How we calculate nutrition

Where the numbers come from

Every ingredient in a recipe is linked to one food in USDA FoodData Central, the public nutrient database of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and we keep the identifier (FDC ID) of every food, so each value can be checked against the source. Nobody types nutrition values by hand, and no value is written by AI.

We use four of its datasets, in this order of preference:

• Foundation Foods and SR Legacy: analytical values for basic foods (vegetables, fruit, grains, meat, dairy).
• FNDDS (the survey database behind What We Eat in America): prepared and mixed dishes that the first two don't cover, such as tamales or pupusas.
• Branded Foods: the label of a specific product, only when no generic entry exists (for example a granulated allulose or a chickpea pasta). The source shows the brand.

Sometimes the exact ingredient isn't in USDA, so we use the closest entry, for example ground sage for a few grams of fresh sage, or blanched almonds for almond flour. Every recipe lists, under “Where these numbers come from”, the USDA entry, dataset and ID used for each ingredient, so you can see where a close match was used.

The method

1. Each ingredient amount is converted to grams. Weights (g, kg, oz, lb) convert exactly.
2. Household measures such as a cup or a clove use the gram weight that USDA publishes for that specific food. If USDA lists a cup but not a tablespoon, we derive the tablespoon from the cup of the same food. We never apply a generic density.
3. Nutrients are added up for the whole recipe and divided by the number of servings.
4. Optional ingredients are listed but not counted.
5. When a nutrient is missing for an ingredient, we show “—” instead of a total that would be too low. The one exception is an ingredient used at 1 g or less per serving, such as a pinch of herbs or a little zest: its missing value is counted as zero, and the recipe's source table says so. If those small unknowns add up to more than 2 g per serving, we show “—” instead. Carbohydrate and sodium are never assumed: a gram of a salty ingredient can carry hundreds of milligrams of sodium.
6. Every recipe page includes a table with the weight, carbohydrate and source of each ingredient.
7. USDA does not report added sugars for most whole foods, so we only show added sugars when every ingredient has a value.

What the numbers mean

Limits

These are estimates. Real foods vary by variety, brand, ripeness and preparation, and cooking changes weight. If you need precise values, weigh your ingredients and check the labels of the products you use.

Recipe status