Recipe cost calculator
Your recipes
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| Recipe | Plate cost | Food cost % | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
Untitled recipe Open now | not ready | not ready |
How to cost a recipe
Start with the unit price: what you pay for one case, pack or pound on the invoice. Divide it by the pack size, how much that case holds, to get a cost per unit. A 40 lb case of ground beef at $89.60 is $2.24 a pound.
Then convert the recipe quantity into the same unit. A 6 oz patty is 0.375 lb, so it costs $2.24 x 0.375 = $0.84. The calculator does this conversion for weight (oz, lb, g, kg), volume (tsp, tbsp, fl oz, cup, pt, qt, gal, ml, l) and counts (each, dozen).
Yield covers trim and waste. If only 85% of what you buy ends up on the plate, divide the cost by 0.85. Leave yield blank for ingredients you use whole.
Add up every ingredient to get the plate cost, what one serving costs you to make. Divide the plate cost by the sale price to get the food cost %, the share of each sale that goes to ingredients.
For a sauce or other house-made component, enter a pack size of 1 (such as 1 qt) and what a batch of that size costs you to make.
Worked example
This is the example recipe the calculator loads, a cheeseburger that sells for $14.00.
- Ground beef 80/20: 6 oz from a 40 lb case at $89.60 = $0.84
- Brioche bun: 1 each from a 4 dozen case at $14.40 = $0.30
- Cheddar slices: 1 each from a 160 slice case at $31.20 = $0.20
- Tomato: 1.5 oz from a 25 lb case at $24.00, at 85% yield = $0.11
- House sauce: 2 tbsp from a 1 qt batch costed at $6.40 = $0.20
The plate cost is $1.64. At a $14.00 sale price the food cost % is $1.64 / $14.00 = 11.7%. Line costs are rounded for display; the total uses full precision.
Already know your plate cost? Price a dish from a target with the food cost % calculator.
Questions
How do I calculate the cost of a recipe?
For each ingredient, divide the price you pay by the pack size to get a cost per unit, convert the recipe quantity to that unit, multiply, and divide by the yield. Add up every ingredient to get the plate cost.
What is yield in recipe costing?
Yield is the share of what you buy that ends up on the plate after trim and waste. Tomatoes that lose 15% to cores and ends have an 85% yield, so each usable ounce costs more than the price per pound suggests.
How do I cost a sauce or other house-made ingredient?
Cost the batch first, then enter it as one ingredient with a pack size equal to the batch size, such as 1 qt, and the batch cost as the price you pay.
Do I need to work out the price per ounce or pound myself?
No. Enter the unit price from the invoice for whatever you buy, usually a case, and how much the case holds. The calculator works out the cost per ounce, pound or each from there.
How often should I update my plate costs?
Whenever a supplier price changes. Plate costs are only as current as the last invoice you checked, so a price rise on one ingredient quietly raises the plate cost of every menu item that uses it.
Keep your plate costs current
A plate cost is only right until a supplier changes a price. MarginWatch can watch your supplier invoices and tell you when a price rises and which menu items it hits. To see which prices already moved, upload two invoices to the free supplier price change report.