Recipe Cost Calculator

How to use

1. 1Pick your currency, enter how many servings the recipe yields, and (optionally) add packaging and labor cost per batch.
2. 2Add one row per ingredient with the name, amount used, unit, purchased quantity in the same unit, and the price you paid for that quantity. Use Load sample for a worked example or Add ingredient to grow the list.
3. 3Read the per-row line for unit cost and cost in recipe, then the Total recipe cost and Cost per serving panels for the full breakdown.
4. 4Set Target food cost % (try 30) or Markup % to see the suggested menu price, profit per serving, and profit per batch under each pricing method.
5. 5Use Copy summary for a plain-text report or Copy CSV table to paste the full breakdown into a spreadsheet.

About this tool

Recipe Cost Calculator turns any list of ingredients into a real per-batch cost, a cost per serving, and a defensible menu price. For each ingredient you enter the purchased quantity (for example a 2 kg bag of flour), the price you paid, and the amount the recipe actually uses; the calculator returns the unit cost (price divided by purchased quantity) and the cost in this recipe (unit cost times amount used), then sums the rows into a total ingredient cost. Optional packaging and labor cost per batch are added on top to give the total batch cost, which is divided by the number of servings to get the cost per serving. The second result panel turns cost per serving into a menu price using two industry-standard approaches that restaurants, cafes, bakeries, food trucks, and catering kitchens use every day. Food-cost-percentage pricing divides the cost by a target percent (the default 30 percent matches the 28 to 35 percent food cost most full-service restaurants run at, and quick presets cover 25, 28, 30, 33, 35, and 40 percent) so the resulting price keeps food cost where you want it. Markup pricing multiplies the cost by 1 plus a markup percent (default 200 percent, which prices at three times cost) for menus that price on a fixed multiplier rule. Both panels also show profit per serving, profit per batch, and the resulting food cost percent at that menu price, so the trade-off between price and margin is visible at a glance. The per-row line under each ingredient shows the cost share of total ingredients, which makes it obvious which ingredient dominates the recipe (often dairy, meat, or chocolate) and where a cheaper substitute would move the bottom line the most. Ten currencies are supported (USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, INR, JPY, TRY, MXN, BRL) and all amounts format with the correct symbol and decimal places through Intl.NumberFormat. Units are free-text with autocomplete suggestions (g, kg, ml, L, oz, lb, cups, tbsp, tsp, pcs, slices, cloves), and there is no forced unit conversion because the math only requires that the amount used and the amount purchased are expressed in the same unit per row, which keeps the model exact for any ingredient including ones that conventional weight-to-volume converters get wrong (flour, brown sugar, chopped vegetables). Copy summary returns a clean plain-text breakdown for pasting into notes or a message, and Copy CSV table exports every ingredient with its unit cost, recipe cost, and share percentage as a spreadsheet-ready file, including the totals and cost-per-serving rows so the page can replace a food-cost spreadsheet entirely. Useful for home bakers selling at markets, caterers quoting events, food truck and ghost-kitchen operators sizing margins, restaurant chefs costing new menu items, meal-prep services charging per portion, food bloggers running cost transparency posts, and culinary students working through food-cost homework. All math runs locally in your browser, so the supplier prices and recipe formulas you punch in are never uploaded.

Free to use. Works in your browser. No signup, no login.