Whether you are mastering a sacred recipe passed down through generations of family or perfecting your own distinct creation, knowing the nutrient breakdown of your home recipes can help you determine if your recipe is helping you achieve your weight loss or maintenance goals. Overweight and obesity affect approximately 63 percent of Americans. Heart disease, stroke and cancer, the top three causes of death in the United States, are related to dietary intake in some way. Calculating the nutrient intake of your recipes will put you in a position to live a more informed and healthier lifestyle.
Packaged Foods
Step 1
Look at the Nutrition Facts section of the food label for each ingredient in your recipe. The standard size for one serving of your ingredient will be given at the top of the Nutrition Facts section. Determine how many serving sizes of your ingredient you will use in your recipe based on this information.
Step 2
Look below to the nutrient-labeled rows. The first nutrient listed will be calories, and the last will be protein. The first number to the right of each label is the amount of that nutrient per serving of that food. If you plan to use more or less than one standard serving of a specific nutrient, adjust the specified nutrient amount based on the amount of ingredient you use in the recipe relative to the standard serving size. For example, if one serving of provolone cheese is 6g of fat, two servings would be 6g multiplied by two servings, or 12g of fat.
Step 3
Determine the percentage of vitamins and minerals contained in each recipe ingredient. This information is located below the row labeled "Protein." This section lists the percentage of vitamins and minerals included in one serving of your ingredient based on recommended values for a 2,000-calorie diet. The first number to the right of each vitamin or mineral heading is the percent of that nutrient included in one serving of your ingredient relative to recommended values for a 2,000-calorie diet.
Step 4
Multiply that percentage as a decimal by the recommended value for that nutrient to get the nutrient amount contained in your recipe ingredient. For example, a box of Cheerios contains 10 percent of your recommended vitamin C intake based on a 2,000-calorie diet. The government has recommended 60mg of vitamin C daily based on a 2,000-calorie diet. Ten percent is .10 as a decimal and .10 multiplied by 60mg equals 6mg of vitamin C. Therefore, there are 6mg of vitamin C per serving of Cheerios. Do this for all vitamins and minerals in that section.
Step 5
Get out a sheet of notebook paper. Make a row for each ingredient and a column for each nutrient. Record the individually calculated nutrient values for each ingredient in the designated column. For example, peas and tomato could be possible labels for rows. Fats and proteins are examples of column labels. Tally up the nutrient values, located in columns, for each nutrient.
Unpackaged Foods
Step 1
Go to LiveStrong's MyPlate. Enter in the first ingredient of your recipe under the heading what did you eat. A listing of similar foods will appear below. Choose the food item that most closely resembles your recipe ingredient.
Step 2
Look to the right of that food for serving size information. Determine the serving size of your food based on the amount of your recipe ingredient.
Step 3
Calculate nutrition information of your ingredient based on the given serving size. Calorie, fat, protein, carbohydrate and fiber information will be given. Enter these remaining values on your sheet of notebook paper, and include this with the tally of nutrient values for foods with labels. This will give you the nutrition content of your entire home recipe.
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