Recipe cost calculator

How to cost a recipe

Costing a recipe is two jobs. First, keep a list of what you pay for each ingredient. Second, list how much of each ingredient a recipe uses. This calculator keeps both, so when your supplier raises the price of butter, you change it once and every recipe that uses butter updates.

1. In the ingredient library, enter each ingredient's pack price and pack size, for example $54.90 for 10 lb of ground beef.
2. In the recipe, add a line per ingredient with the amount you use, in whatever unit you measure, for example 6 oz.
3. Set how many servings the batch makes and what you charge per serving.
4. Read the cost per serving, the food cost % and the price that would hit your target.

The formulas

1. Cost of a line = amount used, converted to the pack's unit, ÷ pack size × pack price ÷ usable yield.
2. Batch cost = the sum of every line. Lines marked "per serving" are multiplied by the servings in the batch.
3. Cost per serving = batch cost ÷ servings per batch.
4. Food cost % = cost per serving ÷ menu price × 100.
5. Menu price for a target = cost per serving ÷ (target food cost % ÷ 100).

Usable yield, trim and waste

You pay for the whole case, but you can only serve what is left after trimming. If a pound of romaine gives you 12 ounces of usable leaves, its yield is 75%. Enter recipe amounts as the trimmed amount you actually use, and the calculator divides by the yield, so each recipe carries the cost of the trim. To find a yield, weigh a pack before and after prep, and divide after by before.

Unit conversions we use

Weight converts to weight and volume to volume automatically. These are the US customary measures from NIST Handbook 44 (2026), Appendix C (last checked 2026-10-18). A cup here is 8 US fluid ounces, not a 250 ml metric cup.

Volume to weight is different for every ingredient. A cup of flour and a cup of honey weigh very different amounts, so we never guess. If you buy flour by the pound and measure it in cups, weigh one level cup the way your kitchen scoops it and enter that in "1 cup weighs (g)". The same goes for "1 each weighs (g)" when you buy onions by the pound and use them whole.

Every calculator on this site

• Food cost calculator for restaurantsFood cost per plate for a restaurant menu, from one ingredient list.
• Food cost percentage calculatorFood cost percentage for any dish, and the price that hits your target.
• Menu price calculatorThe menu price you need for your target food cost %.
• Menu costing templateA menu costing template that exports to Excel and Google Sheets.
• Bakery cost and pricing calculatorCost a batch of cookies or pastries with packaging and price per piece.
• Cake pricing calculatorPrice a whole cake from ingredients, box, board and hours.

Questions