How to calculate the cost per dish and per portion (recipe costing), with an example
Add up what the quantities used in the recipe cost and divide the total by the portions you actually get. If the ingredients for a tray of lasagne cost €18 and it yields 6 portions, each portion costs €3 in ingredients. That is the basis of a costing sheet, and it does not yet include staff, energy, rent or other overheads. Below we work through a full example; all figures are illustrative, so always use your own purchase prices.
01What a costing sheet is and what it is for
A costing sheet (in Spain, an escandallo) is the cost card of a dish: which ingredients it uses, in what quantity, what each one costs and how many portions it yields. It lets you set prices on solid ground, see which dishes leave you more margin and spot early when a supplier has raised a price. Without it, your menu price is a guess.
02Step 1: ingredients, quantities and purchase price
Write down each ingredient with the quantity the whole recipe uses and its purchase price in the same unit: if you buy by the kilo, count in kilos; if you buy by the litre, in litres. The cost of each line is quantity × price. In the example, a tray of meat lasagne for 6 portions:
| Ingredient | Quantity | Purchase price | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minced meat | 1.2 kg | €8.50/kg | €10.20 |
| Lasagne sheets | 0.5 kg | €4.00/kg | €2.00 |
| Crushed tomato | 1 kg | €1.80/kg | €1.80 |
| Milk | 1 l | €1.00/l | €1.00 |
| Butter | 0.1 kg | €9.00/kg | €0.90 |
| Flour | 0.1 kg | €1.00/kg | €0.10 |
| Grated cheese | 0.2 kg | €10.00/kg | €2.00 |
| Recipe total (6 portions) | — | — | €18.00 |
03Step 2: divide by the portions you actually get
Cost per portion = total recipe cost ÷ number of portions. In the example, €18.00 ÷ 6 = €3.00 per portion. The key word is “actually”: if the recipe says 6 portions but the pass serves more generous ones and you get 5, the real cost is €18.00 ÷ 5 = €3.60. Weigh or count what really comes out a couple of times and use that figure. And if you want 6, standardise the portion with a ladle, a weight or a fixed cut.
04Step 3: account for yield loss
Many products are not 100 % usable: fish gets cleaned, vegetables get peeled, meat loses weight when cooked. If you buy whole squid at €10.00/kg and after cleaning you keep 0.7 kg per kilo (a 70 % yield), the cleaned kilo costs you €10.00 ÷ 0.7 = €14.29. In the costing sheet use the cost of the usable product, not the invoice price; otherwise every dish will look cheaper than it is. This yield loss is different from waste (what gets thrown away), which is worth logging separately.
05Step 4: food cost and margin (which is not profit)
Food cost is the ingredient cost of a portion divided by its selling price excluding VAT. If you sell the lasagne for €12.00 including VAT (10 % for restaurant service in Spain), the price excluding VAT is €12.00 ÷ 1.10 = €10.91, and food cost comes to €3.00 ÷ €10.91 ≈ 27.5 %. What is left, €10.91 − €3.00 = €7.91, is gross margin: it still has to pay for staff, rent, energy and every other expense before you can talk about profit. The right food cost for you depends on your type of venue and your other costs; what matters is knowing it for each dish and watching how it moves.
06What to recalculate when a price changes
Every time a supplier changes a price, update the ingredient cost and review every costing sheet that uses it. In the example, if the meat goes from €8.50 to €9.50/kg, the recipe rises by 1.2 kg × €1.00 = €1.20: from €18.00 to €19.20. The portion goes from €3.00 to €3.20 and food cost from 27.5 % to €3.20 ÷ €10.91 ≈ 29.3 %. With those numbers you decide on data: absorb it, adjust the portion, switch supplier or raise the price. Also review the costing sheet when you change the recipe, the portion size or the selling price.
07How to keep your costing sheets in Tablezio
In Tablezio’s recipes module you create each recipe with its ingredients (quantity, unit and cost per unit) and what it yields, in portions, pieces, kilos or litres. When you save it, Tablezio calculates the total recipe cost and the cost per portion. If an ingredient price changes, you update it in the recipe and the cost is recalculated on save. With that cost per portion and your price excluding VAT you work out food cost as in step 4. Recipes are included in the Pro plan.
A costing sheet is not advanced accounting: it is a few multiplications and one division, done with your real prices and your real portions. Start with your five best-selling dishes, review them whenever a price changes and your menu will be under control.