£PrepSheet

Fish and chips: what it costs to put on the plate

Beer-battered cod loin, chips fried twice, peas and a wedge of lemon. Ten portions costed from wholesale case prices dated 7 September 2026, with the fish on its own line so you can watch it.

Ingredients per portion£4.00
Batch of 10£39.99
Sell at 30% food cost£16.00 inc VAT (£13.33 ex)

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Ingredients and cost, 10 portions

IngredientPack pricePack sizeUsedCost
Cod loin, skinless (180-200 g)£32.9910 each10 each£32.99
Plain flour£12.4916000 g500 g£0.39
Cornflour£8.493000 g100 g£0.28
Lager (batter)£25.997920 ml600 ml£1.97
Bicarbonate of soda£1.991000 g10 g£0.02
Potatoes (chipping)£15.4925000 g3000 g£1.86
Vegetable oil£8.505000 ml500 ml£0.85
Frozen peas£5.292500 g500 g£1.06
Lemons£9.996000 g300 g£0.50
Malt vinegar£7.4910000 ml100 ml£0.07
Batch total£39.99
Per portion (÷ 10)£4.00

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. Chip the potatoes at 12-14 mm, rinse the starch off, blanch at 140 °C (285 °F) until tender and pale; drain and chill.
  2. Whisk the flour, cornflour and bicarbonate with the cold lager to a batter that coats the back of a spoon; keep it cold and use it within the hour.
  3. Dust each cod loin in flour, drag through the batter and lower away from you into oil at 180 °C (355 °F). Fry 6-8 minutes, turning once, to a deep gold and a core of 63 °C (145 °F) or above.
  4. Finish the chips at 180 °C (355 °F) until crisp; salt.
  5. Simmer the peas until soft, crush with a little butter and season. Serve with a lemon wedge and malt vinegar.

Costing notes

The fish is more than four-fifths of the plate: at £3.30 a loin, nothing else matters until that line is right. The case price is for frozen IQF loins; fresh cod is dearer and yields less. Oil is 50 ml a portion, a share of the fryer's life. Lager is costed by the millilitre from a 24-pack; a keg or a cheaper batter beer changes that line.

Where the prices came from

JJ Foodservice collection prices as shown on its public search pages on 7 September 2026 (delivery prices run about £1-2 a case higher). The site does not label VAT on most lines: raw food is zero-rated in the UK, while oil, vanilla and alcohol carry standard-rate VAT. Where JJ had no line that day, a Tesco retail price is used and marked. Your supplier's price is the one that matters: open the recipe and type it in.

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