Ingredient

An Ingredient is a substance used in the preparation of a recipe, defined by three components: a quantity (the amount), a measurement unit (grams, cups, etc.), and a food item. BetterMenu also supports using an entire recipe as an ingredient within another recipe.

What is an ingredient in a recipe?

Each ingredient in BetterMenu consists of three required components:

• Quantity: The amount of the ingredient that is used in the recipe. The quantity is typically a number, such as 1, 2, 1/2, 3 1/2 etc.
• Unit of Measurement: The unit in which the quantity is measured. Some of the common units of measurement are grams (g), milliliters (ml), cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, etc. Read Measurement Unit for more information.
• Food: The ingredient that is used in the recipe. The food can be a single ingredient, such as chickpeas, or a combination of ingredients, such as chickpeas and red onion. It could also be a another recipe or a food product. For example,
  • A recipe for "Pasta" could include a recipe for "Marinara Sauce" as an ingredient.
  • A recipe for "Chocolate Cake" could include a food product "Chocolate Chips" as an ingredient.

What does an ingredient list look like in practice?

When following an online recipe, or a printed cookbook, ingredients can be located under the heading "Ingredients". Some of the ingredients may be optional, or may have alternatives.

An example of ingredients from a Vegan Chickpea Salad recipe could be:

- 1 can of chickpeas
- 1/2 cup of diced red onion
- 1/2 cup of diced cucumber
- 1/2 cup of diced tomato
- 1/4 cup of chopped parsley
- 1/4 cup of chopped mint
- 1/4 cup of olive oil
- 1/4 cup of lemon juice
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tsp of red chili flakes (optional)
- 1 tbsp roasted sesame seeds (optional)