PrepSheet

Chilli con carne with rice: how much it costs to make, per portion

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Beef chilli with kidney beans and peppers, served on basmati rice with soured cream. Ten portions costed from JJ Foodservice prices dated 10 October 2026. A pub, college canteen and staff-meal favourite.

Ingredients per portion£1.82
Batch of 10£18.21
Sell at 68% GP · UK benchmark£6.83 inc VAT (£5.69 ex)
Premium · 75% GP£8.74 inc VAT (£7.28 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
Beef mince, 10% fat£14.992000 g1500 g£11.24
Onions£7.4910000 g400 g£0.30
Red peppers (pointed)£9.493000 g300 g£0.95
Garlic£3.491000 g20 g£0.07
Vegetable oil£26.9920000 ml30 ml£0.04
Red kidney beans (tinned)£8.794800 g800 g£1.47
Chopped tomatoes (tinned)£19.9917700 g1200 g£1.36
Tomato paste£7.493000 g60 g£0.15
Chilli powder£7.991000 g15 g£0.12
Ground cumin£3.99400 g10 g£0.10
Paprika£2.99480 g10 g£0.06
Stock (vegetable bouillon powder)£10.991000 g15 g£0.16
Basmati rice£29.9920000 g750 g£1.12
Soured cream£6.992000 g300 g£1.05
Table salt£10.996000 g10 g£0.02
Batch total£18.21
Per portion (÷ 10)£1.82

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 diced onion, peppers and garlic in the oil; add the mince and brown it well.
  2. Stir in the spices and tomato paste for a minute, then add the tomatoes, about 300 ml of stock and the drained kidney beans.
  3. Simmer for 45 minutes until thick; season.
  4. Cook the rice (75 g dry a portion) and serve the chilli on top with 30 g of soured cream.

Costing notes

Mince is £11.24 of the £18.21 batch. The kidney beans are costed by tin weight (two 400 g tins), which is how they are bought; the drained weight is noticeably less, so weigh a drained tin if you portion by weight. Swapping a third of the mince for more beans is the usual way kitchens take cost out of a chilli: at these prices each 100 g of mince swapped for 100 g of beans saves about £0.57.

Rice at 75 g dry a portion is a little over £0.11, which is why chilli and curry are such good GP dishes for canteens.

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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