Calories per serving:
total calories ÷ servings

How to work out calories per serving

Calories per serving is the total calories in the whole recipe divided by the number of servings. If a pot of curry adds up to 2,640 kcal and you split it into 6 equal portions, each serving is 440 kcal.

The method has two steps. First add up the calories of every ingredient you put in, using the packet label or a food database. Then divide that total by how many servings the dish makes. The Calcylator calculator does the division and rounds to a whole number of kcal.

The formula with a worked example

Same recipe, different number of servings

The serving count is a choice, and it changes the answer a lot. Decide how many people the dish really feeds before you divide, rather than using the number in the recipe title.

If you plan to eat half the pot yourself, do not use the printed serving size. Divide by 2 for your portion, which is 1,320 kcal in this example.

Uneven portions: use weight, not a guess

When the helpings are not equal, divide by weight. Weigh the empty pot, weigh it again when it is full of cooked food, and subtract to get the food weight. Say the cooked food weighs 2,200 g, so 2,640 ÷ 2,200 = 1.2 kcal per gram.

A portion of 350 g then holds 350 × 1.2 = 420 kcal. This works for stews, soups, rice dishes and curries, where the water cooked in or out changes the weight but not the calories. Remember to use the cooked weight for both the total and the portion.

Cooking oil, ghee, sugar and sauces are easy to leave out of the sum, and they carry many calories. Count whatever went into the pot, not just the main ingredients.

Using the result for meal prep and labels

Cooking in bulk for the week is where this calculation pays off. Work out the calories for the whole batch once, divide into containers by weight, and write the figure on each lid. You then know what you are eating without weighing and counting again every day.

Packaged food works the other way round. A label shows calories for a stated serving, and a packet often holds more than one. Multiply by the number of servings you eat, rather than assuming the figure covers the whole pack.

Common mistakes when dividing calories

• Using raw weight for the total and cooked weight for the portion.
• Leaving out oil, butter or sugar.
• Dividing by people at the table instead of by portions served.
• Treating the answer as exact. Labels and food databases are rounded, and real portions vary.
• Counting calories left in the pan or discarded.