Increasing and Decreasing Number of Servings

When a recipe serves four people but you want to cook for two or maybe eight or twelve, don’t simply divide or multiply the quantities of ingredients. In general, the ingredients that make up the bulk of the dish, such as meats, vegetables, or tomatoes, as well as herbs and spices, can all be multiplied, but ingredients such as oil, butter, and wine should not be doubled or halved. The amount of these ingredients is determined not just by the quantity of the main ingredients but also by the size and shape of the pan. A good rule of thumb is that for each time you increase the recipe you should increase oil, butter, or wine by only 50%; if you are halving the recipe, decrease them by only 25%.