Free Food Cost per Serving calculator with clear step-by-step results.
Cost per serving is the batch cost divided by the portions it actually yields — and the yield is where recipe costing goes wrong. Trim, peel, spoilage and generous plating mean the food that reaches customers costs more per portion than the invoice suggests, so a waste uplift belongs in the numerator. Dividing the loaded portion cost by a target food cost percentage gives the menu price that hits that target: at 30%, a $5.97 portion needs to sell for $19.90.
Cost per serving
Cost per serving = batch cost × (1 + waste) ÷ servings
Menu price
Price = cost per serving ÷ target food cost percentage
Ingredient prices, yields and target margins vary by supplier, season and market. Recost recipes regularly and confirm any pricing decision against your own trading figures.
25-35% is typical for full-service restaurants, lower for beverages and higher for steak or seafood-led menus. It is a target for the menu as a whole, so individual dishes can sit either side of it.
Because food cost percentage is defined as cost ÷ price. Rearranging gives price = cost ÷ percentage. Adding a 70% markup to cost gives a different, lower price and misses the target.
No. Gross margin per serving is what is left after ingredients only — labour, rent, utilities and waste disposal all come out of it before profit.