How the grocery list maker combines your recipes
These five rules are the whole method. They are the same code the weekly meal planner uses for its shopping list, run on recipes you paste instead of meals you plan.
- Scale each recipe. Every amount is multiplied by cooking for ÷ recipe makes. A recipe that makes 4 servings, cooked for 6, is multiplied by 1.5.
- Add up the same ingredient. Lines with the same name (singular or plural), in the same aisle and the same kind of unit become one line, with the recipes that use it listed underneath.
- Convert only within a kind of unit. g and kg; ml and l; oz and lb; tsp, tbsp and cups. Different kinds, such as cloves and grams, stay on separate lines.
- Round whole items up. Eggs, onions, cans and cloves are rounded up to what you can buy, and the exact need is shown next to it.
- Sort by aisle. Each item goes into Produce, Meat, Dairy, Bakery, Pantry, Frozen or Other, guessed from the name. See grocery list categories for the items that need a manual choice.
Worked example: a shopping list from three recipes
The example the page opens with: chicken stir-fry (makes 4, cooking for 6), tomato pasta (makes 4, cooking for 4) and a pepper omelette (makes 2, cooking for 3). Their 17 ingredient lines become 12 items to buy. The rows below are the ones where scaling, adding or rounding changed something; every figure is the generator's own output.
| Item | From the recipes | On the list |
|---|---|---|
| Onion | 1 × 6÷4 (stir-fry) + 1 × 4÷4 (pasta) = 2½ | 3, needs 2½ |
| Garlic | 3 cloves × 1.5 + 2 cloves = 6½ cloves | 7 cloves, needs 6½ |
| Red peppers | 2 × 1.5 (stir-fry) + 1 × 1.5 (omelette) = 4½ | 5, needs 4½ |
| Olive oil | 1 tbsp × 1.5 + 1 tbsp + 1 tsp × 1.5 = 4½ + 3 + 1½ tsp = 9 tsp | 3 tbsp |
| Chicken breast | 500 g × 1.5 | 750 g |
| Rice | 300 g × 1.5 | 450 g |
| Eggs | 4 × 3÷2 | 6 |
| Chopped tomatoes | 2 (400 g) cans, recipe cooked as written | 2 cans, 400 g per can |
| Salt | “to taste” | listed, no amount |
Without combining, the same shop would carry three separate olive oil lines, two onion lines and two garlic lines, and the scaled amounts (1½ tbsp, 2½ onions) would have to be worked out by hand.
What it will not add together, on purpose
- Cups and grams of the same food. A cup is a volume and a gram is a weight; converting needs that ingredient's density, so “1 cup flour” and “200 g flour” stay on two lines.
- A count and a weight. “1 onion” and “150 g onion” stay apart for the same reason.
- Different aisles. “frozen peas” (Frozen) and “peas” (Produce) are different things to buy.
- Package sizes. “2 (400 g) cans tomatoes” stays as two 400 g cans and is never turned into 800 g of loose tomatoes.
- Fluid ounces, pints, quarts and gallons. Not supported; convert them to ml, l or cups first. The page shows an error rather than guessing.
- What is already in your kitchen. Nothing is subtracted. Tick those items off or delete the line.
Generator or weekly planner?
| You want to… | Use |
|---|---|
| Shop for a few recipes you already picked | This generator: paste, set servings, copy the list |
| Plan breakfast, lunch and dinner for 7 days with different servings per meal | The weekly meal planner, which keeps a recipe box and prints the menu and list |
| A paper sheet to fill in by hand | The printable weekly meal plan template (A4 and US Letter PDF) |
Questions
How do I turn several recipes into one grocery list?
Add one card per recipe, paste its ingredient lines, enter how many servings the recipe makes and how many you are cooking for. The list adds matching ingredients from every recipe, converts units of the same kind and sorts the result by aisle.
Can I paste a recipe link?
No. The generator does not fetch web pages. Copy the ingredient lines from the recipe and paste them, or use “Paste several recipes at once” with a blank line between recipes.
Does it subtract food I already have?
No. Every ingredient in every recipe is counted. Tick off what is already in the cupboard, or remove the line from the recipe before you copy or print the list.
Why are cups of flour and grams of flour on separate lines?
A cup is a volume and a gram is a weight. Turning one into the other needs the density of that ingredient, so the generator keeps them apart instead of guessing.
Is it free and private?
Yes. There is no account or sign-up. The recipes and ticks are saved only in this browser's local storage, and nothing is sent to a server.
How many recipes can I add?
Up to 20 on this page. For a full week of meals with saved recipes, use the weekly planner.
Related guides
- How to make a grocery list from your meal planThe same method step by step, on a full example week.
- Grocery list categoriesSeven aisles and the ingredients that break the rules.
- How much rice, pasta and meat per personCheck the servings before you scale.
- How to write recipe ingredientsFractions, “to taste”, package sizes and aisle overrides.