Free Food Cost Calculator
Calculate food cost percentage, markup, and profit margin for your dishes. Add multiple ingredients.
Ingredient
How It Works
Enter ingredient costs, portion sizes, and selling prices to calculate your food cost percentage, profit margin, and markup. The tool helps restaurants, caterers, and food businesses understand their true cost per serving and optimize menu pricing.
When to Use It
- Menu pricing — determine the selling price that gives you a target food cost percentage (typically 28-35%).
- Recipe costing — break down the cost of each ingredient per portion to find your most and least profitable dishes.
- Catering quotes — calculate accurate per-head costs for events including ingredient waste and prep overhead.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good food cost percentage?
Industry standard is 28-35% for full-service restaurants. Fast food targets 25-30%. Fine dining can go up to 40% due to premium ingredients.
Does it account for waste?
Enter the usable portion cost (after trimming and waste) for accurate results. A common rule is to add 10-15% to raw ingredient cost to account for waste.
What is the difference between margin and markup?
Margin is profit as a percentage of selling price. Markup is profit as a percentage of cost. A 50% markup equals a 33.3% margin.
All calculations happen in your browser. No data is sent to any server.