Recipe Cost Calculator
Costs a recipe from as-purchased prices through trim yield to the true edible-portion cost, which is the step that makes most kitchen spreadsheets understate what a dish really costs.
Recipe Cost Calculator
Results recalculate instantly on every keystroke. Nothing you type is transmitted.
What this result does not account for
- Preset yields are representative, not authoritative. Knife skill, product size and specification move them by several points, so a measured yield from your own kitchen always beats a table.
- The calculator handles one trimmed main ingredient plus a lump sum for everything else. A full costing sheet would apply yields ingredient by ingredient.
- Cooking loss is separate from trim loss and is not modelled here. For quantities that must survive cooking, use the catering portion calculator, which compounds both.
- Labour is excluded entirely, which is conventional for plate costing but means a labour-intensive dish looks cheaper than it is to produce.
In short: You are invoiced for the as-purchased weight but you cook with the edible portion, so the real cost is AP cost ÷ yield. Beef tenderloin at $21/lb with a 70% yield actually costs $30.00/lb. Skip that step and a dish priced at a 30% target can run a genuine 42.9% food cost — a 12.9-point miss that never shows up on the spreadsheet, because every line looks consistent.
Formula
[('as purchased (AP)', 'The weight and price on the invoice, including bone, fat, peel and trim.'), ('edible portion (EP)', 'What is left after butchering, peeling and cleaning. This is what the recipe actually consumes.'), ('yield %', 'EP divided by AP. Beef tenderloin runs about 70%, broccoli 61%, whole fish 45%.'), ('cost factor', '100 divided by the yield. Multiply the invoice price by it to get the true cost. A 70% yield is a factor of 1.43.'), ('Q factor', 'Unlisted extras such as salt, oil, garnish and bread, conventionally 5 to 10% of raw plate cost.')]
Worked Example
- Take the invoice price. Per pound or kilogram, as purchased. This is the number everyone starts with and almost nobody adjusts.
- Divide by the yield. AP cost divided by the yield as a decimal gives the edible portion cost. This single division is the entire point of the exercise.
- Multiply by the portion. EP cost times the trimmed weight in the dish, then add the other ingredients.
- Add the Q factor. Five to ten percent for the unlisted extras. Then divide the batch by the servings for cost per portion.
An 8 oz portion of beef tenderloin bought at $21.00 a pound. On the invoice price that portion looks like $10.50, but tenderloin yields about 70% after trimming, so the true edible-portion cost is $30.00 a pound and the portion costs $15.00 — nearly 43% more. With $1.20 of other ingredients and a 5% Q factor the plate comes to $17.01. Priced at a 30% target that is $56.70. Had the costing used the invoice price, the plate would have looked like $12.29 and priced at $40.95, and the dish would have run a real food cost of 41.5% instead of 30%.
Strengths & Limits Of This Model
Where this engine is strong
- Applies the yield division that most kitchen spreadsheets omit, and quantifies exactly what omitting it would have cost.
- Gives the purchase quantity from the same yield figure, so ordering and costing stay consistent.
- Includes the Q factor rather than pretending recipes list every ingredient.
Where it stops
- Needs a realistic yield figure, which requires a one-off test per ingredient to get right.
- Single-ingredient model is a simplification of a full multi-line costing sheet.
Practical Use Cases
Costing a new dish before it goes on the menu
The only point at which the price is easy to set correctly, since changing it later is visible to guests.
Deciding whether to buy pre-prepped
Pre-cut product costs more per pound but has a 100% yield and no labour. Comparing EP costs is the only fair way to make the call.
Working with whole animals or whole fish
Where yields are low and the gap between invoice and true cost is largest, sometimes more than double.
Ordering accurately
The same yield figure tells you how much to buy to end up with the trimmed weight the recipe needs.
Investigating an unexplained food cost
A theoretical food cost that runs consistently below the actual usually means yield, the Q factor, or both are missing from the costings.
Methodology & Editorial Standards
Edible-portion cost is calculated as as-purchased cost divided by the yield percentage, with the cost factor expressed as 100 divided by the yield. Plate cost is the edible-portion cost multiplied by the portion weight, plus other ingredients, uplifted by the Q factor. Purchase quantity is the required edible weight divided by the yield. The preset yields are representative tested figures drawn from culinary reference material: onion 90%, chicken breast 85%, butternut squash 84%, potato 80%, pork shoulder 76%, carrot and romaine 75%, beef tenderloin 70%, bell pepper 68%, broccoli 61%, pineapple 52%, whole round fish 45% and lobster 32%. The method and worked examples reconcile with the Culinary Institute of America's culinary maths technique sheet, the Illinois State Board of Education food costing materials, and standard industry costing guidance. The Q factor range of 5 to 10% of raw plate cost follows conventional practice.
Computation runs in IEEE-754 double precision at full internal precision; rounding to two decimal places occurs strictly at the display layer, so no cumulative drift enters the result. All monetary outputs use accounting presentation — grouped thousands, two decimals, negatives in parentheses — so figures can be transcribed directly into a model or working paper. Division-by-zero and out-of-domain inputs return an em-dash rather than a misleading number.
This engine was reconciled against an independent reference implementation and hand-verified for the worked example above before release. Our full five-stage review process is published on the About Us page.
Disclaimer. This calculator is provided for informational and modelling purposes only and does not constitute financial, tax, legal, medical, or engineering advice. Verify all figures with a qualified professional before acting on them.
Recipe Cost Calculator — 10 Expert FAQs
10 analyst-written answers to the questions practitioners actually ask — optimised for voice and answer-engine retrieval.
How do you calculate the cost of a recipe
Cost each ingredient at its edible-portion price, which is the invoice price divided by the yield percentage, multiply by the quantity the recipe uses, sum them, add a Q factor of 5 to 10% for unlisted extras, then divide by the number of servings. The step that distinguishes a real costing from a naive one is the yield division: costing at invoice prices systematically understates every dish that involves trimming.
What is EP cost and how is it different from AP cost
As-purchased cost is what the invoice says per pound. Edible-portion cost is what the usable product actually costs after trim, and it is always higher. The formula is EP cost equals AP cost divided by the yield percentage. Beef tenderloin at $21 a pound with a 70% yield has an EP cost of $30 a pound. Recipes must be costed on EP, because EP is what goes into the dish.
What is a yield percentage in cooking
The proportion of the purchased weight that survives preparation, calculated as edible portion weight divided by as-purchased weight times 100. Typical figures are 90% for peeled onions, 85% for trimmed chicken breast, 80% for peeled potatoes, 70% for beef tenderloin, 61% for broccoli florets and 45% for whole round fish filleted. Flour, sugar, oils and dried spices yield 100% because nothing is discarded.
How do I run a yield test
Weigh the raw ingredient as it arrives, prep it exactly as your kitchen normally would, weigh the trimmings separately, and confirm that the usable weight plus the waste equals the starting weight. Divide the usable weight by the starting weight for the yield. Repeat across three or four deliveries and average, because product size and the skill of whoever is trimming both move the result by several points — a ten point spread between two cooks is normal.
What happens if I ignore yield when costing
Every affected dish is understated, and the error is invisible because the spreadsheet remains internally consistent. Consider an 8 oz portion of a $10 per pound ingredient at 70% yield: costed on AP it is $5.00 and prices at $16.67 for a 30% target, but the real cost is $7.14, so the dish actually runs a 42.9% food cost. That is a 12.9 point miss on one dish, and the only symptom is a period-end food cost nobody can explain.
What is the Q factor in recipe costing
An allowance for the ingredients no recipe lists: salt and pepper, the oil in the pan, the butter used to finish a sauce, the garnish, the bread and butter that arrives before the food. Individually trivial, collectively 5 to 10% of raw plate cost. Omitting it is one of the standard reasons a theoretical food cost comes in below the actual figure at period end.
How much should I buy to end up with a given trimmed weight
Divide the trimmed weight you need by the yield percentage. To finish with 10 lb of trimmed beef at a 70% yield you must buy 14.3 lb. To finish with 5 kg of peeled potatoes at 80% you buy 6.25 kg. Ordering to the trimmed weight is the same error as costing to the invoice price, and it is the usual reason a kitchen runs short mid-service.
Is it cheaper to buy pre-prepped ingredients
Sometimes, and the only fair comparison is on edible-portion cost plus labour. Pre-cut product carries a higher price per pound but has a 100% yield, no trim to dispose of and no prep time. Carrots at $2.40 a pound with a 75% yield have an EP cost of $3.20, so pre-peeled carrots at $3.00 are genuinely cheaper before you have paid anyone to peel anything. The trade is usually quality and freshness rather than money.
How often should I re-cost my recipes
Re-cost your top ten selling dishes quarterly and after any significant supplier increase, and re-cost the full menu annually. Costings decay from the day they are written as prices move and portions drift. Prioritise high-volume dishes over expensive ones: a few cents of drift on a dish that sells two hundred times a week costs more than a larger error on something that sells five times.
Why is my theoretical food cost lower than my actual food cost
The usual causes, in order: yield is not being applied, so costings understate every trimmed ingredient; there is no Q factor for unlisted extras; portions have drifted upward from the specification; and waste, comps and staff meals are consuming product that never appears against a sale. The first two are costing errors you can fix at a desk, and the second two are operational.