Chicken Enchiladas (plate of 3) Cost Calculator
Three chicken enchiladas in red sauce with melted cheese, served with rice and refried beans. Foodservice ingredient cost per plate against a typical restaurant price. Prefilled with US average ingredient costs. Edit any quantity or price to match what you actually pay, and the math updates as you type.
How much does it cost to make Chicken Enchiladas (plate of 3)?
About $2.89 of ingredients for a plate of three chicken enchiladas with rice and beans at foodservice prices, against a typical $14 plate, a 20.6% food cost. The chicken is $1.10. The rice and beans that fill half the plate cost 54 cents.
Where the money goes
| Chicken thigh (cooked, shredded) | 38.1% · $1.10 | |
|---|---|---|
| Shredded cheese | 19.0% · $0.55 | |
| Enchilada sauce | 13.8% · $0.40 | |
| Refried beans | 10.4% · $0.30 | |
| Mexican rice | 8.3% · $0.24 | |
| Corn tortillas | 4.2% · $0.12 | |
| Sour cream | 3.5% · $0.10 | |
| Onion + cilantro | 2.8% · $0.08 |
What 40 of them return at different prices
| Your price | Food cost % | Over ingredients, each | Over ingredients, 40 |
|---|---|---|---|
| $10.50 | 27.5% | $7.61 | $304.40 |
| $14.00 US average | 20.6% | $11.11 | $444.40 |
| $17.50 | 16.5% | $14.61 | $584.40 |
Ingredients only. Labor, packaging, fuel, and stall or platform fees come out of these figures.
An enchilada plate is built to look generous at a low cost, and the rice and beans are how. They take up about half the plate and cost 54 cents together, 19% of a $2.89 plate. The three enchiladas carry the rest: shredded chicken thigh at $1.10, cheese at 55 cents, and red sauce at 40 cents. The corn tortillas, which people think of as the base of the dish, are 12 cents.
So the number of enchiladas on the plate is the real cost decision. Each one is roughly 70 cents of chicken, cheese, sauce, and tortilla, while the sides cost the same whether the plate holds two or three. Many Mexican restaurants sell both, and the gap between the two plates' prices is usually wider than the 70 cents between their costs, which makes the bigger plate the more profitable one to sell.
Enchiladas also suit kitchens that cook ahead. They can be rolled and panned before service and sauced and cheesed to order, and the chicken can be thigh meat braised in bulk, cheaper per ounce than breast and harder to dry out. Thigh over breast is one of the quieter reasons enchiladas land near a 20% food cost: the same 5 oz of breast would cost more and, on most menus, sell for exactly the same price.