Calculating the Nutrition Info in a Recipe

Calculating the nutrition info in a recipe can be  a lot of work if you do it by hand. Tonight, I found some apps that figure out the numbers for you. I tested out the one on SparkPeople, because everything else I've tried on that site has been so great and easy to use.

Calculating the Nutrition info in a Recipe image courtesy of Pixabay

My Experience With the SparkRecpes Nutrition Info Calculator

I made a chicken and broccoli stir fry for dinner, (not the one shown above, mine didn't turn out that pretty) and I was sitting down to enter the nutrition info for each separate item, it occurred to me to look for something that would let me enter the whole recipe and then break it down into serving seizes. I found several apps that looked good, but SparkPeople came through for me again, with SparkRecipes.

I entered everything I had thrown in the pan. Then I hit "Calculate". In about 2 seconds I was looking at an extremely detailed nutrition info label that was easy to read. But, I had forgotten an ingredient. So, I went back, thinking I would have to start over, but nope, everything was still there. What a time saver!!

Calculating Nutrition Info By Hand

To calculate the nutrition info in a recipe when you don't have an app available, grab a piece of paper and a pen.

• Write the calories for each ingredient, then each other piece of nutrition info you track, like carbs, proteins, and fats.
• Add up the calories, and other info types.
• Divide each total by the number of servings.

Okay, it's only 3 steps, but when you add in the fact that you're doing it for every detail you want to track, it can get pretty time consuming. Using an app that calculates your recipe's nutrition info for you just makes it so easy and fast. 

Thanks for reading, and be sure to share your experience with nutrition info calculators and which one you like best. Oh, and if you're interested, join us on Facebook for updates and other info shared on the F&C page.