Free food cost and GP calculator for restaurants, pubs and cafés
Cost any dish line by line, with trim and yield. You get plate cost, food cost percentage, gross profit (GP%) and the menu price including VAT that hits your target.
Food cost % = plate cost ÷ menu price excluding VAT × 100, and GP% = 100 − food cost %. Most UK kitchens aim for 65–72% GP on food, which is a 28–35% food cost. The example below is fish and chips. Change the numbers to cost your own dish.
| Ingredient | Pack price (ex VAT) | Pack size | Used in recipe | Yield % | Cost | Remove |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £3.22 | ||||||
| £0.05 | ||||||
| £0.29 | ||||||
| £0.17 | ||||||
| £0.22 | ||||||
| £0.13 | ||||||
| £0.08 | ||||||
| £0.09 |
How to calculate food cost and GP
Tax on restaurant meals in United Kingdom: Restaurant meals in the UK carry 20% VAT, and menu prices shown to consumers must include it. Checked September 2026 against gov.uk.
Costing a dish, step by step
Cod fillet costs £14.50/kg ex VAT. The recipe uses 200 g and skinning and trimming leaves 90% usable.
- £14.50 ÷ 1,000 g × 200 g = £2.90
- £2.90 ÷ 0.90 yield = £3.22 for the cod fillet
- Add every other line: plate cost £4.25
- £16.50 menu price ÷ 1.2 = £13.75 ex VAT
- £4.25 ÷ £13.75 × 100 = 30.9% food cost, a GP of 69.1%
- Plate cost
- What the ingredients on one serve cost you, after yield.
- Yield
- The usable share of what you buy. Skipping it under-costs every protein.
- Gross profit
- Menu price ex VAT minus plate cost. This pays wages, rent and your margin. As a percentage of the price, it is your GP.
What is a good GP on food for a restaurant or pub?
Most UK restaurants, pubs and cafés aim for 65–72% GP on food, which is a 28–35% food cost. Single dishes spread wider, and that is fine. A high-cost steak can sit next to a low-cost pasta as long as the blended GP across what you sell stays on target.
Typical ranges used by UK operators. Your own mix, rent and wages set your real target.
| Menu item type | Typical food cost |
|---|---|
| Hot drinks | 10–20% (80–90% GP) |
| Pasta and pizza | 20–28% (72–80% GP) |
| Breakfast and brunch | 25–32% (68–75% GP) |
| Pub classics and burgers | 28–35% (65–72% GP) |
| Steak and seafood | 32–40% (60–68% GP) |
| Whole-menu target | 28–35% (65–72% GP) |
Free recipe costing spreadsheet for Excel and Google Sheets
Download the dish you just costed as a formatted spreadsheet. Every cell is linked: change a pack price, a quantity or a yield and the line costs, plate cost, food cost %, GP and menu price all update.
A spreadsheet goes out of date the week a supplier puts their prices up. That is the gap Menu Profit Manager closes.
What’s in the spreadsheet
- 20 ingredient lines with pack price, pack size, quantity used and yield
- Unit dropdowns (kg, g, L, ml, each and more) that convert for you
- Live totals: plate cost, food cost %, GP %, gross profit per plate
- Menu price at your target, with VAT added back
- Colour-coded status: green on target, amber just over, red well over
Get Menu Profit Manager free and cost your whole menu
The calculator costs one dish at today’s prices. Menu Profit Manager keeps every dish on your menu costed, and recalculates them when a supplier changes a price.
- Invoices read themselves. Photograph an invoice, drop in a PDF, or forward it to your own invoice email. Products, pack sizes and prices fill in.
- Recipes cost themselves. Import a photo of a recipe card or a spreadsheet and every ingredient is matched to your real prices.
- Price rises show up by dish. When beef goes up, you see which dishes it hurts and what to charge instead.
- Sub-recipes and batches. Cost a sauce once and every dish that uses it stays right when the batch changes.
- Bills go to your books. Reviewed invoices sync to Xero, QuickBooks or MYOB.
- This calculator
- One dish, prices you type in, costed once.
- Menu Profit Manager
- Every dish, prices from your invoices, costed every time a price moves.
Food cost, GP and menu pricing questions
How do you calculate GP on a dish?
Take VAT out of the menu price by dividing it by 1.2, subtract the plate cost, then divide the result by the price excluding VAT. A dish that costs £4.25 to plate and sells for £16.50 including VAT (£13.75 excluding VAT) has a GP of 69.1%, which is a food cost of 30.9%.
What is a good GP on food for a restaurant or pub?
Most UK restaurants, pubs and cafés aim for 65 to 72 percent GP on food, which is a food cost of 28 to 35 percent. Hot drinks often run above 80 percent GP, while steak and seafood can drop below 65 percent. What matters is the blended GP across what you actually sell.
Should I include VAT when I work out food cost or GP?
No. UK menu prices include 20 percent VAT, but that goes to HMRC, not to you. Divide the menu price by 1.2 before you calculate food cost or GP, and use supplier prices excluding VAT where you can reclaim it.
How do I set a menu price from a target GP?
Divide the plate cost by your target food cost percentage, then multiply by 1.2 to add VAT. A £4.25 plate at a 70 percent GP target (30 percent food cost) gives £14.17 excluding VAT, or £17.00 on the menu. Most venues round to a clean price point from there.
Why does yield matter when costing a recipe?
You pay for the whole product but only serve the usable part. If you peel and trim 25 kg of potatoes down to 20 kg of chips, your yield is 80 percent, so the real cost per kilo served is the purchase price divided by 0.8. Ignoring yield is the most common reason costed dishes lose money.
Is there a free recipe costing spreadsheet I can download?
Yes. This page gives you a free recipe costing spreadsheet that opens in Excel or Google Sheets, set up in pounds sterling with VAT and GP%. Every cell is linked, so when you change a price, a quantity or a yield, the plate cost, food cost, GP and menu price all update. It downloads with the dish you have costed in the calculator.
How is Menu Profit Manager different from a food cost calculator or spreadsheet?
A calculator or spreadsheet costs a dish once, at the prices you typed in. Menu Profit Manager reads your supplier invoices, keeps every ingredient price current, and recalculates every dish when a price moves, so you see which dishes a price rise hurts on the day it happens.
Is Menu Profit Manager really free from this page?
Yes. Enter your name and email in the form on this page and your account is set up with Menu Profit Manager switched on. There is no card to enter and no trial that runs out.