Prep Recipe Cost Calculator
Enter each ingredient in a batch recipe with its quantity and cost per unit. Then enter the total yield of the batch - in litres, kilograms, or portions. The calculator gives you the total batch cost and the cost per litre, kg, or portion of the finished product. Use this to accurately cost every dish that uses a house-made base.
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Quantity | Unit cost | |
|---|---|---|---|
How to use this tool
- 1Add each ingredient in the batch recipe - include every component: aromatics, oils, liquids, thickeners, and any packaging used during prep.
- 2For each ingredient, enter the quantity used in this batch and the cost per unit (per kg, per litre, per item).
- 3Enter the total yield of the batch - how many litres, kilograms, or portions the recipe produces after cooking and reduction.
- 4Read the cost per unit of yield. This is the cost you should use when costing any dish that uses this prep item as a component.
- 5Optionally enter the serving portion size to see the per-plate cost contribution from this prep item.
Formula used
Example
Tomatoes: 5.40. Oil: 4.80. Aromatics: 0.60. Total batch cost: 10.80. Yield: 2.8 litres. Cost per litre: 3.86. A pasta dish using 120ml of this sauce has a sauce cost of 0.46 - much more accurate than estimating or ignoring the prep cost.
Total batch cost: 5.50. Cost per dough ball: 0.39. This is the dough cost to use in the Pizza Cost Calculator. Made in-house, this compares favourably against a bought-in dough ball price of 0.60-0.80.
Common use cases
- Costing house-made sauces, stocks, and dressings used across multiple dishes on the menu
- Calculating whether making a component in-house is cheaper than buying it ready-made from a supplier
- Accurately tracking the cost of batch-prepped items in daily food cost calculations
- Updating prep costs when a key ingredient changes price, to see the impact on finished dish cost
- Training kitchen staff to understand the real cost of prep items that are often treated as 'free'
Common mistakes
- Not accounting for reduction - a stock that reduces by 40% during cooking has 40% fewer litres to spread the ingredient cost across, raising the cost per litre significantly.
- Ignoring cooking fuel and utility cost for long-cooking preps like stocks and braises - for very large operations, this is worth including.
- Not updating prep recipe costs when ingredient prices change - a 20% increase in a key ingredient changes the per-portion cost of every dish that uses that prep item.
- Using water as a free ingredient - while water cost is minimal, tracking it maintains discipline around measuring all inputs.
Frequently asked questions
How do I account for reduction in a sauce or stock?
Enter the yield as the post-reduction volume or weight, not the starting volume. If you start with 5 litres of stock and it reduces to 3 litres, enter 3 litres as the yield. This correctly allocates all ingredient costs across the actual usable output. Reduction is a major source of undercosting in stocks and sauces.
Should I include labor cost in the prep recipe cost?
For most purposes, prep labor is tracked separately in your labor cost line rather than being allocated per prep recipe. However, for very labor-intensive preparations (handmade pasta, complex pastry), some operators include a labor allocation per batch to understand the full cost of in-house production versus buying in.
What is the difference between this and the Portion Cost Calculator?
The Prep Recipe Cost Calculator calculates the cost per unit of a batch-made component (sauce per litre, dough per ball, stock per litre). The Portion Cost Calculator calculates the cost of a purchased ingredient per serving size (salmon per 180g portion). Use prep recipe cost for house-made components, then feed that cost per unit into the Portion Cost Calculator when building a full dish cost.
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