Calorie tracking in USA
The AI calorie tracker that knows American food.
The United States is the one market where mainstream calorie trackers work more or less as advertised — the databases were built here, the packaging is labelled here, and portion conventions match. The gaps show up somewhere else: restaurant food, which accounts for a large share of American calories and is served in portions that bear no relation to a nutrition label.
The problem
Why generic trackers struggle here.
- Restaurant portions routinely run two to three times a standard serving, and the menu rarely says so.
- Added oil, butter and dressing in restaurant cooking is invisible and often adds several hundred calories.
- Shared plates and combination meals are hard to break into database entries.
BetterCal takes a different route. There is no database to search — you describe the meal in plain words, and the estimate is made against how that food is actually cooked and served in the United States: the ingredients, the cooking fats, the serving vessel and the portion size.
Reference
American food, roughly counted.
Ranges rather than single numbers, because home and restaurant versions of the same dish differ enormously — mostly in cooking fat. Use these as a starting point, then correct against your own kitchen.
| Dish | Serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| Cheeseburger, quarter pound | 1 | 450–650 |
| Fries | medium | 320–420 |
| Caesar salad with chicken | 1 bowl | 450–700 |
| Burrito | 1 large | 700–1,100 |
| Pepperoni pizza | 2 slices | 500–700 |
| Bagel with cream cheese | 1 | 350–450 |
| Pancakes with syrup | 3 | 550–750 |
| Grilled chicken breast | 6 oz | 280–320 |
| Latte, whole milk | 16 oz | 190–250 |
| Peanut butter | 2 tbsp | 180–200 |
Voice logging
Say a whole American meal out loud.
Tap the microphone and describe the plate the way you would to a person — "cheeseburger, quarter pound, fries and caesar salad with chicken". BetterCal transcribes it, separates every dish, and writes the lot into your day with calories and macros.
One recording covers the whole meal, however many items are in it. You see the transcript before anything is saved, so a misheard dish name is obvious rather than buried inside a number.
Journal logging
Or type it like a note.
Write what you ate the way you would text a friend. No search box, no results list to choose from, no serving-size picker to scroll — just a line of plain text that turns into a logged meal.
It is the faster option when you are somewhere quiet, and it works just as well hours after the meal. Anything you log often is saved automatically, so the second time round it is a single tap and costs nothing.
Details
Portions and diets.
Serving units. Describe portions the way you normally would — cups, ounces, tablespoons, slices, servings all work. You do not need to convert anything into grams first.
Diets. Vegetarian, vegan, keto, paleo and gluten-free are all common and well understood. BetterCal supports vegetarian, vegan, pescatarian, eggetarian and everything.
Corrections stick. If a dish is made differently in your household, adjust it once and BetterCal remembers. Over a few weeks the estimates converge on your kitchen rather than an average of everyone else's.
Frequently asked questions
Can I log American food by voice?
Yes. Hold the microphone, describe the meal in your own words, and it is transcribed and logged with calories and macros. One recording handles several dishes at once, and you can review the transcript before it saves.
Can I type instead of speaking?
Yes — the journal takes plain typed sentences in exactly the same way. Most people mix the two: voice at home, typing when they are somewhere quiet or logging a meal after the fact.
Does BetterCal work with US restaurant chains?
Yes. Name the outlet and the item — "grande latte from Starbucks" or "Chipotle chicken bowl" — and it is treated as a specific item rather than a generic one.
Does it use ounces and cups?
Yes. Describe portions however you normally would and it converts. You can also set pounds as your weight unit.
Is there a barcode scanner for packaged food?
No. Say or type the product name instead — "one Clif bar" works. Once a product is in your memory, logging it again is free.
How much does it cost in USA?
Free to download, with 20 AI meal logs a day at no cost. Meals already in your memory are always free to log again, however often you repeat them. See what is free.
Do I need to photograph my food?
No. BetterCal has no camera and no barcode scanner. You log by speaking or typing, which means you can log a meal after you have eaten it rather than having to remember beforehand.
Start today
Log American food in one sentence.
Free to start on iPhone and Android.
