Learn with an example
Recipe costing: how to calculate ingredient cost per serving
A recipe cost sheet lists the ingredients and quantities needed to calculate the ingredient cost of a recipe and each serving. It provides a basis for reviewing your menu, comparing dishes and understanding what changes when a purchase price rises.
1. Start with purchase price and quantity
The price of a package is not enough: record how much it contains and its unit. If 1 kg of mushrooms costs €8, using 500 g costs €4. Keep purchase prices updated and use the same tax basis throughout your calculations.
2. Account for actual waste
Waste reduces the usable quantity. If you buy 1 kg for €10 and lose 20% during preparation, you have 800 g left. Each 100 g of usable product costs €1.25. Do not apply a generic waste percentage that does not match your preparation.
Ingredient cost = purchase price × quantity used ÷ usable purchase quantity
3. Add ingredient costs and divide by servings
This example uses fictional prices and 0% waste so you can check the calculation. The recipe produces 10 servings. Labour, energy, packaging and other expenses are excluded from ingredient cost.
| Ingredient | Quantity | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Mushrooms | 500 g | €4.00 |
| Milk | 750 ml | €0.90 |
| Flour | 200 g | €0.30 |
| Butter | 120 g | €1.08 |
| Breadcrumbs | 200 g | €0.50 |
| Oil | 100 ml | €0.60 |
| Eggs | 4 units | €1.20 |
Total ingredients: €8.58. Cost per serving: €8.58 ÷ 10 = €0.858 (€0.86 rounded). Avoid rounding every intermediate calculation if you want to preserve precision.
4. Separate ingredient cost, margin and profit
If each serving sold for €3 excluding VAT, its ingredient cost would be 28.6% of that sale (€0.858 ÷ €3). Gross margin over ingredients would be 71.4%. This is not net profit: staff, rent, utilities and other expenses still need to be covered. Separating VAT avoids comparing net costs with tax-inclusive sales.
Before relying on a cost
- Check for missing ingredients, quantities or prices. An unknown value is not zero.
- Convert compatible units only: g/kg, ml/l or units. Converting kilograms to litres requires a specific equivalence.
- Check actual servings, waste and yield, and update purchase prices that have changed.
- Identify which expenses are included and which taxes are excluded.
In PintxoLab, you can organise these ingredients, build your recipes and view ingredient cost per serving. The Excel template helps you prepare the data before confirming an import.