Food Cost Calculator for Restaurants

Calculate the food cost percentage of any dish in seconds. Add ingredients, quantities and selling price.

Food Cost Calculator

Dish name

Number of portions

Selling price per portion (€)

Ingredients

IngredientQuantity (g)Price/kg (€)

How it works

Add ingredients

Enter each ingredient with its weight per portion and purchase price per kilo.

Set portions and selling price

How many portions the recipe yields and at what price you sell to customers.

Get your food cost

You'll see the exact cost per portion, food cost percentage and profitability status.

Why calculate your food cost

Identify dishes losing money without knowing it
Adjust selling prices with real data
Increase your margin without aggressive price hikes
Total control in seconds, no Excel or formulas

"With this calculator I saw my signature dish cost more than I thought. I raised the price by €1.50 and no one noticed. I made €400 extra that month."

Carlos Romero

Owner, Bar Restaurant La Plaza, Zaragoza

More power with AI Chef Pro

The free calculator is just a sample. With AI Chef Pro you calculate your entire menu with waste control and automatic price updates.

Member

€10/month

10,000 credits/month

Premium Pro

€25/month

85,000 credits/month

⭐ Popular

Premium Plus

€50/month

175,000 credits/month

Premium Max

€95/month

Unlimited

Frequently asked questions about food cost

What is food cost?

Food cost is the percentage of the selling price that represents ingredient costs. Formula: Food cost % = (Ingredient cost / Selling price) × 100. A healthy food cost in restaurants is between 25% and 32%.

Why is it important to control it?

Uncontrolled food cost can mean you're losing money on dishes you think are profitable. Controlling it allows you to make pricing decisions and maximize each dish's margin.

Does this calculator include waste?

This free version works with the net weights you enter. To automatically include cleaning, cooking and evaporation waste, use the recipe costing tool in AI Chef Pro Premium.

How to improve a high food cost?

You can raise the selling price, switch to cheaper suppliers, reduce the weight of expensive ingredients, or substitute high-cost components with similar alternatives.