Raw to cooked weight converter

Kitchen scales lie in opposite directions depending on whether you weigh rice dry or fluffy and chicken raw or roasted. This free converter applies typical mid-range yield factors so you can move between raw and cooked weights for rice/grains, pasta, oats, chicken breast, and beef—without pretending to be a lab.

Why yields differ

Dry grains and pasta absorb water, so cooked weight is higher (factors above 1). Meat loses moisture and some fat, so cooked weight is lower (factors below 1). FreeNutri uses mid-range kitchen factors: rice/grains ×2.9, pasta ×2.35, oats ×2.25, chicken breast ×0.78, beef ×0.72 for raw→cooked.

Your pot, brand, and doneness will vary. Al dente pasta retains less water than soft pasta; a well-done steak shrinks more than medium. Treat results as planning aids labeled “typical yield, not lab-precise.”

Raw→cooked and cooked→raw

Raw→cooked multiplies by the factor. Cooked→raw divides by the same factor. Enter grams or ounces; the result shows both so US and metric cooks can log consistently.

Example: 100 g dry rice × 2.9 ≈ 290 g cooked. If you plated 290 g cooked rice and need the dry equivalent, divide: 290 / 2.9 ≈ 100 g dry. That keeps meal-prep batches honest when recipes list one form and your scale shows the other.

Calories: log what you weighed

Nutrition labels and databases often list cooked or prepared values that do not match dry raw numbers. If you weighed cooked chicken, log cooked chicken—not raw grams with a cooked calorie density. Mixing forms is a top cause of mysterious “calorie deficits” that never move the scale.

Pair this converter with the cooking unit converter (cups↔grams) and the meal calorie calculator when you paste ingredient lines. FreeNutri keeps all three free without signup.

Only five food families—on purpose

Wave 2 ships the highest-friction staples: grains, pasta, oats, chicken breast, and beef. Exotic yields (quinoa brands, ground turkey fat %, battered fish) wait for later. If your food is not listed, use a package yield note or weigh both states once and save your own factor.

Consistency beats false precision. Using the same factor every week is more useful than chasing a new coefficient for every brand of penne.

Practical meal-prep tips

Cook grains in batches, weigh the finished pot, and divide by portions. Convert leftover cooked pasta back to dry equivalents when shopping. For meat, prefer weighing cooked portions for dinner logs if that is how you plate food.

Educational kitchen math—not lab analysis or food-safety advice. Cook poultry and ground meats to safe temperatures. Free forever, supported by ads, no account required.