What are you about to order?
Pick the takeout you were about to get. Short Order puts the home version next to it: protein, calories and what it costs at US grocery prices. Then it helps you cook it, prep five, or split the pot.
Nothing on the board matches yet. In the app you can type any order, or screenshot one.
Kung pao chicken + rice
At home: Kung Pao Chicken, one serving
| Per person | Your orderestimate | At homeper serving |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | 54 g | 56 g |
| Calories | 930 | 720 |
| Cost | what you paid | about $3.32 |
Type what you paid to see the difference.
Takeout side: USDA FNDDS survey data for kung pao chicken and side of white rice. Estimated for a typical restaurant portion. Restaurants vary.
At home: computed from USDA FoodData Central, per person. Home cost at US average prices (September 2026); your store will differ.
See the full compare*At US average prices (September 2026), across the 112 dishes with at least 90% of their ingredients priced. Every figure here is computed from the app's library.
The library
Comfort food and takeout remakes, built around protein
Menu-style dishes from the takeout counters people order from most, plus breakfasts, batch cooks and sweets. Each one shows protein, calories and cost per serving.
Copycat Orders
How it works
Pick it, type it or screenshot it
Choose from the order board, type what you'd order, or screenshot a delivery order. Screenshots are read on your phone and never uploaded.
See both sides
Your order as an estimate for a typical restaurant portion, next to the home build: protein, calories and cost. Add what you paid and you see the difference.
Cook it, prep it, split it
Start cook mode with timers, batch five lunches in one session, or work out how many grams each person scoops.
The order board
Thirty generic takeout orders, each rebuilt as a home dish. On 28 of the 30 the home build comes in lower in calories. Protein is often close, because takeout portions are big; the real difference is calories and cost.
Kung pao chicken + riceTakeout about 930 kcal · home 720 kcal−210 kcalat homeLemon chicken comboTakeout about 1450 kcal · home 670 kcal−780 kcalat homeMongolian beef + riceTakeout about 1360 kcal · home 710 kcal−650 kcalat homeChicken lo mein, largeTakeout about 780 kcal · home 540 kcal−240 kcalat homePotstickers + crab rangoonTakeout about 960 kcal · home 490 kcal−470 kcalat homePad see ew, chickenTakeout about 970 kcal · home 580 kcal−390 kcalat homeDrunken noodles, beefTakeout about 990 kcal · home 630 kcal−360 kcalat homeBasil chicken, fried egg, riceTakeout about 920 kcal · home 660 kcal−260 kcalat homeProtein per Dollar
Protein per dollar, sorted
Every dish shows its cost per serving and how many grams of protein $1 buys, at US average prices. Sort the recipes by it, and see what the week's list will cost by aisle. Outside the US, add your own prices.
Grams of protein per $1
US average prices for September 2026 (BLS) or USDA ERS 2017–18 prices adjusted for inflation, times USDA protein per 100 g. Edible part only.
Prep Session
Cook once, portion five
Pick up to three dishes. The app lays their steps on one timeline by what each step needs, your hands, the oven or the stove, and runs the timers. Then it tells you how many grams go in each box and when to eat it by.
Eat-by dates follow USDA leftovers guidance: dishes with meat, poultry or fish get at most 4 days in the fridge.
Illustration. The app builds the real timeline from the dishes you pick and the kitchen you set up.
Split the Pot
Scoop by the gram
Cooking for more than one? Give each adult a daily protein target, or a plate size for anyone without one. The app splits the pot by weight, so each plate lines up with the target its eater set.
A guide for sharing a pot, not dietary advice. Split the Pot is part of Pro, for up to six people.
Example split of one pot.
Cook mode
Timers that keep up
Steps marked hands-on or hands-off, several timers at once, the next one to finish on your Lock Screen, and steps read aloud if you want them. When you're done, log the cook and it counts toward your week.
- Several timers at once. Rice, oven and sauce running side by side.
- Live Activity. The next timer to finish, on the Lock Screen.
- Cook-In Week. Any five home dinners or lunches in a week. Nothing resets mid-week.
- Savings ledger. Each cook linked to an order adds up what you kept, from your own prices.
Meet Nonna
AI cook · ProNonna is the app's AI cook: a fictional grandmother character with strong opinions about browning meat and none about your diet. Ask her what to swap, how to rescue a sauce, or what to do with what's left in the fridge.
- Labelled AI on every reply. She'll tell you she's an AI if you ask.
- Asks first. Before her first answer she explains what's sent: your message and the recipe you're on go to our server, then to Anthropic's Claude model.
- Quotes the app's numbers. She never makes up protein, calories or prices.
- USDA safe temperatures, and allergy questions go back to the label.
- Cooking only. No medical or diet advice.
I only have chicken breast, not thighs. Still OK for the kung pao?
So how much protein is it now?
Example conversation, written to show how Nonna answers. Replies in the app are generated by AI.
Inside the app
Real screens arrive with the App Store listing. Until then, here's what each one covers.
Free to start. Pro for the rest.
Short Order will be free to download. Short Order Pro unlocks every method and the tools below, by subscription or once with Lifetime.
Yearly Save 72%
Monthly
Weekly
Lifetime
Free
- All 120 dishes: photos, nutrition, cost and ingredients
- Full method for 20 dishes, including 10 takeout remakes
- Every order compare, typed orders and screenshot reads, plus the savings ledger
- Week board, costed List and Cook-In Week
- Three color themes
- Import and preview any recipe; save five
Pro
- Every method and cook mode, all 120 dishes
- Nonna (AI): cooking help any time, labelled AI
- Prep sessions and the Fridge
- Split the Pot by the gram, up to six people
- Auto-fill the week and Use it up
- Unlimited saved imports and three more color themes
Planned prices in US dollars; the App Store shows the price that applies, in your currency, before you buy. The 3-day free trial is on the monthly plan only. Weekly, monthly and yearly renew automatically until cancelled; cancel at least 24 hours before renewal in Settings › Apple Account › Subscriptions. Lifetime is one payment and never renews. Subscription terms
Be first in line
Short Order is coming to iPhone. Leave your email and we’ll send one note when it’s on the App Store.
Questions
Is Short Order on the App Store?
Not yet. Short Order is an iPhone app that is coming soon to the App Store. Leave your email and we'll send one note when it's live.
Are the takeout numbers from the restaurant?
No. They're estimates for a typical restaurant portion. Where the USDA's survey database (FNDDS 2021–2023) has the dish, we use it with a stated portion. Where it doesn't, we write a restaurant-style reference recipe and run it through the same engine as the home build. Every order says which. Restaurants vary, and in the app you can enter a restaurant's own published numbers instead.
Where do the prices come from?
Grocery prices are US averages: the Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly average prices (September 2026), and USDA ERS Purchase to Plate prices from 2017–18 adjusted with the BLS food price index. Your store will differ, and you can type your own prices in the app. We never invent restaurant prices: savings only appear when you enter what you paid.
Is this a diet app?
No. It's a cooking app. There's no calorie budget, no meal plan to follow and no medical advice. You set a protein amount per plate if you want one, and the app shows how each dish compares.
Who is Nonna?
Nonna is the app's AI cook, a fictional grandmother character. She's labelled AI everywhere, asks for your consent before her first answer, and only quotes numbers the app computed. She's part of Short Order Pro.
Are the food photos real?
They're AI-generated to show the finished dish, and labelled that way. Recipes are written with AI and checked by our QA process. Nutrition is computed from USDA data, never typed in by hand.
How much is Pro?
Short Order Pro is $3.99 a week, $11.99 a month, $39.99 a year, or $79.99 once for Lifetime (US prices). Only the monthly plan has a free trial: 3 days, for eligible new subscribers. Lifetime is one payment for the same Pro features and never renews. The App Store shows the price that applies before you buy.
Does it work outside the US?
Recipes, nutrition, the order board and the AI cook work anywhere. Cost estimates use US average prices, so outside the US the app shows costs only for the prices you enter yourself.
What do I get for free?
All 120 dishes with photos, nutrition, cost and ingredients; the full method for 20 of them; every order compare and screenshot read; the savings ledger, Week board, costed List and Cook-In Week; five saved imports with the swaps; and three color themes. Pro adds the rest.