Loaded Nachos (shareable platter) Cost Calculator
A shareable platter of tortilla chips with cheese, seasoned beef, beans, pico de gallo, jalapenos, sour cream, and guacamole. Foodservice ingredient cost against a typical bar and 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 Loaded Nachos (shareable platter)?
About $3.96 of ingredients for a shareable loaded nachos platter at foodservice prices, against a typical $14 price, a 28.3% food cost. Beef, cheese, chips, and guacamole each cost 70 to 90 cents and together make up 81% of it.
Where the money goes
| Seasoned ground beef | 22.7% · $0.90 | |
|---|---|---|
| Shredded cheese | 22.2% · $0.88 | |
| Tortilla chips | 18.2% · $0.72 | |
| Guacamole | 17.7% · $0.70 | |
| Pico de gallo | 7.6% · $0.30 | |
| Sour cream | 5.1% · $0.20 | |
| Black beans | 4.5% · $0.18 | |
| Pickled jalapenos | 2.0% · $0.08 |
What 40 of them return at different prices
| Your price | Food cost % | Over ingredients, each | Over ingredients, 40 |
|---|---|---|---|
| $10.50 | 37.7% | $6.54 | $261.60 |
| $14.00 US average | 28.3% | $10.04 | $401.60 |
| $17.50 | 22.6% | $13.54 | $541.60 |
Ingredients only. Labor, packaging, fuel, and stall or platform fees come out of these figures.
Nachos are a pile, and piles do not get measured. This platter is 6 oz of chips, 4 oz of cheese, 3 oz of seasoned beef, beans, pico, jalapenos, sour cream, and 2 oz of guacamole, $3.96 at foodservice prices. On a busy night a cook building platters by eye adds a handful of cheese and a heavier scoop of beef because the chips look bare, and each handful is real money: an extra ounce of each adds 52 cents and moves the platter from a 28.3% to a 32.0% food cost.
No single topping dominates. Beef, cheese, chips, and guacamole sit within 20 cents of each other. Guacamole is the outlier per ounce: 2 oz costs 70 cents, nearly as much as 6 oz of chips, which is why so many menus list extra guac as its own line rather than piling it on for free.
Nachos also earn money the food cost does not show. They are a salty, shareable plate ordered for the table and eaten with drinks, and at many bars they exist to sell the next round. That is why bars accept a food cost on nachos they would not accept on an entree. It only works if the platter is built the same way every time, with weighed chips, a measured cheese portion, and a fixed scoop, so the food cost on paper is the food cost on the plate.