Food Cost Calculator

Food cost percentage compares what you spend on ingredients for a dish to what you charge guests. It is one of the most practical checks when you price a new menu item or when ingredient prices move.

Operators often track food cost at the recipe level and again at the venue level after waste and comps. This calculator focuses on a single recipe so you can sanity-check one plate before you roll pricing across the menu.

General guidance: many full-service restaurants aim to keep food cost near 28–35% of menu price, but your concept, location, and positioning may sit above or below that range.

Add up ingredient line totals (quantity × unit cost), divide by the number of portions the batch yields, then compare that cost per portion to your menu price.

Example (illustration only): A pasta sauce batch uses ingredients totalling 28.00 in your currency. The batch makes 8 portions, so cost per portion is 3.50. If the menu price is 14.00, food cost is 25% and gross profit before labour and overhead is 10.50 per plate.

If cheese or protein prices rise, update unit costs and re-run the math before you absorb margin silently.

Small input errors compound quickly in hospitality. Double-check units (per kg vs per gram) and whether costs include delivery fees.

Forgetting garnishes, cooking oil, or packaging for takeaway portions.

Dividing by the wrong yield (guest portions vs prep pan weight).

Using menu price that already includes tax when you want pre-tax food cost — stay consistent with how your POS reports sales.