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Read and fix the nutrition facts on your recipes
How MagicMeals works out calories, macros and 27 nutrients per serving from USDA data, how to read the panel, and what to do when an ingredient isn't counted.
In short
- ✦After you save a recipe, each ingredient is matched to a USDA food and weighed, and 27 nutrients are totalled per serving.
- ✦Calories, protein, carbs and fat sit above the ingredients. Full nutrition, with vitamins, minerals and % Daily Value, is below the steps.
- ✦Tap Show nutrition by ingredient to see which foods add the most calories and what each was matched to.
- ✦If an ingredient isn't matched, the panel tells you. Make the ingredient line more specific, save, and it's looked up again.
Reading the panel
Nutrition facts covers calories, fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates, fiber, sugars and protein. Open Vitamins and Minerals for the rest. The bar and percentage next to each one is % Daily Value, based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
On a recipe page the numbers are per serving. In your food diary they're for the portion you ate.
When an ingredient isn't counted
Some lines can't be matched to a USDA food, like "1 packet seasoning" or a brand name. The panel says how many weren't counted, and nutrition by ingredient shows them as Not counted. To fix it, tap Edit and make the line plainer, for example "1 tbsp taco seasoning", then save.
Tip: If a recipe has no breakdown yet, tap Look up now in the Full nutrition box. Refresh from USDA at the bottom re-runs the lookup anytime.
Where the numbers come from
MagicMeals uses USDA FoodData Central, the U.S. government's public nutrient database. Each matched food links to its USDA page so you can check it. Weights are estimated from the recipe's measurements, so treat the numbers as a careful estimate rather than a lab result.
Questions
How accurate is MagicMeals nutrition?
Nutrition is calculated from USDA FoodData Central by matching each ingredient and estimating its weight from the recipe's measurements. It's a careful estimate, and the panel shows which ingredients weren't matched so nothing is guessed silently.
Why are calories missing on my recipe?
The lookup may not have run yet or found no matches. Open the recipe and tap Look up now in the Full nutrition box, or edit ingredient lines so they include plain amounts and foods.
Learn more
Updated October 16, 2026 · All 14 guide chapters