Why the number matters
How to calculate food cost for a restaurant dish always starts from true usable portion cost — not the raw purchase price. Skip yield or unit conversion and your spreadsheet quietly lies.
The formula
Food cost % = (portion cost ÷ ex-tax menu price) × 100. Pick a target (often 28–35% for full-service), then suggested price = portion cost ÷ (target ÷ 100).
| Item | Example |
|---|---|
| Portion cost | $3.60 |
| Menu price | $14.00 |
| Food cost % | 25.7% |
Concrete steps
- List every ingredient with pack size and price.
- Apply yield (trim loss).
- Convert units (kg → g, L → ml).
- Sum and divide by portions.
- Compare to your target.
Where kitchens go wrong
Ignoring sub-recipes, forgetting cooking oil, mixing tax-in and tax-out prices, or never updating a supplier quote. That is exactly what automatic recipe recalculation is built to stop.
Try it now
Run the math in the public plate-cost calculator, then keep live recipes in the FoodCost Pro trial so threshold alerts fire when prices move.
One last habit: date every price. Without history you cannot explain last week's margin slide — or an inventory variance — to your team.
PixPlat Kitchen Ops · Food cost editors
Last updated July 15, 2026