Log inStart free
Free tool

Food cost calculator.

Enter a dish's menu price and what it costs you to make it. You'll see your food cost %, the gross profit you keep per plate, and how it stacks up against the 28–32% target most restaurants aim for. No sign-up, no email — just the number.

Instant resultNo sign-up฿ or any currency
Your dish
What the guest pays for the dish
$
Plate cost — every ingredient on the dish
$
Your goal — most kitchens use 28–32%
%

Tip: ingredient cost is raw food only — proteins, produce, oil, sauce, garnish. Don't add labour, gas or packaging here; that's prime cost, a separate number.

Optional

ResultOn target
Food cost %
30%
Gross profit / dish
$126
Food cost % vs targetat target
0%Target 30%60%+
Gross margin %
70%
Markup ×
3.3×

At $180 with $54 of ingredients, you keep $126 of gross profit on every plate — right on your 30% target.

Estimates only. Food cost % covers ingredients, not labour, rent, gas or packaging — for those, look at prime cost (food + labour) and your full P&L.

The short version

How to read your number.

How to use it

  1. Take one dish and add up the cost of every ingredient that goes on the plate — protein, produce, oil, sauce, garnish.
  2. Enter that as ingredient cost, and the price you charge as menu price.
  3. Read the food cost %: ingredient cost ÷ menu price. Gross profit is what's left after ingredients — before labour and overheads.
  4. Compare to your target. Then repeat for your top sellers — that's where small changes move real money.

What's a good food cost %?

There's no single right answer — it depends on your format. Rough industry bands:

  • 28–32% — the classic full-service target. Comfortable margins.
  • Under 25% — common on drinks, coffee and sides; great margin, watch perceived value.
  • 33–38% — steakhouses, seafood, premium proteins. Higher % on bigger tickets can still be very profitable.
  • Over 40% — usually a signal: re-price, re-spec the recipe, or renegotiate the buy.

A high % on one signature dish isn't a crisis. A high blended food cost across the whole menu is.

Take it further

Stop calculating dish by dish.

One plate is easy. A whole menu, across every outlet, as supplier prices move every week — that's the hard part. Here's where to go next.

Food cost guide

How to cost a recipe properly, price for your market, and spot the dishes quietly losing money.

Read the guide →

Automate it with Papaya Stock live

Recipe-level costing that updates as supplier prices change — true food cost per dish, tracked automatically.

See Papaya Stock →

See Papaya pricing

POS, ordering, payments and stock control in one system. Start free, add what you need as you grow.

View plans →
Food cost questions

Good to know.

The numbers behind the number — and where this calculator stops.

Everything that physically goes on the plate: proteins, produce, dairy, oil, sauces, spices and garnish — at the price you actually pay your supplier, including yield loss and trim. It does not include labour, gas, packaging, rent or wastage. Those belong in prime cost and your full P&L, not in this number.
Most full-service restaurants aim for 28–32%. Drinks, coffee and sides often run well under 25%; steak, seafood and premium proteins can sit at 33–38% and still be very profitable on a bigger ticket. Anything over 40% is usually a flag to re-price, re-spec the recipe, or renegotiate with your supplier. What matters most is your blended food cost across the whole menu, not any single dish.
No. Food cost is ingredients only. When you add staff wages on top, you get prime cost (food + labour), which most operators keep around 55–65% of sales. This calculator deliberately stays at the food-only level so the per-dish number is clean and comparable.
They're two sides of the same coin. Food cost % is ingredient cost ÷ menu price. Gross margin % is the profit you keep — 100% − food cost %. A 30% food cost is a 70% gross margin. We show both so you can talk in whichever your team prefers.
Yes — that is what Papaya Stock does. Cost a recipe once, link it to ingredients, and your true food cost per dish updates every time a supplier price changes — across every dish and every outlet, no spreadsheets.
From one dish to the whole menu

Know the margin on every plate you sell.

This calculator does one dish. Papaya does your whole catalogue — recipe costing, live supplier prices, and the reports that tell you which dishes to push, fix or cut.

Start free →Explore Papaya Stock