Free recipe cost calculator
Calculate the cost, food cost and margin of any dish with 500+ ingredients already loaded. No sign-up, nothing to install.
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Create your free accountWhat recipe costing means
Recipe costing breaks a dish down ingredient by ingredient: how much of each product goes in, what you pay for it and how much is lost along the way. Add the lines up and you get the cost of the recipe; divide by the number of portions and you get your plate cost. It's what lets you price a menu with confidence, compare dishes and spot the ones that quietly lose money.
The calculator above does the maths for you with 500+ ingredients preloaded at typical wholesale prices (excluding tax). Pick an ingredient, enter the quantity and you instantly see the dish's cost, calories and allergens. Switch to imperial units to work in lb, oz and fl oz with prices in dollars.
The food cost formula
Food cost percentage is the share of the selling price that goes on ingredients. Always work it out on the price excluding VAT or sales tax — that money was never yours:
- Price ex. tax
- menu price / (1 + tax rate / 100)
- Food cost %
- plate cost / price ex. tax × 100
- Gross profit
- price ex. tax − plate cost
Most restaurants aim for 25–35%. The calculator colour-codes your result: green below 30%, amber up to 35% and red above that.
How to price a menu item from its cost
Work backwards from your target food cost:
- Price ex. tax
- plate cost / target food cost
- Menu price
- price ex. tax × (1 + tax rate / 100)
A dish that costs 4.20 to make, at a 30% target, needs 4.20 / 0.30 = 14.00 before tax. With UK VAT at 20% that's 16.80 on the menu, which you might round to 16.95. In the US, where menu prices usually exclude sales tax, you'd list it at 14.00 — so set the tax rate to 0%.
Worked example: accounting for trim waste
Trim waste — the yield loss from bones, skin, peel, trimmings and cooking shrinkage — is the most common reason plate costs come out too low. You pay for the whole product but only serve part of it.
Say you buy whole chicken at 4.00 per kg and, once it's broken down, 60% is usable meat (40% waste). The real cost of a usable kilo is 4.00 / 0.60 = 6.67. A 200 g portion therefore costs 0.200 × 6.67 = 1.33, not the 0.80 you'd get by ignoring waste — a 67% difference.
In the calculator, enter the gross quantity — what you buy before prepping (200 / 0.60 = 333 g) — so the waste is built into the cost.
Recipe cost calculator FAQ
- Is the recipe cost calculator free?
- Yes, with no sign-up. Cost as many dishes as you like. If you later create a free account, the dish you were working on carries over so you don't start from scratch.
- Where do the ingredient prices come from?
- They are typical wholesale prices, excluding tax, for 500+ ingredients common in professional kitchens. They're good for estimates; for exact plate costs you need your own supplier prices, which is what ChefExpenses stores and tracks.
- Should food cost be calculated on the price with or without tax?
- Without. VAT or sales tax is collected for the government, not revenue. Enter your menu price and the tax rate included in it and the calculator converts it for you (use 0% if your prices exclude tax).
- What is a good food cost percentage?
- 25–35% of the price ex. tax for most restaurants. Dishes built on expensive protein (seafood, dry-aged beef) tend to sit at the top of the range; pasta, rice and vegetable dishes at the bottom.
- How do I include trim waste?
- Enter the gross quantity — what you buy before prepping or cooking. If you know the net amount, divide it by (1 − waste). For example, 200 g of usable meat at 40% waste is 200 / 0.60 = 333 g gross.
- Can I save or download my recipe costs?
- You can download our free recipe costing template for Excel with all the formulas built in. If you'd rather have recipes that save and recost themselves when prices change, create a free ChefExpenses account.