Saucebook
Recipe cost calculator (free)
What does this recipe cost? A free ingredient cost calculator for restaurants and home cooks.
Paste any recipe and type what you paid. The calculator works out the cost of every ingredient, the batch cost, the cost per serving and suggested menu prices. Scale the recipe up or down and the costs follow. It's the free taste of Saucebook, the recipe costing app.
Paste a recipe. Saucy, your sous chef, works out the cost per serving. Free, no signup.
Private: Your recipe never leaves your phone.
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How it works
- Paste a recipe from a blog, a cookbook or your notes.
- Answer a quick question or two, or skip them.
- Type your prices, like what you paid for a bag of flour, or tap Use average prices for US grocery averages. Leave any blank.
- See the cost per serving, the whole batch, and suggested menu prices.
Like it? Saucebook saves your recipes and sends price alerts. Start your free trial after you see your cost.Start free after you see your cost.
Costs are estimates based on the prices you type, or on US grocery averages from government data (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and USDA Economic Research Service) if you choose them. Salt, spices and yeast in small amounts are shown as a few cents and not added. Your store will differ. Menu prices are suggestions, not advice.
Recipe cost questions, answered
How do I calculate the cost of a recipe?
For each ingredient, divide what the package cost by how much was in it, then multiply by the amount the recipe uses. Add those up for the batch cost, and divide by the number of servings for the cost per serving. Or skip the long division and paste your recipe into the calculator, and Saucy will crunch the numbers while you keep your apron clean.
What is food cost percentage, and what should mine be?
Food cost percentage is what a dish's ingredients cost, divided by its menu price, times 100. As a rule of thumb, many restaurants aim for roughly 28-35%, but the right number for you depends on your menu, your prices and how your kitchen runs. Either way, you can't hit a target you can't see, so find your plate cost first.
How do I price a menu item from food cost?
Divide your plate cost by your target food cost percentage: price = plate cost ÷ target food cost %. With sample numbers, a $3.10 plate at a 30% target is $3.10 ÷ 0.30 ≈ $10.33, which you might round to a menu-friendly price. Run your own recipe through the calculator and it suggests prices at 2x cost, 3x cost and 30% food cost, no napkin math required.
How much does it cost to make a meal at home per serving?
It depends on your local prices, your store and what's already in your pantry, so any single number would be a guess, and Saucy doesn't do guesses. Type in what you actually paid and the calculator works out your real cost per serving. If you don't know a price, leave it blank and you'll still see the cost so far, plus what's missing.
What's the cheapest way to cook dinner for a family?
Cook recipes that make several servings, plan meals that share ingredients so nothing goes to waste, and use up what's already in the pantry. The real trick is knowing which dinners are actually cheap per serving, not just cheap-feeling. Cost a few of your family's favorites side by side and let the numbers pick the winner.