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Calories In A Recipe Calculator

Work out calories in a recipe instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Calories In A Recipe Calculator

Energy uses the Atwater factors: 4 kcal per gram of carbohydrate and protein and 9 kcal per gram of fat, and kilojoules are kilocalories times 4.184. Fat carries more than twice the energy per gram, so the fat share of calories is usually much higher than the fat share of the recipe's weight.

Formulas

Atwater factors

kcal = carbohydrate g x 4 + protein g x 4 + fat g x 9

Per serving

per serving = total kcal / servings

Worked example

With the default values below, Calories In A Recipe Calculator returns Total energy in the recipe of 1,440. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Total carbohydrateminimum 0 g
180 g
Total proteinminimum 0 g
45 g
Total fatminimum 0 g
60 g
Servings the recipe makesminimum 1
4

Results

Total energy in the recipe
1,440 kcal
Energy per serving
360.0 kcal
Share of energy from fat
37.5%
Total energy in kilojoules
6,025 kJ

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2Atwater factors
  3. 3Per serving
  4. 4Total energy in the recipe= 1,440 kcal
  5. 5Energy per serving= 360.0 kcal
  6. 6Share of energy from fat= 37.5
  7. 7Total energy in kilojoules= 6,025 kJ

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
  • In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
  • Figures are rounded for display to 1 decimal place, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is the Calories In A Recipe figure worked out?

kcal = carbohydrate g x 4 + protein g x 4 + fat g x 9. Energy uses the Atwater factors: 4 kcal per gram of carbohydrate and protein and 9 kcal per gram of fat, and kilojoules are kilocalories times 4.184.

Why does this matter?

Fat carries more than twice the energy per gram, so the fat share of calories is usually much higher than the fat share of the recipe's weight.

What do I need to enter?

Enter total carbohydrate, total protein, total fat, servings the recipe makes. The defaults shown are a realistic worked example — swap in your own figures to get a result you can use.

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