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How Much Does It Cost?

Recipe cost per serving calculator

Knowing what a dish costs helps you plan cheap menus, set prices if you sell food, or simply compare recipes. Enter each ingredient with its pack and the amount you use.

Food Updated:

Inputs

Ingredients

Price and size of the pack you buy, and the amount used in the recipe, in the same unit (g, ml or items). Example prices.

$
$
$
$
$
servings

Starting values are editable examples, not official prices. Results update automatically as you change the inputs.

Result

Recipe cost per serving calculator — How Much Does It Cost?

Cost per serving

$0.66

Total recipe cost
$2.62
Most expensive ingredient: Spaghetti (g)
$0.96
IngredientCost in recipePer serving% of total
Spaghetti (g)$0.96$0.2436.6%
Grated cheese (g)$0.75$0.1928.6%
Crushed tomatoes (g)$0.55$0.1421%
Olive oil (ml)$0.24$0.069.2%
Garlic (cloves)$0.12$0.034.6%
Cost by ingredient
Calculation breakdown
  1. Ingredient cost = pack price ÷ pack size × amount used
  2. Total cost = sum = $2.62
  3. Per serving = $2.62 ÷ 4 servings = $0.66

Indicative result based on the data you entered. It does not replace a professional quote or your actual bill.

How it is calculated

Ingredient cost = pack price ÷ pack size × amount used (same unit).

Cost per serving = sum of ingredients ÷ number of servings.

Worked example

Using the calculator’s example values:

  • Servings it makes: 4 servings
  • Ingredients: 5 example rows

Result: Cost per serving — $0.66 (total recipe cost: $2.62; most expensive ingredient: spaghetti (g): $0.96).

Money-saving tips

  • Include oil, salt and spices: added up, they count too.
  • Seasonal produce is usually cheaper.
  • Batch cooking lowers the per-serving cost of some ingredients.

Frequently asked questions

Which unit should I use?

Any, as long as pack size and amount used are in the same unit for each ingredient (e.g. grams and grams).

Does it include cooking energy?

No. To add it, calculate oven or hob cost with the appliance comparison and add it as one more ingredient.

Is it suitable for restaurants?

It works as a basic raw-material costing. A selling price should also include staff, premises, waste and margin.

GuideUnit pricing: how to compare products of different sizes

How we calculate and the limits of the results: Methodology.

More food calculators

Recipe scaler: ingredients per serving Scale a recipe up or down for more or fewer people. Weekly grocery budget calculator Weekly, monthly and per-person totals by category. Unit price comparison (per kg, lb, L) Which pack size is really cheaper.