How-to

The TikTok recipe has no measurements. How do I figure out the amounts?

Published October 10, 2026 Last checked October 10, 2026

Most “missing” amounts aren’t actually missing

A TikTok caption that says “chicken, garlic, soy sauce, honey” looks like a recipe with no measurements. Usually the amounts exist; they’re just somewhere else in the video. Short-form creators split a recipe across four places, and each one holds different information:

Where to look, in order

1. A linked recipe

Check the caption and the creator’s bio for a link. If there’s a full written recipe, use it and stop. It’s the only version the creator actually measured.

2. On-screen text

Scrub to each ingredient as it goes in and pause. Many creators overlay “2 tbsp” or “200g” for a fraction of a second. Screenshot each one.

3. The voiceover

Turn on captions if the creator enabled them, or just listen. Temperatures and times are almost always said, not written: “bake at 400 for 20 minutes.” Auto-captions mishear numbers, so sanity-check: “fifteen minutes” and “fifty minutes” lead to very different dinners.

4. The cook’s hands

When nothing is stated, the video still shows you something. A spoon of paste is roughly a tablespoon; a palmful of salt is more than you think. This is estimation, so treat it as a starting point.

Filling the gaps that are left

If an amount truly appears nowhere, don’t eyeball it. Borrow it:

1. Find a tested written recipe for the same dish from a source you trust.
2. Match the ratio, not the number. If the tested recipe uses 2 tablespoons of soy sauce per pound of chicken and your TikTok uses 2 pounds, start with 4.
3. Season to taste at the end for anything that can be adjusted (salt, acid, sweetness, heat).

Once the amounts are filled in, changing the TikTok recipe (halving it, or making it dairy-free or vegetarian) starts with checking the jars and sauces the video used as shortcuts.

Two places where you should never estimate:

• Meat, poultry, and eggs. A time without a temperature isn’t a doneness check. Use a thermometer and USDA’s safe minimum internal temperatures: 165°F for poultry, 160°F for ground meat, 145°F for whole cuts of beef, pork, veal, and lamb with a 3-minute rest.
• Baking leavening. Baking powder, baking soda, and yeast don’t forgive guessing. If a baking video has no amounts for these, use a tested recipe instead.

Let Sous Chef do the looking

Sous Chef does steps 2 through 4 for you. Paste a public TikTok or YouTube link (up to ten minutes) and it reads the caption, the voiceover, the on-screen text, and what’s visibly happening, then writes one recipe from all of it.

What makes this useful for the “no measurements” problem is how it handles gaps. An amount the creator stated is kept exactly as stated, even an odd one like “19 g olive oil” or “one sachet.” An amount Sous Chef had to estimate is labeled as an estimate in the recipe, with a short reason. You can see which numbers came from the creator and which came from Sous Chef. If the caption says one thing and the video says another, the recipe keeps a note about the conflict instead of silently picking one.

Read the estimated lines before you cook, the same as you would a friend’s guess, and apply the two “never estimate” rules above regardless.

Common vague amounts, translated

Creators often use loose amounts on purpose. These rough equivalents are a reasonable starting point when a video uses them, but taste and adjust as you go:

These are conventions, not standards, so use them for seasonings and aromatics where a little more or less won’t hurt. Don’t use them for leavening, salt in bread or cures, or anything where precision is the point.

Common questions

Why do TikTok creators leave out measurements?

Short videos favor pace over precision, and many creators put the full recipe on their own site or newsletter. “Recipe in bio” is often the whole answer.

Can I ask the creator for the amounts?

Yes, and a comment asking for amounts is common. Many creators reply or pin a comment with the recipe. Check the pinned comments before asking.

How accurate are Sous Chef’s estimates?

They’re estimates, which is why they’re labeled. Amounts the creator actually said or showed are copied as stated; anything Sous Chef inferred is marked so you can check it.

What about YouTube videos?

The same four places apply, and YouTube adds a searchable transcript. See how to get a recipe from a YouTube video without watching the whole thing.