How to Create & Log a Recipe in My FitnessPal

Tracking bulk recipes and their portions might sound tedious but if you know what you’re doing, MyFitnessPal makes it really easy! If you didn’t already know, here’s a step by step on how to create and log a recipe in My FitnessPal.

This tutorial shows you how to enter a bulk recipe into MyFitnessPal and use it to log individual portions of your recipe as you need them. The best part about it is that you don’t have to split the recipe evenly to make sure you know what is in each portion. One day you might want 400 g of your soup, the next you may only want 250 g.

Here’s how:

Step 1: Select More, Meals, Recipes & Foods, then Create A New Recipe

Step 2: Select Enter Ingredients Manually 

Step 3: In the Recipe Information section, give your recipe a Title. Set your Serving Size to 1 (we’ll edit this later)

Step 4:  Add bulk Ingredients or copy and paste from a website

Step 5: Ensure that each ingredient is the correct brand, product, and food type and that the nutritional information page looks correct. MyFitnessPal can have some incorrect listings. In the Ingredients database, confirm MFP matched the correct items. Edit and/or add items, volumes, and quantities as needed.

Step 6: Once entries are correct, select next 

Step 7: Next, we’ll figure out what the macronutrients are per gram of this recipe so that we can measure out specific amounts of it and log them in MyFitnessPal as we go.

Step 8: Once you have finished cooking your entire recipe, weigh the finished product. For example, if the finished product weighed 1,000g the serving size is changed from 1g to 1,000g. Once updated select save.

Step 9: To log a single serving of however many grams you choose, open your MyFitnessPal Food Diary and select your meal (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner or Snacks). In the Food Diary entry page select Recipes, then the recipe you wish to log a single portion of. Click Add Food.

Step 10: In the Add Food page, your recipe serving size will be displayed as 1 serving(s). Note that 1 serving(s) = 1 gram. Here, you will enter the exact grams of the portion you would like to log.

For example, I want 250g out of the entire 1,000g of the original recipe.

Select the check button in the top right corner to save and log the entry into your food diary.

Are you working with a nutrition coach or thinking about it? You may want to read my Tips for Success from your Nutrition Coach.

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