Recipe Cost Calculator

Food cost percentage calculator

Food cost % is the share of a menu price that goes to ingredients. Build the dish below, enter your price, and read the percentage. Change the target to see the price that would hit it.

The food cost percentage formula

Food cost % = cost per serving ÷ menu price × 100. A burger that costs $3.00 to make and sells for $12.00 runs at 25%.

The same formula works backwards. To hit a target percentage, divide the cost by the target: $3.00 ÷ 0.30 = $10.00. That is the lowest price that keeps the burger at 30%.

What is a good food cost percentage?

There is no single right number, and we don't publish one as data. 30% is a common rule of thumb, which is why the calculator starts there, but a steakhouse, a coffee shop and a pizza place land in very different places. Set the target that fits your costs for labor, rent and profit.

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.

Questions

How do you calculate food cost percentage?

Divide the cost of the ingredients in one serving by the menu price of that serving, then multiply by 100.

How do I work out a menu price from a food cost percentage?

Divide the cost per serving by the target percentage written as a decimal. $3.00 at a 30% target is $3.00 ÷ 0.30 = $10.00.

Does food cost % include labor?

Not on menu items here. Food cost % is ingredients only, and packaging if you add it. The bakery calculator adds labor because many bakers price that way.

Is 30% the right target?

It is a common rule of thumb, not a benchmark we can source. Set your own.

Other calculators