Nutrition Diet: How to log homemade meals on MyFitnessPal?

October 31, 2025 •

5 min read

Did you know that consistent food logging is linked to greater weight loss success? Mastering how to log homemade meals on MyFitnessPal is a powerful skill for anyone looking to gain better control over their nutrition without relying solely on packaged food. This guide will show you how to do it accurately.

Quick Summary

A comprehensive guide explaining the methods for tracking homemade recipes within the MyFitnessPal app. Detailed steps are provided for using the recipe creator feature for precise nutrient calculations, along with tips for accuracy and efficiently logging future meals.

Key Points

Use the Recipe Creator: For complex dishes, use the Recipe Creator to add all ingredients and get an accurate nutritional breakdown for the entire batch.
Leverage a Food Scale: Weighing your ingredients and the final dish in grams is the most accurate way to track homemade meals, preventing portion-size errors.
Set Servings by Weight: For ultimate precision, set the number of servings in your recipe to the total weight of the cooked dish in grams, making it easy to log any portion.
Import Online Recipes: Use the Recipe Importer tool (available on the web and in-app for Premium users) to pull ingredients directly from a URL, then review for accuracy.
Save Simple Meals: For basic, repetitive combinations, use the "Save as Meal" function to quickly log recurring entries like your favorite breakfast.
Log Uncooked Weights: For best results, measure and log ingredients in their raw state, as cooking methods can change the density and final weight of food.
Tare the Scale: Always use the tare function on your food scale to zero out the weight of the container, ensuring you only measure the food itself.

Why Track Your Homemade Meals?

Cooking at home gives you complete control over your ingredients, portion sizes, and cooking methods, but it also presents a unique challenge for food tracking. Relying on generic database entries for similar dishes can lead to inaccurate calorie and macro counts, which can stall your progress toward your health goals. Accurately logging your own creations ensures that your food diary truly reflects what you are eating, leading to better insights and more effective progress. The MyFitnessPal app offers several features designed specifically to make this process simple and effective, moving you beyond guesswork and towards precision.

Method 1: The Recipe Creator for a Full Nutritional Breakdown

For most homemade dishes, especially those with multiple ingredients like stews, casseroles, or baked goods, the Recipe Creator is the most accurate and reliable method. It allows you to input every ingredient and its quantity, calculating the total nutritional value of the dish. You then define the number of servings, and the app automatically breaks down the nutrition per portion.

Step-by-Step Guide to the Recipe Creator

Navigate to the Recipe Section: In the MyFitnessPal app, tap the "More" button (•••) in the bottom right corner. Then, select "My Meals, Recipes & Foods." Tap the "Recipes" tab at the top and choose "Create a Recipe".
Name and Set Servings: Give your recipe a descriptive name, like "Hearty Turkey Chili." For the number of servings, enter a temporary number like "1" for now. You will adjust this later for maximum accuracy.
Add Ingredients: Tap "Add Ingredients Manually." Using a food scale, weigh each ingredient individually before it is cooked. Search for and add each item to the recipe, adjusting the serving size based on the precise weight or measurement you recorded. Be meticulous with details, like the type of oil or brand of seasoning, for the most accurate data.
Confirm and Save: After adding all ingredients, tap the arrow to proceed. The app will show you the total nutritional breakdown for the entire recipe. Click "Save" to store it in your recipe box for future use.
Weight-Based Serving Trick: For the highest accuracy, weigh the finished dish after cooking (don't forget to subtract the weight of the empty pot or container). Then, go back to edit your recipe and change the number of servings to the total weight in grams. For example, if the entire dish weighs 1,500 grams, set the number of servings to 1,500. When you serve yourself 300 grams, you simply log "300" servings for a perfectly accurate portion.

Method 2: The Quick "Save as Meal" Feature

For simpler, repetitive dishes like a yogurt bowl or a sandwich, creating and saving a meal is a faster alternative. This method saves a combination of individual foods as a group, which can be logged in a single tap.

Step-by-Step Guide to Saving a Meal

Log as Usual: First, add all the individual components of your meal to your food diary for the current day, just as you normally would.
Save as a Meal: Tap the "..." button at the bottom of the entry screen and select "Save as Meal." You can also tap "Edit" at the top of your diary, select the items, and tap "Save Meal".
Name and Save: Give the meal a name and save it. The next time you eat this meal, you can find it under the "Meals" tab on the food logging screen and add it instantly.

Maximizing Accuracy: The Power of a Food Scale

Using a digital food scale is the single most important step for accurate food tracking, especially for homemade meals. Measuring ingredients in grams is far more precise than using volume measurements like cups or spoons, as density varies between foods. The scale removes all guesswork. To use it effectively, remember to always "tare" the scale (zero it out) after placing the empty container, then add your ingredient to get an exact weight.

Recipe Import vs. Manual Entry Comparison


Feature	Recipe Importer	Manual Entry	Save as Meal
Accuracy	Good, but requires double-checking auto-matched ingredients.	Excellent, if meticulous with measurements.	Good, but relies on consistent portioning each time.
Best For	Recipes from the web or quick one-off dishes.	Dishes you make regularly and want maximum precision.	Simple, repetitive meal combos like breakfast.
Initial Setup Time	Fast, paste a URL or ingredient list.	Time-consuming, as you must find each ingredient individually.	Fast, save a meal you just logged.
Future Logging	Fast, log a specific serving with a single tap.	Fast, log a precise weight-based serving.	Fast, log the entire combo in a single tap.
Required Tools	MyFitnessPal Premium (web import).	Food scale, MyFitnessPal app.	MyFitnessPal app.
Use Case	Trying a new recipe from a food blog.	Perfecting your signature chili recipe.	Tracking your daily yogurt, fruit, and granola breakfast.

Troubleshooting Common Homemade Meal Logging Issues

Measuring Liquids: When making soups or broths, the water content can evaporate, affecting the final weight. For the most accurate result, weigh all solid ingredients and then weigh the final product. Setting the servings to the total final weight in grams will account for water evaporation.
Sauces and Stir-Fries: For mixed dishes like a stir-fry, it's easiest to create the main component (e.g., the stir-fry mix) as a recipe. Log your portion of the stir-fry using the gram trick, then add other individual items like rice or noodles separately.
Inconsistent Servings: If you don't use the weight-based serving trick, be consistent with your portion sizes. Using a standard measuring cup or marking the number of portions before serving helps. Over time, you'll get better at estimating portions visually.

Conclusion: Consistent Tracking for Better Nutrition

Whether you're a seasoned chef or a beginner cook, learning how to log homemade meals on MyFitnessPal is a game-changer for your nutrition journey. By leveraging the app's recipe creator, food scale precision, and the meal-saving feature, you can take the guesswork out of your diet and gain invaluable insights into your eating habits. With a little practice, logging your own creations will become a quick and simple habit, putting you firmly on the path to reaching your health and fitness goals.

Helpful Resource

For more detailed, step-by-step instructions with visuals, see the official MyFitnessPal blog: How to Create Meals and Recipes in MyFitnessPal

Frequently Asked Questions

You can use the Recipe Importer tool. On the web or with a Premium account in the app, navigate to the recipe section and either paste the recipe's URL or type/paste the ingredients list. MyFitnessPal will match ingredients from its database.

It is more accurate to weigh and log ingredients uncooked. The weight of cooked food can vary depending on water loss or absorption during the cooking process, so logging the raw components provides a more consistent nutritional value.

Use the Recipe Creator. After making the dish, weigh the entire finished batch. Edit your recipe in MyFitnessPal and change the number of servings to match the total weight in grams. When you serve a portion, weigh it and log that amount in grams as your serving.

For accurate tracking, it's crucial to log every component, no matter how small. Make it a habit to add items like cooking oils and butter while prepping your meal. You can always edit your saved recipe later to include any forgotten items.

Yes, you can. Navigate to your "My Meals, Recipes & Foods" section, find the recipe under the "Recipes" tab, and use the edit or delete function. This is useful for refining recipes over time.

Create a recipe for the mixed stir-fry components (vegetables, meat, sauce). Log your portion by weight. Then, log any separate items, such as the rice or noodles, individually to ensure accurate macro tracking.

The manual entry feature of the Recipe Creator is available for all users on the MyFitnessPal app. However, the Recipe Importer, which pulls ingredients directly from a URL, is a feature for Premium subscribers.