The meal builder lets you compare a whole meal from exact food records and the ingredient weights you choose. Build a meal from documented foods. Change ingredient weights and compare the separate nutrient totals against a target you choose.
Search covers 12,718 USDA reference food records through paginated search. Grams and ounces refer to edible preparation weights; household measures are offered only when the source provides a food-specific gram weight. Cooked and raw foods remain separate records.
Build one measured meal.
Choose exact foods, then compare protein, available carbohydrate and total-fat blocks separately. All five source nutrients count for every ingredient.
Your ingredients
Duplicating saves an independent copy in this browser. Loading a copy does not change the saved original. Clear saved planning data below to remove copies.
Privacy, saved plans and limitations
Meal quantities and plans are calculated in this browser without an account. Searching for foods sends a food-search query to our server; selected or restored food IDs are retrieved as needed. Body measurements and the complete plan are not sent. Remembering a plan is optional and uses this browser’s local storage. Saving a meal copy with the Duplicate button also stores that copy on this device. Transfers between tools use temporary session storage. Clear saved data below to remove both. This site’s ordinary hosting logs still record page requests; recipe identifiers and public block targets can appear in URLs. Body measurements are never transferred.
These reference estimates are educational, not a personalized dietary prescription. Check dietary adequacy with a qualified professional, especially for children, pregnancy, medical conditions or intensive training. Exact-food exclusions inspect source identities. The separate allergen filters inspect declared ingredients and reject incomplete records; neither check can assess packaging or cross-contact. Preparation weights are edible amounts, not raw shopping or cooking-yield conversions.
Read the numbers behind your meal
The shared references are 7 g protein, 9 g available carbohydrate and 3 g total fat per block. The separate historical added-fat equivalent divides fat by 1.5; it is not an additional allowance. A protein match alone does not establish a balanced meal. The comparison tolerance is 0.10 blocks for each of protein, carbohydrate and total fat.
Ingredient nutrients are summed before display rounding. These are reference estimates, not laboratory analysis or an assessment of nutritional adequacy. See the nutrition methodology and planning and grocery assumptions.
Continue your planning
Explore measured recipes, organize 1, 3, 7, 14 or 30 days, or inspect an ingredient in the food calculator. No registration is required.
Check a meal builder result
First, choose a preparation state that matches the food on your plate. Add the edible grams you intend to count, then check the separate nutrient totals. For example, a cooked grain record should use cooked weight rather than the weight of the dry grain before cooking.
Next, change one ingredient at a time. The meal builder recalculates the full meal as you type a valid quantity. This makes it easier to see which food contributes protein, carbohydrate or fat. Household measures keep their own documented gram weights; they are not universal cup conversions.
Finally, inspect the differences from your comparison target. A close protein count can still accompany a different carbohydrate or fat count. Save or print the current summary only after the quantities look useful, and regenerate it after any further edits.
Explore ingredient additions
Quantity suggestions adjust the foods already selected. The separate addition tool considers up to two source ingredients to reduce the combined nutrient difference, while respecting chosen ingredient-pattern and allergen restrictions. Suggestions leave the meal unchanged until applied. Review taste, preparation and the remaining differences; a numerical improvement is not an exactly balanced or personally assessed meal.