Recipe costing: calculate the real cost of every dish
Recipe costing is the financial X-ray of a dish. Without it you're flying blind: you don't know what a menu actually costs you, what margin you're making or what price you should charge. This guide shows you how to cost a recipe properly, the mistakes to avoid and how to automate it in seconds.
What is recipe costing exactly?
Recipe costing breaks down the total cost of a dish from market prices of every ingredient, the actual quantities used and the yield loss for each product (cleaning, cooking, evaporation).
The result is a net cost per portion which, compared to the menu price, gives you food cost (cost as a percentage of selling price). In professional foodservice the target food cost is usually 25-35% depending on concept.
Steps for proper food costing
1. List every ingredient with gross quantity and real purchase unit. 2. Apply the yield loss for each product to get net quantity. 3. Multiply net quantity × current market price. 4. Add up every ingredient and divide by number of portions. 5. Calculate the recommended menu price based on your target food cost.
Typical mistakes that blow up your food cost
Forgetting yield loss (a trimmed tenderloin can lose 25% of its gross weight), using outdated prices, missing garnish and sauce, ignoring oil and salt cost, mixing in VAT. A 2-3% error on several dishes can eat your monthly margin.
Do it in seconds with RecipeRewriter Pro
Paste your recipe, upload a photo, PDF or Word. The tool extracts ingredients, estimates market prices and yield loss with AI and returns cost per portion + recommended price. You can adjust prices manually and save it to your recipe book.
Start costing your recipes in 30 seconds
Paste, photo or PDF. Get cost per portion, recommended menu price and a printable recipe spec.
Try RecipeRewriter Pro for free →Frequently asked questions
What food cost is reasonable in a restaurant?
Depends on concept: tapas bar 28-32%, set menu restaurant 30-35%, fine dining 22-28%. The important thing is to measure it and review it every time market prices move.
Is yield loss always the same?
No. Each product has cleaning loss (meat, fish, vegetables) and cooking loss (grilled meats lose 20-30%). RecipeRewriter Pro estimates both and lets you edit them.
Do I need an expensive ERP to cost recipes?
Not to start. A tool specialised in recipe specs and costing covers 90% of needs for a mid-size restaurant without the cost or learning curve of an ERP.
Are the market prices reliable?
They're an AI estimate based on public prices. They work as a starting point; you can always replace them with your supplier prices.
Can I download the costing as PDF?
Yes. Every recipe spec is generated as printable HTML and downloadable PDF, ready to hang in the kitchen or send to the manager.