Free tool · No login
Food cost calculator
Food cost calculator for restaurants: put in what a dish costs to make and what it sells for, and it gives the food cost percentage, a verdict, and the price that would hit your target.
Food cost per dish
- Food cost
- 28.2%Healthy
- Price for a 30% target
- ₹207
Food cost % = ingredient cost ÷ menu price × 100, both before GST. The verdict reads healthy from 22% to 32%, very lean below 22%, and a margin leak above 32%. CountStand works out each dish’s cost from its recipe at today’s purchase prices.
- 28.2%₹62 of ingredients on a ₹220 dishthe calculator’s starting example
- 28–32%a common target for casual dininga rule of thumb, not an audited figure
- Per dishis where a leak showsan average hides the dish that loses money
- No loginthe sums run in your browsernothing you type is sent
01Where it goes
Six places the points go.
- YieldPaneer at ₹380 a kilo that loses 8% in cutting costs ₹413 for each kilo that reaches a plate.
- Portion driftA 180 g portion served as 210 g is a sixth more paneer at the same price.
- The small thingsOil, butter, garnish and masala base cost a few rupees each, and they add up to points.
- Supplier pricesA ₹20 rise in each usable kilo of paneer adds ₹3.60 to a 180 g portion.
- WastageSpoiled, dropped and sent-back food is cost with no sale against it.
- Staff mealsMeals from the kitchen’s stock are real cost. Record them, or they turn up as a gap in the count.
02In detail
How do you calculate food cost for a dish?
Cost every ingredient in one portion at what you paid for it, and add them up. Divide that plate cost by the menu price before GST, then multiply by 100. The answer is the share of each rupee the guest pays that went on ingredients.
Use the weight that reaches the plate, not the weight you bought. Paneer at ₹380 a kilo that loses 8% in cutting costs ₹413 for each usable kilo. Count the oil, the butter on the naan and the garnish too: small one by one, not small together.
Work dish by dish before you look at the whole menu. An overall 30% can hide a biryani at 42% carried by drinks at 12%, and the 42% dish is often the one that sells most.
What does a worked example look like?
Paneer butter masala, one portion. Paneer, 180 g at ₹413 a usable kilo: ₹74.34. Butter, cream and masala base: ₹22. Gravy: ₹11. Garnish and kasuri methi: ₹3. Plate cost: ₹110.34.
At a menu price of ₹349 that is 110.34 ÷ 349 × 100 = 31.6%, inside the 28–32% target with almost no room. If the kitchen serves 210 g of paneer instead of 180 g, the plate costs about ₹12 more and the dish runs at 35.2%.
The fix is rarely a price rise alone. Weigh the portion, write the recipe down, and check supplier rates every quarter: a ₹20 a kilo rise in paneer moves this dish by a full point.
What food cost is normal, and what is not?
The rules of thumb most operators quote: street food and snacks 20–28%, quick-service 25–30%, casual dining 28–32%, fine dining 30–35%. They are not survey data, so use them as a range to compare with.
The calculator calls a dish healthy from 22% to 32%, very lean below 22% (check the portion is not too small), and a margin leak above 32%.
Two numbers matter more than any average. The trend: a percentage that creeps up a point a month is a supplier, portion or theft problem compounding. And the gap between what your recipes say you used and what your stock count says you used. This calculator gives you the first number; only a count gives you the second.
03Questions
Questions about food cost.
Many full-menu restaurants in India aim for roughly 28–32%, quick-service restaurants for 25–30% and fine dining for 30–35%. These are rules of thumb, not standards, so compare each dish with its own history as well as with the band.
Add up what each ingredient in one portion cost you, using the usable weight after cleaning and trimming: that is the plate cost. Divide it by the menu price before GST and multiply by 100. A ₹62 plate sold at ₹220 is 28.2%.
From stock, not recipes: (opening stock + purchases − closing stock) ÷ food sales before GST × 100. The recipe figure says what the month should have cost and the stock figure says what it did. The gap between them is the leak you can control.
Without. GST is collected for the government, so it is not money the dish earns. If your menu prices include 5% GST, divide them by 1.05 first.
Usually portion drift, wastage, a supplier price nobody re-checked, or stock that left without a sale. Compare what your recipes say you used with what a stock count says you used. The gap is the missing margin.
No. It runs in your browser, with no login and no email form, and nothing you type is sent to CountStand. The figures sit in the page’s address after the # sign, a part browsers do not send to a website, so a link you copy opens with the same numbers.
04Read next
- Food cost percentage, the guideThe formula, the ranges by format, and where the points go.
- Menu price calculatorTurn a plate cost and a target into a menu price.
- Stock and recipesRecipes count stock down as dishes go to the kitchen.
- Break-even calculatorWhat your food cost means for the covers you need a day.
- Commission calculatorWhat Zomato and Swiggy really keep from an order.
- Restaurant GST calculator5% or 18%, and the exact CGST and SGST on any amount.
- Restaurant bill generatorA food bill with your GSTIN, FSSAI number and a Rule 46 serial.
Know what every dish costs today.
CountStand works out each dish’s cost from its recipe at today’s purchase prices, and counts stock down as dishes go to the kitchen. Open now by invitation, and the first 30 days are free for one outlet.
From ₹2,999 a month per outlet, plus GST