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MarginCub

Free food cost calculator

Enter your ingredients, quantities, and supplier prices. Get total recipe cost, cost per serving, and food cost percentage in real time. No login. Built-in unit conversion (oz, lb, g, cup, tbsp, ml, each).

✓ No signup ✓ 10 unit types ✓ Auto food cost % ✓ Mobile-friendly
Line cost
$0.00
Line cost
$0.00
Line cost
$0.00
Total cost
$0.00
Cost / serving
$0.00
Food cost %
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28-32%
Target food cost % for full-service restaurants
3-5%
Average net margin for independent restaurants - precision matters
10
Unit types supported (oz, lb, g, kg, cup, tbsp, tsp, ml, l, each)
$0
Cost during early access. No card. No limits.

How to use this calculator

Four steps. Two minutes. Works for any dish, baked good, or catering platter.

  1. 1

    Add each ingredient as a line

    Enter the ingredient name, the quantity used in the recipe, and the unit. Click "+ Add ingredient row" for as many lines as you need.

  2. 2

    Enter your supplier price + price unit

    Your price per unit (what you actually pay). Pick the matching unit. Buy chicken at $3.20/lb but use 8oz? The calculator converts automatically.

  3. 3

    Set servings (yield)

    How many portions does this recipe make? The calculator divides total cost by yield to get cost per serving.

  4. 4

    Optional - enter menu price

    Add what you charge customers and you'll see your food cost percentage. Industry target is 28-32% for full-service restaurants. Above 38% and you're likely losing money.

The food cost formula (in plain English)

Food cost percentage is the simplest health metric in food service. It tells you what share of every dollar of revenue is going to ingredients.

Food cost % = (Cost per serving ÷ Menu price) × 100

Example: $4.20 cost per serving ÷ $14.00 menu price × 100 = 30.0% food cost.

The other side of the equation - what you keep:

Gross margin per serving = Menu price - Cost per serving

$14.00 - $4.20 = $9.80 gross per dish. That $9.80 still has to cover labor, rent, utilities, marketing, and profit.

For a deep dive on targets by business type, drift patterns, and a 30-day fix plan: How to calculate food cost percentage.

Worked example - chicken stir-fry

A 4-serving recipe priced at typical 2026 supplier rates.

Ingredient Qty Cost / unit Line cost
Chicken breast1.5 lb$4.80/lb$7.20
Bell peppers2 ea$1.20/ea$2.40
Soy sauce3 tbsp$0.20/tbsp$0.60
Garlic4 ea$0.10/ea$0.40
Jasmine rice1 lb$1.80/lb$1.80
Sesame oil2 tbsp$0.40/tbsp$0.80
Ginger, scallions-est.$0.80
Total recipe cost (4 servings)$14.00
Cost per serving$3.50
Menu price (sample)$13.00
Food cost %26.9%

26.9% is below the 28-32% target zone - this dish has room for either a small price drop (promo) or a slightly more generous portion before margin gets tight.

Who uses this calculator

Anyone whose price has to cover ingredient costs. The use cases below link to deeper guides.

Independent restaurants

Cost every menu item, hit the 28-32% target, recalc when chicken jumps 18%.

Profit margin breakdown →

Food trucks

Tight menus, tight margins, no back office. Food cost discipline is everything.

Food truck pricing guide →

Home bakers + cottage food

Use the multiplier model (3-5× ingredients) - decorated cookies, custom cakes, bread.

Bakery pricing formula →

Caterers

Per-person pricing for events. Re-quoted for every order, every guest count.

Catering cost per person →

Ghost kitchens / delivery-app menus

Platform fees eat 15-30% of revenue - precision pricing or the kitchen runs at a loss.

Delivery-app strategy →

Menu engineering

Sort items into Stars / Puzzles / Plowhorses / Dogs based on popularity + margin.

Menu engineering matrix →

Average cost benchmarks for popular dishes

Reference cost cards for the 29 most-googled dishes - average ingredient cost per serving and a sample menu price.

Pizza margherita → Beef burger → Chicken tikka → Caesar salad → Pad thai → Sourdough bread → Chocolate chip cookies → Pasta carbonara → Fish tacos → Ramen bowl → Pulled pork sandwich → Blueberry muffins →

See all 29 dish cost benchmarks →

Food cost calculator FAQ

What is food cost percentage?
Food cost percentage is the share of menu price that goes to ingredient cost. Formula: (cost per serving ÷ menu price) × 100. Restaurant industry target is 28-35%. Bakeries run 20-30%. Pizza shops can hit 22-28%. Anything above 38% and you're likely losing money once labor and overhead are added.
Do I need an account?
No. The calculator is fully free with no signup required. Sign up only if you want to save recipes, export PDF cost sheets, or auto-recalculate when ingredient prices change. All paid features are unlocked free during early access.
How does unit conversion work?
Each ingredient line has two unit fields - the quantity unit (how much you used) and the cost unit (how it's priced). The calculator converts between them. So you can buy chicken at $3.20/lb and use 8oz in a recipe; the math handles the conversion. Supported units: oz, lb, g, kg, cup, tbsp, tsp, ml, l, each.
What's a good food cost percentage?
Targets vary by category:
  • Full-service restaurants: 28-32%
  • Quick-service / pizza: 25-30%
  • Bakeries: 20-30%
  • Bars (beer): 18-24%
  • Bars (spirits): 18-22%
  • Catering: 28-35%
Sustainably profitable food businesses keep prime cost (food + labor) at or below 60% of revenue.
Should I include packaging and delivery costs?
For takeout-heavy or delivery-app menus, yes. Add a separate line for packaging at the per-unit cost (a clamshell box might be $0.12). For dine-in only, skip packaging - it falls under operating supplies, not food cost. Delivery-app commissions (15-30%) should be modeled at the menu level, not in this tool.
How accurate is the calculator?
Exact for the math. Total cost = sum of (qty × cost per unit) across lines, with unit conversion. Real-world drift comes from yield loss (trim, evaporation, breakage, overcooking shrinkage) - usually 5-15% depending on the dish. For precise costing, multiply your raw ingredient cost by 1.10-1.15 to account for typical yield loss.
Can I use this for catering or wedding cake pricing?
For catering, yes - calculate per-person cost and apply the standard 28-35% food cost target to set per-head pricing. For wedding cakes, the multiplier model fails (decorating skill is the constraint, not ingredient cost) - price per serving instead, $6-25 depending on tier complexity. See the bakery pricing guide for the breakdown.
Does the calculator save my data?
No - this page is stateless. Refresh and you start over. To save and reuse recipes across price changes, sign up for a free account. During early access there are no recipe limits, no PDF gating, and no credit card required.

Going beyond a one-shot calculation

This page is great for a single recipe. Real food businesses have 50-200 recipes that share ingredients - and when chicken jumps 18%, every dish using it should recalculate at once. That's what an account gets you.

  • ✓ Unlimited saved recipes
  • ✓ Sub-recipes (sauce → 5 dishes, all linked)
  • ✓ One-click recipe scaling (4 → 40 servings)
  • ✓ PDF cost sheets for kitchen + management
  • ✓ Menu engineering matrix (Stars / Plowhorses / Puzzles / Dogs)
  • ✓ Auto-recalc when one ingredient price changes
Sign up free Browse 9 pricing guides

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