Food Cost per Serving Calculator
Calculate the cost per serving for any recipe.
Add up ingredient costs and divide by servings to find your true per-plate cost.
Food cost per serving is the backbone of menu pricing in both restaurants and home meal planning — it tells you exactly how much the ingredients for one portion of a dish actually cost.
Core formulas: Cost per Serving = Total Recipe Ingredient Cost ÷ Number of Servings Menu Price = Cost per Serving ÷ Target Food Cost % Food Cost % = Cost per Serving ÷ Menu Price × 100 Yield-Adjusted Cost = Ingredient Cost ÷ Yield % (as decimal)
Where Yield % accounts for trimming, cooking loss, and waste:
- Chicken breast: ~85–90% yield (bone-in: ~65%)
- Ground beef: ~75–80% yield (fat renders off)
- Fresh vegetables: 70–90% yield (after peeling/trimming)
- Pasta (dry to cooked): 2–2.5× weight increase (cost per serving drops)
Worked example — Pasta Arrabiata for 4 servings:
| Ingredient | Amount | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Rigatoni pasta (dry) | 400g | $1.20 |
| Canned San Marzano tomatoes | 400g | $2.50 |
| Garlic (4 cloves) | 20g | $0.30 |
| Olive oil | 40 mL | $0.60 |
| Chili flakes, salt, herbs | — | $0.20 |
| Total recipe cost | $4.80 |
Cost per serving = $4.80 ÷ 4 = $1.20 per serving If targeting 30% food cost: Menu price = $1.20 ÷ 0.30 = $4.00 If targeting 25% food cost: Menu price = $1.20 ÷ 0.25 = $4.80
Home cook use: Tracking cost per serving reveals which meals deliver the best value. Legume-based dishes ($0.30–$0.80/serving) are dramatically cheaper than meat-based dishes ($2.00–$5.00/serving). A weekly meal plan optimizing cost per serving can reduce a family’s grocery bill by 20–35%.
How we build and check this calculator
This calculator runs entirely in your browser, so the numbers you enter stay on your device. The math behind it is written by hand and tested against worked examples and standard references before the page goes live.
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