Recipe Costing: How to Cost a Menu Item (Plate Cost Formula, With Examples)

Plate cost = the usable cost of every ingredient in one portion + your share of any batch sauce or sub-recipe + small extras (oil, garnish, bread). Recipe costing is how you get that number: weigh what goes on the plate, price each ingredient after trim and cooking loss, cost batch items per portion, and add it up. Once you know the plate cost, you can set the price and check the margin of every menu item.

Short answer: a plate of tagliatelle al ragù with 120 g fresh pasta (€0.72), 150 g ragù from a batch (€0.86), 15 g Parmigiano (€0.27) and €0.20 of butter, basil, oil and bread costs €2.05 to make (illustrative prices). On a €12.00 menu price in Italy, that is €10.91 before 10% VAT, so the food cost is €2.05 ÷ €10.91 = 18.8%. The hard part is not the sum: it is costing the ragù per portion correctly and correcting for trim, which this guide covers step by step.

The formulas you will use:

• Yield % = usable weight ÷ purchased weight × 100
• Usable cost per kg = purchase price per kg ÷ yield %
• Batch cost per portion = total batch cost ÷ portions the finished batch actually gives
• Plate cost = sum of ingredient costs per portion + batch portions + extras
• Food cost % = plate cost ÷ net menu price (without VAT) × 100

What is menu costing?

Menu costing is working out what each dish on your menu costs to make, ingredient by ingredient, so you can price it and track its margin. Recipe costing is the same job for a single recipe: a dish, a sauce, a dough or a dessert. You do it once per recipe on a costing card (also called a recipe card or cost card), then update it when prices or the recipe change. Turning that cost into a menu price is the next step, covered in our guide on how to price menu items with the food cost formula.

What is the plate cost formula?

The plate cost formula is: plate cost = Σ (quantity per portion × usable cost per unit) + batch portions + extras. Each part matters. “Usable cost” means the price after trim, peel and bone, not the invoice price. “Batch portions” are the share of sauces, stocks, doughs and dressings you make in bulk. “Extras” are the small things that are easy to forget: frying oil, butter for finishing, garnish, the bread basket and, for takeaway, packaging.

How to cost a menu item in 6 steps

To cost a menu item, fix the portion, price every ingredient in usable units, cost batch items first, add extras and total it. These six steps work for any dish.

Step 1: Fix the portion and write the costing card

Weigh the dish as the kitchen actually plates it, not as the recipe book says. Write each component with its weight per portion: 250 g steak, 50 ml sauce, 250 g prepared potatoes. State whether a weight is raw or cooked, because that decides which yield you use later.

Step 2: Use net purchase prices in one unit

Take prices from your latest invoices, without VAT if your business reclaims input VAT, and convert every one to the same unit as the recipe (per kg, per litre or per piece). A case of 6 × 1 kg at €27 is €4.50/kg. If a supplier changes the pack size, update the unit price, or the card silently drifts.

Step 3: Correct each ingredient for yield and trim

Divide the purchase price by the yield to get the usable cost: carrots at €1.10/kg with an 82% yield cost €1.34 per usable kg. For meat and fish, do a butcher’s test: weigh what you buy, trim it as you normally do, weigh the usable part. If the portion is weighed raw (a steak), use the trim yield only. If it is weighed cooked (sliced roast beef), also include cooking loss.

Step 4: Cost sub-recipes and batch sauces first

Cost every batch item (ragù, stock, pizza dough, dressing, tiramisù) on its own card, then divide the total by what the finished batch really gives, by weight or by portions. Divide by the cooked weight, not the raw weight: sauces reduce. That batch cost per kg or per portion then becomes a single line on every dish that uses it, so you update it in one place.

Step 5: Add the extras

Add a line for oil, salt, butter, herbs and garnish, and one for the bread or amuse-bouche every guest gets. Price them once (for example, a week of frying oil divided by portions of fries sold) rather than guessing. For delivery and takeaway, add the box, bag and cutlery.

Step 6: Total the plate cost and check the food cost %

Add every line, then divide by the net menu price to get the food cost %. If the result is far from your target, change the portion, the recipe or the price, and use the food cost pricing method to set the new price.

Worked example 1: a batch ragù and tagliatelle al ragù

A batch sauce is costed by dividing the total ingredient cost by the cooked weight of the batch, then multiplying by the portion. Here is a 6.9 kg raw batch of ragù that cooks down to 5.0 kg (all prices illustrative, net of VAT).

Ingredient	Quantity used	Price	Yield	Cost
Minced beef and pork	2.0 kg	€9.50/kg	100%	€19.00
Onions (prepared)	0.6 kg	€1.20/kg	89%	€0.81
Carrots (prepared)	0.4 kg	€1.10/kg	82%	€0.54
Celery (prepared)	0.3 kg	€2.00/kg	75%	€0.80
Tomato passata	3.0 kg	€1.40/kg	100%	€4.20
Red wine	0.5 l	€4.00/l	100%	€2.00
Olive oil	0.1 l	€8.00/l	100%	€0.80
Stock, herbs, seasoning	–	–	–	€0.60
Batch total	6.9 kg raw → 5.0 kg cooked			€28.75

Batch cost: €28.75 ÷ 5.0 kg = €5.75 per kg, so a 150 g portion costs €0.86. If you divided by the raw 6.9 kg instead, you would get €4.17/kg and €0.63 a portion: 27% too low on every plate. The plate then adds up like this:

• Fresh tagliatelle, 120 g at €6.00/kg: €0.72
• Ragù, 150 g at €5.75/kg: €0.86
• Parmigiano Reggiano, 15 g at €18.00/kg: €0.27
• Butter and basil to finish: €0.05; bread and oil share: €0.15
• Plate cost: €2.05

At €12.00 on the menu (€10.91 net of Italy’s 10% VAT), food cost is 18.8%; at €13.00 it is 17.3%; at €14.00 it is 16.1%. Pasta usually runs well under target, which is why it helps pay for dearer dishes.

Worked example 2: a steak plate with trim and a batch sauce

For meat, the trim yield changes the plate cost more than any other input. A restaurant buys whole entrecôte at €28.00/kg. Its butcher’s test (illustrative): 5.0 kg bought, 4.1 kg of usable steaks, so the yield is 82% and the usable cost is €28.00 ÷ 0.82 = €34.15/kg. The plate:

• Entrecôte, 250 g raw at €34.15/kg: €8.54
• Peppercorn sauce, 50 ml from a €8.40 batch that gives 20 portions: €0.42
• Fries, 250 g prepared potatoes (€0.90/kg at 80% yield) plus frying oil share: €0.43
• Side salad and garnish: €0.25
• Plate cost: €9.64

Sold at €32.00 in Germany, where restaurant food carries 7% VAT, the net price is €29.91 and the food cost is 32.2%. This table shows how the result moves with the trim yield alone:

Trim yield	Usable cost per kg	Cost of 250 g steak	Plate cost	Food cost % at €32.00
100% (invoice price)	€28.00	€7.00	€8.10	27.1%
90%	€31.11	€7.78	€8.88	29.7%
82%	€34.15	€8.54	€9.64	32.2%
75%	€37.33	€9.33	€10.43	34.9%

Costing from the invoice price would show 27.1% when the real figure is 32.2%: €1.54 missing on every steak.

What should a recipe costing card look like?

A good costing card has one row per ingredient and seven columns: ingredient, purchase unit, net purchase price, yield %, usable cost per unit, quantity per portion and cost per portion. A spreadsheet works fine. Keep batch recipes on their own tabs and reference their cost per kg, so one price change flows into every dish. The card is also the natural place to record each dish’s allergens, as described in our guide to the 14 allergens on your menu.

Ingredient	Unit	Net price	Yield	Usable cost	Qty / portion	Cost / portion
Entrecôte	kg	€28.00	82%	€34.15	0.250	€8.54
Peppercorn sauce (batch)	portion	€0.42	–	€0.42	1	€0.42
Potatoes	kg	€0.90	80%	€1.13	0.250	€0.28
Frying oil share	portion	–	–	–	1	€0.15
Salad and garnish	portion	–	–	–	1	€0.25
Plate cost						€9.64

Drinks follow the same logic, costed per ml instead of per gram; see how to price drinks with the pour cost formula.

What food cost should a costed dish come in at?

Most restaurants aim for a food cost of roughly 28–35% across the menu, with single dishes above or below that. Lightspeed says most UK restaurants keep food cost between 28% and 35%; Resy, citing US Foods, puts the average for full-service and limited-service restaurants at 28–32%; and the German site G wie Gastro reports about 28% on average for German restaurants and bars, ranging from roughly 20% to 35% or more. Pizza, pasta and coffee usually sit below the range; steak, fish and premium dishes above it. What matters is the average across what you actually sell.

Yields vary just as much, which is why you should measure your own. One culinary maths textbook lists large onions at an 89% yield, while the US Foods produce chart gives 63% for sliced or diced onions. Same vegetable, different cut and method: use published charts as a starting point and replace them with your kitchen’s own numbers.

Which prices go on the costing card: with or without VAT?

Cost recipes with net purchase prices and compare them with net menu prices, because a VAT-registered business reclaims the VAT on what it buys and passes the VAT on what it sells to the tax office. G wie Gastro puts it simply: always look at figures net, without VAT. Before you compare plate cost with a menu price, take the VAT out of the menu price at the right rate for your country:

Country	VAT on restaurant food	Watch out for	Source
Italy	10%	22% on drinks and unprepared goods sold to take away, and on the coperto	Informazione Fiscale, Fyscal
Germany	7% (from 1 January 2026)	Drinks stay at 19%	IHK Frankfurt
Netherlands	9%	21% on alcoholic drinks	MKB Servicedesk
Norway	25% served on site	15% on takeaway food	Skatteetaten
Turkey	10%	20% on alcoholic drinks	NTV

A service charge or cover charge is not part of the dish price, so leave it out of the food cost calculation. Outside these countries, the same rule applies: strip out your local sales tax or VAT first.

When should you re-cost a recipe?

Re-cost a recipe whenever a main ingredient’s price, a pack size, the portion or the recipe changes, and review every card on a fixed schedule even when nothing seems to change. A Penn State hospitality textbook notes that portion costs should be verified regularly, especially when prices rise fast, and that in stable markets every few months is enough. In practice: re-cost your five best sellers and your most expensive dishes monthly, and the rest each quarter or when you change the menu.

Re-costing only helps if the new price reaches the guest quickly. With Elegant Menu, the QR menu and ordering platform, a changed price is live as soon as you save it, a dish that has become too costly can be hidden for the day, and the menu assistant can apply a list of price changes from one typed instruction, showing each change for one-tap approval. On paid plans, order analytics show which dishes sell most, so you know which cards to check first.

How do you check your real plate cost?

Check your real plate cost by comparing what the costing cards predict with what you actually used, and by re-testing yields and portions in the kitchen. Three quick checks:

1. Weigh ten plates during service. If the steak averages 270 g instead of 250 g, your plate cost is 8% higher on the meat line alone.
2. Weigh one batch output. If the ragù gives 4.6 kg instead of 5.0 kg, the cost per kg rises from €5.75 to €6.25.
3. Compare ideal and actual food cost each month. Ideal = plate costs × dishes sold; actual = opening stock + purchases − closing stock. The pricing guide walks through the actual food cost sum. A gap of more than 2–3 points means waste, over-portioning or out-of-date cards.

Common recipe costing mistakes

1. Dividing a batch by its raw weight. Sauces and stocks reduce; divide by what the finished batch weighs or the portions it gives.
2. Using invoice prices without yield. Trim, peel and bone can add 10–30% to an ingredient’s real cost, as the steak table shows.
3. Mixing gross and net prices. Keep VAT out of both the ingredient prices and the menu price you compare with.
4. Forgetting extras and sub-recipes. Bread, frying oil, garnish and takeaway packaging are small per plate but large across a month.
5. Costing in vague units. “One case” or “a handful” changes when the supplier or the cook changes. Use kg, litres and pieces.
6. Costing once and never again. A card that is a year old is a guess; set a re-costing date on each one.

FAQ: recipe costing

How do you cost a plate of food?

You cost a plate of food by weighing each component of one portion, multiplying by its usable cost per unit after yield, adding batch-sauce portions and extras, and summing the lines. The result is the plate cost.

What is the difference between recipe costing and food cost?

Recipe costing gives the cost of one dish in euros; food cost % compares that cost (or your total ingredient spend) with net sales. You need the first to calculate the second for each dish.

How do I cost a sauce made in a batch?

Add up the cost of everything in the batch and divide by the finished weight or the number of portions it gives. A €28.75 ragù that ends at 5.0 kg costs €5.75/kg, so 150 g costs €0.86.

Should I include salt, oil and garnish?

Yes, include them as one small “extras” line per dish, priced from what you actually use over a week. Leaving them out makes every dish look a little cheaper than it is.

How often should I re-cost my recipes?

Re-cost whenever a key ingredient price or the recipe changes, and review all cards at least every few months. Best sellers and expensive dishes deserve a monthly check.

Put your costed prices on the menu today

Once your cards are done, your menu should show the new prices the same day. Build a free QR menu with Elegant Menu, update prices whenever you re-cost, and show allergen labels on each dish.