Food cost calculator
What your dish really costs and what to charge
Enter the ingredients in a recipe, what you pay for them and how much you lose when prepping. The calculator gives you the real plate cost and a menu price that respects your food cost.
Ingredient Quantity used Unit Purchase price Trim loss % Cost
How it calculates
- Cost of each ingredient = purchase price × quantity used ÷ (1 − trim loss). Trim loss is what you throw away when cleaning, boning or peeling.
- Price before tax = plate cost ÷ target food cost. At a 30% food cost, a dish that costs 40 sells for 133.33.
- Menu price = price before tax × (1 + tax), rounded up. Use the tax field only if your menu prices must include tax.
A food cost between 28% and 35% is a common range, but it depends on your concept: cafés usually run lower and steakhouses higher. What matters is that you measure it.
The full guide, with examples and common mistakes, is in our resources .
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