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Figuring out servings in recipes

NotTheOldMe
NotTheOldMe Posts: 10
edited September 2024 in Food and Nutrition
I usually cook on the fly, making up my own recipes rather than going by written ones. But I need some serving help. How do you figure out how many servings is in a recipe? Like if I make a pot of chili or soup, I can't stand there and measure out by the cup how many cups is in the pot so is there an easy way to figure it out?

Also, if a recipe says there is 6 servings, is there a quick way to figure out how much of the finished product is a serving? (when its not oblivious, like I know if it says 4 servings and there are 4 pieces of chicken that one piece is a serving)

Replies

  • Kminor67
    Kminor67 Posts: 900 Member
    The only way I know to do it is measure the whole batch and divide that into the number of serving you want. When I made chili last week, I knew I wanted a serving size to be 2 cups, and I canned in quart size jars, so I just counted two servings for each jar, and I got 8 jars, so now I know if I follow the same recipe, it makes 16 servings.
  • Kminor67
    Kminor67 Posts: 900 Member
    sorry I didnt mean to post twice
  • jcmc99
    jcmc99 Posts: 27
    I have gone to the database on mfp and typed in the food (ex. chili) and checked out how much other people have posted for serving size. The database is a really good source for info like that!
  • Jitteryspork
    Jitteryspork Posts: 550 Member
    A digital scale is my best friend... I have all my pots labeled with their weights so when I make something like a stew and measuring it out seems to be a problem I can just stick the whole dang pot on the scale and see what it says. Less the weight of the pot I have my dinner weight and can divide that how ever I want.. for example...

    Some stew my hubby made weighed 66 oz (after taking out the pot weight) so I just made 6 servings of 11 oz a peice. So when I made my plate I just weighed out 11 oz, and if that wasnt enough (after I finished it and sat for 10 minutes) then I got up and had more :)
  • NotTheOldMe
    NotTheOldMe Posts: 10
    A digital scale is my best friend... I have all my pots labeled with their weights so when I make something like a stew and measuring it out seems to be a problem I can just stick the whole dang pot on the scale and see what it says. Less the weight of the pot I have my dinner weight and can divide that how ever I want.. for example...

    Some stew my hubby made weighed 66 oz (after taking out the pot weight) so I just made 6 servings of 11 oz a peice. So when I made my plate I just weighed out 11 oz, and if that wasnt enough (after I finished it and sat for 10 minutes) then I got up and had more :)

    That is GENIUS! thank you!
  • oats4breakfast
    oats4breakfast Posts: 225
    I do the same thing as Jitteryspork.
    reason for post is to add that I also update the recipe name I entered into MFP to include the serving size. So I'll create a recipe for Stew that serves 6 people. The recipe name will be something like "Stew (11oz/312g serving)" . It makes life easier when you have left overs a day or 2 later.
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