Create a recipe

This article walks through the recipe modal field-by-field. For background on what a recipe is and how it plugs into the rest of Rinvy, read recipes overview first.

Before you start

Have these in place:

  • Ingredient products already in the catalog, with the right default unit and (if needed) unit conversions. The recipe modal lets you reference any product as an ingredient.
  • Output product if the recipe produces something stockable (marinara, dough, stock). Either create the output product ahead of time as a recipe-output type, or let the recipe modal create it for you.

Open the modal

  1. Go to Recipes.

  2. Tap New recipe (or Scan with AI — see AI recipe scanning).

Fields on the recipe modal

Name (required)

What you call the recipe internally. Examples: Marinara, Classic vinaigrette, House burger patty. Doesn't have to match the menu item name — menu items can have their own customer-facing name.

Description (optional)

A one-liner — what this recipe is for, where it's used. Shown in recipe lists but not on menus or receipts.

Output product (required)

This is the make-or-break field. Two paths:

  • Pick an existing product flagged as recipe-output. This is the standard case for prepped items.
  • Skip if the recipe is inline (made-to-order from raw ingredients, no batch stocked ahead).

If the right output product doesn't exist yet, you can create it from inside the recipe flow.

Yield (required)

How many output-product units one batch produces. Examples:

  • Marinara recipe with output product Marinara (quart) and yield 4 → one batch makes 4 quarts.
  • Pizza dough recipe with output product Dough ball (each) and yield 12 → one batch makes 12 dough balls.

The yield's unit is whatever the output product's default unit is. Don't override the unit on the recipe — set it on the product instead.

Ingredients

Each row is a quantity × unit × product triple:

  1. Pick the ingredient product from the searchable list.
  2. Enter the quantity as a decimal (e.g., 2.5).

  3. Pick the unit. The dropdown shows units that are valid for that product: its default unit, its case unit (if case size is set), and any units reachable through its weight/volume/count conversions.

If the unit you want isn't in the dropdown, the ingredient product is missing a conversion. Edit the product and add the conversion first.

Instructions (optional)

Free-form prep notes. Useful for the team but not parsed by Rinvy — they don't affect costing or prep execution.

Save and use

After saving, the recipe is immediately available for:

  • Ad-hoc prep — log a batch from the prep page.
  • Prep lists — include the recipe in a planned prep shift.
  • Menu items — link a menu item to this recipe for food cost analysis.

Editing a recipe

You can edit any field after save. Edits don't retroactively change historical prep logs or food cost — those keep the ingredient quantities they had at the time. Future prep, future sales, and future cost calculations use the updated recipe.

Common mistakes

Skipping the output product when you actually do prep ahead

Without an output product the recipe is inline — prep execution won't add anything to stock. If you prep marinara in batches and pull from a stocked container, you need an output product.

Yield in the wrong unit

The yield is always in the output product's default unit. If your product is quart and you write yield: 16 thinking cups, you'll over-produce by 4×. Either fix the product unit or fix the yield.

Ingredient unit not available

If a recipe calls for cup but the ingredient product only supports lb, the cup option won't appear in the unit dropdown. Add a weight↔volume conversion to the product so cups become a valid recipe unit.

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