How to Calculate the Calories in Homemade Food

Step 1: Weigh each ingredient before cooking (raw weight) Step 2: Look up calories per 100g for each ingredient (use USDA or UK food composition tables) Step 3: Calculate contribution of each ingredient Step 4: Total the calories for the entire recipe Step 5: Weigh the finished dish Step 6: Divide by number of portions or use weight per portion Formula: Ingredient calories = (Ingredient weight in grams / 100) x Calories per 100g Example: Tomato pasta sauce (makes 4 portions) Olive oil: 30g x (884/100) = 265 kcal Onion: 150g x (40/100) = 60 kcal Garlic: 10g x (149/100) = 14.9 kcal Tinned tomatoes: 400g x (24/100) = 96 kcal Total recipe calories: 435.9 kcal Per portion (4 servings): 435.9/4 = 109 kcal

Food loses weight during cooking (moisture evaporates). The CALORIES stay the same; only the weight changes. 100g raw chicken breast: approximately 110 kcal After cooking (grilled): weighs approximately 74g Those 74g cooked still contain 110 kcal If you weigh cooked food: Use the cooked calorie value per 100g (which is HIGHER per gram) Raw chicken: 110 kcal/100g Cooked chicken: approximately 148 kcal/100g Safest approach: Always weigh and log ingredients RAW before cooking. Log the cooked portion based on the recipe's total raw nutrition. Pasta and rice (opposite problem -- gain weight): 100g dry pasta: approximately 355 kcal After cooking: weighs approximately 230g Log as dry weight (355 kcal) or use cooked nutritional values (155 kcal/100g cooked)

Most apps (MyFitnessPal, Cronometer) have "recipe creation": 1. Enter each ingredient with its raw weight 2. App calculates total recipe nutrition 3. Enter number of servings OR total cooked weight 4. App divides to give per-portion values Pro tip for variable portions (soup, stew): Instead of number of servings, enter the total finished weight. Weigh your bowl before and after -- log that weight. Accuracy: typically within 5% if ingredients are weighed carefully.