Food Cost Calculator
Ingredient cost + selling price → food cost %, gross profit per plate, and the recommended menu price for your target %. Deep-link to live mandi recipe costing when you need more.
This plate
What it costs to make and what you charge for it.
Raw materials + beverages for one plate
Menu price before GST if you price exclusive
Your target
The food cost percentage you are trying to hold.
Most Indian restaurants aim for 28–32%
Need live mandi rates and multi-ingredient recipes? Use the menu pricing calculator with Agmarknet prices.
Your food cost
LiveWhat is food cost percentage?
Food cost percentage is the share of a dish's selling price consumed by ingredients — before rent, salaries, or electricity. It is one of the highest-leverage KPIs in restaurant finance because every point you save drops straight to net profit.
Formula: Food Cost % = (Ingredient Cost ÷ Selling Price) × 100. Period formula: (Opening inventory + Purchases − Closing inventory) ÷ Food sales × 100. Ideal band for Indian restaurants: 28–32%.
How to use this free food cost calculator
Enter ingredient cost and current selling price. Optionally set a target food cost % (default 30). Instantly see food cost %, gross profit per plate, and the recommended menu price. For multi-ingredient recipes with live mandi rates, open the menu pricing calculator.
Food cost bands explained
- Below 28% — Excellent portion control and pricing.
- 28–32% — Healthy; leaves room for labour, rent, and 10–15% net.
- 32–38% — Caution; review recipes, suppliers, and prices.
- Above 38% — Critical; net profitability is unlikely unless rent and labour are unusually low.
From dish food cost to restaurant profit
Fixing one plow-horse dish is not enough — roll menu-level COGS into the restaurant profit calculator and confirm you still clear break-even. Inside Forkcast, recipe costing and Supply Watch re-cost when mandi moves.
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Related reading
- financeHow to calculate food cost for restaurants (India 2026)How to calculate food cost for an Indian restaurant — the inventory formula, the per-dish formula, cuisine bands from 24–40%, and the 7 commodities that swing the number.
- menuRecipe costing for Indian kitchens: thali, biryani, tandoorRecipe costing a thali isn't the same as recipe costing a pizza. Indian cooking has sub recipes (gravies, masala mixes, marinades), yield variance from cooking method, and shrinkage rates that copy pasted Western formulas miss.
- operationsPlate-cost leak: why recipe says 32% but P&L says 40%Your recipe spreadsheet says 32% food cost. Your accountant's P&L says 40%. The 8-point gap is not a spreadsheet error; it's portion drift, waste, theft, unrecorded comps, and aggregator refunds leaking out of the kitchen every service. Here is how to find and close it.
- financePrime cost explained: food + labour ceiling by formatPrime cost is the single number that tells you whether your restaurant can survive. Most owners track food cost and labour cost separately; few add them and compare to the format ceiling. Here is the formula, the benchmarks by format, and the levers when you breach.
Common questions
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