Recipe Cost Calculator: Cost per Portion and Food Cost % in KSh
A recipe cost calculator adds up every ingredient in a dish, allows for trimming loss, and divides by the number of portions to give your cost per portion. Enter weights and prices in KSh to see your food cost percentage and the selling price needed to reach your target.
How to read your result
- Cost per portion: the usable ingredient cost divided by the number of portions. This is what one plate costs you before labour and overheads.
- Food cost %: cost per portion divided by selling price. A beef stew that costs KSh 201.96 a portion and sells for KSh 650 has a food cost of 31.07%.
- Contribution: selling price minus cost per portion. This is the money left to pay for labour, rent and profit.
- Yield %: if an ingredient has an 80% yield, you pay for 1 kg but only 0.8 kg reaches the plate, so its real cost goes up. Use yields from your own tests, not guesses.
Download the matching form
Print a Standard Recipe Card for every dish you cost, so the quantities, method and cost sit on one page. For many dishes at once, the Excel workbook keeps costs, menu mix and prep in one file.
Related reading
- Mastering Restaurant Food Costing: A Comprehensive Guide to Profitability
- The Chef’s Guide to Conquering the Forty Thieves of Food Cost
- From Kitchen to Life: How ‘Mise en Place’ Can Transform Your Everyday Hustle
Frequently asked questions
What is a good food cost percentage?
It depends on your type of kitchen, your menu and what you spend on labour, so there is no single right figure. Decide the target that leaves enough for labour, rent and profit, then use the calculator to check each dish against it. Many kitchens start around one third, but treat that as a starting point, not a rule.
Should I include VAT in ingredient prices?
Enter prices the way they affect your cash. If you can reclaim VAT on your purchases, cost ingredients without it; if you cannot, include it. Check the treatment with your accountant.
Why does yield matter for recipe costing?
Most ingredients lose weight when you peel, trim or bone them. If you cost the full purchase weight you understate what the dish really costs, because you pay for the waste too. Weigh before and after a few times and use your own average yield.
How to use this tool
- Choose your currency at the top of the tool (KSh, TSh, USh or RWF).
- List each ingredient with its quantity, unit, purchase price and yield %. Leave yield at 100% only for items with no trimming loss.
- Enter the number of portions the recipe makes.
- Enter the selling price, or your target food cost % to see the price you need.
- Read the cost per portion and food cost %. If a dish is above target, change the portion size, the supplier or the price, and check again.
- Copy the final quantities onto a Standard Recipe Card so every cook uses the same recipe.
