closely.

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