Partial Package Yield Calculator

Recipe expects a full package of ingredient X but you only have a partial — find what fraction of the recipe to make.

Inputs

Result

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General calculation reads

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How Not to Be Wrong
Jordan Ellenberg - math thinking
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The Joy of X
Steven Strogatz - accessible math
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Scientific calculator (Casio fx-991EX)
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How to use this calculator

  • Enter the package size the recipe expects and what you actually have.
  • Apply the resulting multiplier to every other ingredient.

About this calculator

A common problem: a recipe calls for 16 oz of pasta but you have 12 oz left in the box. Solution: scale the entire recipe by the ratio of what-you-have to what-it-needs. 12/16 = 0.75, so you use 75% of every other ingredient too. Servings drop proportionally.

Frequently asked

Why scale the whole recipe instead of buying more?+
Sometimes you don't want to — the rest of the package is already used or not available. Scaling lets you make the recipe with what you have.
Does this work for any limiting ingredient?+
Yes — pick whichever ingredient you have a partial of, and treat it as the bottleneck.
Will the recipe still taste right?+
Yes — proportional scaling preserves flavor. The only risk is if you scale below the minimum useful pan size or below an integer number of eggs.
Can I use this with weight or volume?+
Either, as long as the package size and "have" amount are in the same unit.
How does this differ from recipe-scaler?+
recipe-scaler asks "I want N servings"; this asks "I have X amount of ingredient — how many servings can I make?". Same math, different framing.

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