PrepSheet

Chickpea and spinach curry with rice (vegan): how much it costs to make, per portion

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Chickpeas and spinach in a tomato and coconut curry sauce, served on basmati rice. Vegan as written. Ten portions costed from JJ Foodservice prices dated 10 October 2026.

Ingredients per portion£1.32
Batch of 10£13.21
Sell at 68% GP · UK benchmark£4.96 inc VAT (£4.13 ex)
Premium · 75% GP£6.34 inc VAT (£5.29 ex)

The main price uses 68% GP, in line with the UK food GP benchmarks (UKHospitality × Christie & Co, 2022: 65.9–69% food GP across every segment). The 75% line is a premium price; few UK sites hold it across a whole menu. GP is worked out on the ex-VAT price.

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Ingredients and cost, 10 portions

IngredientPack pricePack sizeUsedCost
Chickpeas (2.5 kg tin)£4.792500 g2500 g£4.79
Frozen leaf spinach£2.291000 g1000 g£2.29
Coconut milk£14.494800 ml800 ml£2.42
Chopped tomatoes (tinned)£19.9917700 g1200 g£1.36
Onions£7.4910000 g600 g£0.45
Garlic£3.491000 g30 g£0.10
Fresh ginger£15.495000 g30 g£0.09
Vegetable oil£26.9920000 ml60 ml£0.08
Madras curry powder£5.991000 g40 g£0.24
Garam masala£11.491000 g10 g£0.11
Ground turmeric£2.99500 g5 g£0.03
Ground cumin£3.99400 g10 g£0.10
Basmati rice£29.9920000 g750 g£1.12
Table salt£10.996000 g15 g£0.03
Batch total£13.21
Per portion (÷ 10)£1.32

Cost per line is pack price × (amount used ÷ pack size), the same sum the tool runs. Change one pack price and every line that uses it moves.

Method

  1. Soften the sliced onions in the oil, add the garlic and ginger, then the spices, and cook for a minute.
  2. Add the chopped tomatoes and coconut milk and simmer for 15 minutes.
  3. Add the drained chickpeas and simmer for 10 minutes more, then stir in the thawed, squeezed spinach and season.
  4. Serve on 75 g (dry weight) of cooked basmati rice a portion.

Costing notes

The whole batch comes to £13.21, so a portion is £1.32. The chickpeas are costed on the tin's gross weight, as bought. This is one of the cheapest main courses you can put on a menu, which makes it a good vegan option for a canteen or a set menu: even priced well below the meat curries, it clears a 68% GP easily.

Check the labels if you sell it as vegan: some curry powders and stock products carry milk or other allergens as ingredients or as a may-contain.

Where the prices came from

JJ Foodservice collection prices as shown on its public search pages on 10 October 2026 (delivery runs about £1-2 a case higher; one line JJ listed on delivery only is marked). JJ does not label VAT on most lines: raw food is zero-rated in the UK, while soft drinks, alcohol, confectionery and some ingredients carry standard-rate VAT. Your supplier's price is the one that matters: open the recipe and type it in.

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