Free food cost calculator for restaurants
Cost any dish line by line in pounds, ounces and gallons, with trim and yield. You get plate cost, food cost percentage, gross profit and the menu price that hits your target.
Food cost % = plate cost ÷ menu price × 100. Most US restaurants aim for 28–35% across the menu. The example below is a chicken parmesan. Change the numbers to cost your own dish.
| Ingredient | Pack price | Pack size | Used in recipe | Yield % | Cost | Remove |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $2.17 | ||||||
| $0.30 | ||||||
| $0.20 | ||||||
| $0.44 | ||||||
| $0.54 | ||||||
| $0.41 | ||||||
| $0.47 | ||||||
| $0.17 |
How to calculate food cost percentage
Tax on restaurant meals in United States: Sales tax on restaurant meals in the US is set by each state and city, and is added at checkout on top of the menu price.
Costing a dish, step by step
Chicken breast costs $3.99/lb. The recipe uses 8 oz and trimming leaves 92% usable.
- $3.99 ÷ 16 oz × 8 oz = $2.00
- $2.00 ÷ 0.92 yield = $2.17 for the chicken breast
- Add every other line: plate cost $4.70
- Menu price $21.95, used as printed (sales tax is added at checkout)
- $4.70 ÷ $21.95 × 100 = 21.4% food cost
- 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 minus plate cost. This pays wages, rent and your margin.
What is a good food cost percentage for a restaurant?
Most US restaurants aim for a food cost of 28–35% across the menu, and track it alongside labor as prime cost. Single dishes spread wider. A high-cost steak can sit next to a low-cost pasta as long as the blended figure across what you sell stays on target.
Typical ranges used by US operators. Your own mix, rent and labor set your real target.
| Menu item type | Typical food cost |
|---|---|
| Coffee and fountain drinks | 10–20% |
| Pasta and pizza | 20–28% |
| Breakfast and brunch | 25–32% |
| Burgers, sandwiches and bar food | 28–35% |
| Steak and seafood | 32–40% |
| Whole-menu target | 28–35% |
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 % 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A spreadsheet goes out of date the week a supplier puts their prices up.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 (lb, oz, gal, qt, fl oz and more) that convert for you
- Live totals: plate cost, food cost %, GP %, gross profit per plate
- Menu price at your target
- 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 and menu pricing questions
How do you calculate food cost percentage for a dish?
Divide the plate cost by the menu price, then multiply by 100. A dish that costs $6.50 to plate and sells for $22 has a food cost of 29.5%. US menu prices exclude sales tax, so use the price as printed.
What is a good food cost percentage for a restaurant?
Most US restaurants aim for 28 to 35 percent across the menu. Individual dishes vary: coffee and fountain drinks often sit well under 20 percent, while steak and seafood can run above 35 percent. What matters is the blended figure across what you actually sell.
How does food cost fit into prime cost?
Prime cost is your cost of goods sold plus total labor. Many US operators aim to keep prime cost around 60 to 65 percent of sales, so a food cost that drifts up a few points has to come out of labor or profit.
How do I set a menu price from a target food cost percentage?
Divide the plate cost by your target food cost percentage. A $6.50 plate at a 30 percent target gives a menu price of $21.67. Most restaurants round to a menu price point from there, such as $21.95 or $22.
Why does yield matter when costing a recipe?
You pay for the whole product but only serve the usable part. If you trim 10 lb of whole beef tenderloin down to 6.5 lb of steaks, your yield is 65 percent, so the real cost per ounce served is the purchase price divided by 0.65. 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, ounces and gallons. Every cell is linked, so when you change a price, a quantity or a yield, the plate cost, food cost percentage 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.