Recipe Cost Calculator

Recipe costing, or plate costing, adds up what every ingredient in a dish costs at the amount you actually use, after trim and cooking loss, and divides it by the number of portions. That cost per portion is the number you price the menu from.

Recipe cost formulas

• Ingredient cost: quantity used (in the purchase unit) ÷ yield × price per purchase unit.
• Recipe cost: sum of the ingredient costs, plus the Q factor for seasoning and small items.
• Cost per portion (plate cost): recipe cost ÷ number of portions.
• Food cost %: cost per portion ÷ menu price × 100.
• Menu price from a target: cost per portion ÷ target food cost.

How to cost a recipe

1. List every ingredient. Include the oil, garnish, sauce and sides, not just the protein.
2. Measure what the recipe uses. Weigh or measure the cleaned, ready-to-use amount for the whole batch or for one portion.
3. Enter what you pay. Take the price and purchase unit from your latest invoice: per pound, per gallon, per each.
4. Add a yield %. For anything trimmed, peeled, boned or cooked down, enter the usable share of what you buy; use 100 for items used as bought.
5. Set portions and price. Enter how many portions the recipe makes, the menu price and your target food cost.
6. Re-cost when prices move. Update the prices whenever an invoice changes, so the menu is priced on today’s costs.

Worked example

House burger with fries: A 6 oz raw patty of 80/20 ground beef at $4.80/lb costs $1.80; the bun $0.55; a 0.75 oz cheddar slice at $6.40/lb $0.30; 0.5 oz of romaine at $2.40/lb with a 75% yield $0.10; 1 oz of tomato at $2.00/lb with an 85% yield $0.15; a tablespoon of sauce at $18 a gallon $0.07; and 5 oz of fries at $1.40/lb $0.44. That is $3.40 of ingredients; a 3% Q factor brings it to $3.51 a plate. At a $15 menu price the food cost is 23.4%, and a 30% target would allow a price as low as $11.69. The patty alone is about 53% of the ingredient cost, so that is where portion control pays most.

Why yield matters in recipe costing

If a recipe uses 4 oz of trimmed romaine and only 75% of what you buy is usable, you have to buy 5.33 oz to get it. Costing the 4 oz at the invoice price understates that line by a quarter. Get the right yield % from the food yield calculator or, for whole cuts of meat, the butcher’s yield test calculator.

Units and conversions

The recipe unit and the purchase unit can differ as long as they measure the same thing: ounces against a price per pound, tablespoons against a price per gallon, grams against a price per kilo. Conversions use US customary measures (1 lb = 16 oz, 1 gallon = 128 fl oz = 256 tablespoons). Weight and volume cannot be converted into each other without the ingredient’s density, so weigh the ingredient, or price it in the unit you measure it in.

What is a Q factor?

A Q factor is a small allowance, often a few percent of the ingredient cost, for seasoning, oil, condiments and garnish too small to measure on every plate. Keep it small and honest: anything you can weigh belongs on its own line.

What goes on a standardized recipe card

A standardized recipe card is how a kitchen makes the same dish, at the same cost, on every shift. It usually holds:

• Recipe name, batch size and number of portions
• Every ingredient with an exact weight or measure, cleaned and ready to use
• Purchase unit, price and yield % for each ingredient, and the date it was costed
• Method in short numbered steps, with times and temperatures
• Portion size, serving tool and a plating photo or description
• Allergens, holding instructions and shelf life
• Cost per portion and the menu price it supports

The blank template above combines a costing sheet that calculates itself with these card fields. It opens in Excel or Google Sheets.

Recipe costing FAQ