Food cost tells you what the ingredients in a dish cost, and as a percentage of price, whether it is profitable to sell.
Cost per serving = Total ingredient cost ÷ Number of servings
Where
| Total ingredient cost | Sum of all ingredient costs |
| Number of servings | Portions the recipe yields |
Worked example
A dish costing $12 in ingredients that serves 6 is $12 ÷ 6 = $2.00 per serving.
Food cost percentage = ingredient cost ÷ menu price × 100. Restaurants typically target 25 to 35%.
Calculate with the Cost Per Serving calculator in the cooking calculators.