How do you count marinades?

Jenbru
Jenbru Posts: 6 Member
edited September 2024 in Food and Nutrition
Hi Everyone,
I'm new to myfitnesspal...and loving it. I'm struggling to figure out how to count calories for marinades. Last night, I made a recipe that used marinated chicken. The marinade called for oil, peanut butter, hot sauce, steak seasoning, & soy sauce. Of couse, some of it stayed on the chicken when I grilled it, but most of it remained in the bag. How should I keep track of this in my food

Replies

  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    I've wondered that myself, because if I counted the whole marinade I'd be over on fat, sugar, and calories every time I used one, but I swear only like 1 tablespoon stays on the meat anyway. But I have no way to measure this?

    Looking forward to some answers!
  • anthony438
    anthony438 Posts: 578 Member
    Don't know how practical this is, but what you could do next time is figure out the calories for all of the marinade, and measure it to see how much you have. Once you take the food out, measure how much of the marinade you have left. Use that to see how much is left on the food.
  • kmg3366
    kmg3366 Posts: 9
    That's a good idea. I have this problem too.
  • sarah_ep
    sarah_ep Posts: 580 Member
    Don't know how practical this is, but what you could do next time is figure out the calories for all of the marinade, and measure it to see how much you have. Once you take the food out, measure how much of the marinade you have left. Use that to see how much is left on the food.

    I think this is the best solution.
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    Don't know how practical this is, but what you could do next time is figure out the calories for all of the marinade, and measure it to see how much you have. Once you take the food out, measure how much of the marinade you have left. Use that to see how much is left on the food.

    Sounds like something I will have to try next time!
  • justimogen
    justimogen Posts: 76
    Oooh...Great question, Jenbru, and great advice, anthony438! Thank you. :smile:
  • baisleac
    baisleac Posts: 2,019 Member
    I usually count half of the marinade in the recipe total count... unless there is a ton left over... or very little left over, in which cases I measure what's left and do the math (I always measure the "before" amount just in case).
  • CallejaFairey
    CallejaFairey Posts: 391 Member
    on allrecipes.com, when they do nutrition calculation, they say that they use 10% of the total marinade. meaning, use 1/10th of the cals of the total marinade, 1/10th of the fat, etc etc. idk how acurate it is, and they even state that this may not be fully acurate, but that is the general rule i stick with when i am calculating my food that i have marinated.
  • lil_pulp
    lil_pulp Posts: 701 Member
    Don't know how practical this is, but what you could do next time is figure out the calories for all of the marinade, and measure it to see how much you have. Once you take the food out, measure how much of the marinade you have left. Use that to see how much is left on the food.
    This is always what I intend to do. I have yet to do it successfully because I'm forgetful and spilly.
  • bluebelle00
    bluebelle00 Posts: 44
    I usually just count 1 tbsp for each piece of meat. Seems like a decent estimation...
  • NancyAnne1960
    NancyAnne1960 Posts: 500 Member
    I log in all the ingredents under recipe, and then add only 2 T to my daily log. I have no idea if that's even close, but it seems to be working. I'd be interested if there is some way to REALLY do this. :happy:
  • anbegley
    anbegley Posts: 163 Member
    Don't know how practical this is, but what you could do next time is figure out the calories for all of the marinade, and measure it to see how much you have. Once you take the food out, measure how much of the marinade you have left. Use that to see how much is left on the food.

    This is what we do.
  • KnottyJen
    KnottyJen Posts: 1,070 Member
    bump...Great question and great answers! Thanks ya'll!
  • InspoAdam
    InspoAdam Posts: 17 Member
    I do it a slightly different way but along the same lines. If it's chicken, I weigh the chicken and then write it down. Next, I make my marinade and work out the nutritional value of the marinade. I then put the chicken into the marinade for however long.

    When it comes to cooking, I get my baking tray, put it on the scales and zero it. Then, I remove the chicken an put it in the baking tray. The next stage is simple maths as follows:

    Weigh of marinade = current weigh of chicken - starting weight of chicken.

    You do lose a bit in the cooking process but I figured that it's better to be slightly over than under. I could weigh it after cooking but that would be under as the chicken will have reduced in weight as part of the cooking process (and weighing hot food is not that easy).
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