1. Recipe cost calculator
Enter what you pay and what you use. The yield column covers trim and shrink: if you only keep 88% of an onion after peeling, put 88 and the calculator prices what you actually serve. Sample burger is loaded so you can see it work; overwrite it with your own recipe.
| Ingredient | Cost per unit ($) | Qty used | Yield % | Cost | Remove |
|---|
2. Food cost percentage calculator
Two ways to run it: one plate, or a whole period from your inventory counts.
The food cost formulas this runs
A worked example, all the way through
Take the burger loaded in the calculator above. The beef is $4.20 a pound and the patty uses 0.45 lb, so $1.89. Bun $0.45, two slices of cheese at $0.175 each is $0.35, produce and pickle $0.30, sauce $0.10. Total plate cost: $3.09.
On the menu at $11.95, food cost is 3.09 ÷ 11.95 = 25.9%. If you were pricing it fresh against a 30% target, the math says 3.09 ÷ 0.30 = $10.30, which on a real menu becomes $10.95 or $11. The calculator gives you the floor; the menu decides the final number.
One step most spreadsheets skip: yield. If onions are $1.20 a pound as purchased and you keep 88% after peeling and trim, the pound you serve really costs 1.20 ÷ 0.88 = $1.36. Cost recipes on what you serve, not what you buy. The full walkthrough is in our yield guide, the same one operators have been finding on search for years.
What counts as a good food cost percentage
There is no universal right answer, and anyone who gives you one number for every restaurant is guessing. Many full-service operators work against a 28 to 35 percent target, bars often run lower on beverage, and high-labor concepts can justify a lower food cost because the plate carries more prep. Treat targets as starting points. What matters more than the number is the direction it moves and whether you find out in time to react.
Where every calculator, including this one, falls short
This page tells you the truth about today. Then a vendor reprices chicken on Thursday's invoice and the truth changes, and no spreadsheet or free tool taps you on the shoulder. Costs drift, the menu stays put, and margin leaks until somebody re-keys invoices at month end.
That gap is the reason Culvana exists. The platform reads your vendor invoices the day they arrive, updates every ingredient cost, and reprices every affected recipe automatically, so the number this calculator gave you stays current without anyone typing. Recipe costing is the engine; the whole platform is built around it.
Common questions
What is the food cost formula?
Per plate: portion cost divided by menu price, times 100. Per period: beginning inventory plus purchases minus ending inventory, divided by food sales, times 100. Both are built into this page.
What is a good food cost percentage?
Common working targets sit around 28 to 35 percent for full service, but concept, rent and labor decide what your menu can carry. Use benchmarks to start, your own P&L to steer.
How do I account for yield or trim waste?
Divide the as-purchased cost by the yield percentage. $1.20 a pound at 88% yield is $1.36 a pound served. Every ingredient row above has a yield field.
Why does my food cost change when my menu did not?
Ingredient prices moved underneath it. That is normal; the problem is finding out weeks later. Invoice-driven costing closes that gap.
Is this calculator really free?
Yes. No signup, no email gate, and nothing you type leaves your browser or gets stored.
Now see it with your own invoices
Run the savings calculator with what you actually pay today, or book a demo and we will cost one of your real recipes live, then show you what happens when Thursday's invoice reprices it on its own. Pricing is simple: $199 a location, everything included.