Food costing in a UK restaurant: how to cost a dish from its recipe card
Food cost is a portion's ingredient cost divided by its selling price excluding VAT. Work it out from a recipe card, not from memory. This guide shows the calculation, a worked example and the effect of trim yield.
The formula, in short
- List every ingredient with its net weight, exactly as it lands on the plate.
- Divide the purchase price by the unit of measure and multiply it by the weight on the recipe card.
- Add technical loss: what is lost in cleaning, trimming and cooking.
- Add up all the lines. The result is the production cost of the portion.
- Divide the production cost by the selling price excluding VAT: food cost % = cost ÷ net price × 100.
A complete recipe card: carbonara, one portion
Recipe card with weights, purchase prices and plated cost
| Ingredient | Net weight | Purchase price | Plated cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spaghetti | 120 g | £2.40/kg | £0.29 |
| Guanciale | 60 g | £16.00/kg | £0.96 |
| Egg yolks (2) | 40 g | £0.30 each | £0.60 |
| Pecorino | 30 g | £22.00/kg | £0.66 |
| Pepper, salt, oil | — | — | £0.12 |
| Total raw materials | 250 g | — | £2.63 |
| Final cost (incl. 5% technical loss) | — | — | £2.76 |
What the example tells you
The example menu price is £14.50, VAT included. At the standard 20% rate, the net price is £14.50 ÷ 1.20 = £12.08. Prices are illustrative; use your own invoices.
Food cost = £2.76 ÷ £12.08 = 22.8%, meaning £2.76 of every £12.08 of net sales goes on ingredients.
Whether 22.8% suits you depends on the margin you need. If it climbed well above target, you could raise the price, cut the portion or change supplier. Here, guanciale and pecorino are 59% of the plated cost.
Yield matters more than the price on the invoice
Example: you buy beef fillet at £32.00 per kilo. After trimming, 780 g per kilo remains usable, a 78% yield.
The real cost of the meat on the plate is not £32.00 per kilo but £32.00 ÷ 0.78 = £41.03 per kilo. A recipe card that ignores yield understates the meat cost by almost 22%.
Rule of thumb: record the yield measured in your own kitchen, not the textbook figure.
Table: what drives food cost, by category
What drives food cost in each part of a UK menu
| Category | Check first | What drives the result |
|---|---|---|
| Alcoholic drinks | Measures per serve | Pour size and discipline behind the bar |
| Coffee and hot drinks | Milk and cup sizes | The milk and the cup, more than the coffee |
| Pasta and pizza | Portion weights | Weighing portions instead of estimating them |
| Meat and fish dishes | Yield from your own kitchen | Trim and cooking yield |
| Soups and sides | Portion sizes | They balance the average of the menu |
| House desserts | Preparation time | Labour, which is almost always left out |
What UK rules say
- The recipe card is the record behind the allergen information you give guests.
- The 14 major allergens must be available for food sold unpackaged (retained EU Regulation 1169/2011).
- Show menu prices clearly, and check with your accountant how VAT and service charges must appear.
- Restaurant food and drink carries the standard 20% VAT rate, so food cost is measured net of VAT.
- Any recipe change that alters allergens must be reflected on the menu straight away.
Common mistakes
- Working out food cost against the VAT-inclusive price, which is about 17% too low.
- Using the gross invoice weight instead of the net weight on the plate.
- Forgetting the garnish, sauce and packaging, which add up quickly.
- Updating recipe cards once a year, when supplier prices can change every few weeks.
- Looking only at the percentage, not at how many pounds each portion leaves.
How 4restaurants.net helps
- Every dish has a recipe card with weights, from which its production cost is calculated.
- Net weights on the recipe card let trimming enter the calculation correctly.
- The QR digital menu is linked to the recipe cards with weights, in the same application.
- Food cost is visible for each dish, in the same application as the reports by dish.