Recipe & Plate Cost Calculator

Every menu price starts with one number you have to build yourself: the plate cost — what the ingredients in a single serving actually cost you. This calculator adds up a recipe line by line (quantity × unit cost) and divides by the number of portions it yields, so you get a defensible cost per plate instead of a guess.

Add a row for each ingredient, enter how much of it the recipe uses and what that unit costs you, and the total updates live. Set how many portions the batch makes to get your cost per portion at the bottom.

Costing ingredients the right way

The trick is keeping your units consistent. If you buy beef by the pound, enter the fraction of a pound the recipe uses and the price per pound. If you buy a case of buns, divide the case price down to the cost of a single bun. Getting the per-unit cost right is where most plate costs go wrong.

Don't forget the small stuff

Oil, seasoning, garnish, and the tiny amounts that are annoying to weigh — the "Q-factor" — quietly add up across a full menu. Add lines for them where you can, or pad the total by a few percent to cover them. A plate cost that ignores them reads lower than reality and leads you to underprice.

From plate cost to a menu price

Your cost per portion is the input every pricing decision needs. Drop it into the menu price calculator to price the dish at the food cost percentage you want to run, then check the finished price against the food cost percentage calculator. The "menu price @ 30%" figure above is a quick starting point using a common target.