How to Use the Raw to Cooked Weight Converter
The weight of food changes significantly during cooking. Grains absorb water and roughly double; proteins lose moisture and shrink; some vegetables collapse dramatically. This converter helps you plan the right amount of raw ingredients and accurately track nutrition by converting between raw and cooked weights.
Key Conversion Factors
White rice: raw 100g → cooked ~220g (×2.2). Dry pasta: raw 100g → cooked ~220g (×2.2). Chicken breast: 100g raw → ~75g cooked (×0.75). Beef: raw 100g → ~75g (×0.75). Spinach wilted: raw 100g → ~25g (×0.25).
Why These Numbers Matter for Calorie Counting
Almost all nutrition labels list macros and calories per 100g raw. If you weigh your chicken breast after cooking, you're underestimating calorie intake by ~25%. Use this converter to find the raw equivalent and look up nutrition data based on that number for accurate tracking.
FAQ
Mostly raw. Meat, fish, and produce labels almost always use raw weight. Prepared foods use the cooked/final weight. Always check the label's "as prepared" note when in doubt.
About 25%. Raw 100g becomes approximately 75g cooked. For a recipe that calls for 200g cooked chicken, buy around 265g raw.
Raw spinach is 92% water. Cooking breaks down cell walls and releases that water. 100g raw becomes only about 25g wilted — plan 4x raw quantity when a recipe specifies cooked spinach by weight.