Free kitchen prep sheet template (daily prep list for Excel and Google Sheets)

A kitchen prep sheet is the daily list of everything a section has to make before service, with a par level, the amount already on hand and the quantity still to prep. This free template does that sum for you in Excel or Google Sheets: type a par and an on-hand count, and the prep quantity fills in as par minus on hand, never below zero.

It has 25 item rows with columns for unit, par, on hand, prep quantity, station, priority, a done box and notes, plus day, date, station and chef lines at the top. Some kitchens call it a prep list, some a mise en place list; it is the same sheet. Print it for the section wall or keep it open on a tablet; it opens in Excel, Google Sheets and Numbers.

Worked example: one morning's prep sheet

The file opens with five lines already filled in, so you can see the logic before you type over them:

Read down the prep column and the morning is decided: 1.4 kg of shallots, 6 litres of stock, 15 salmon portions and 180 g of parsley. The brioche line reads 0 because it is already at par, and that zero does as much work as the numbers above it. It stops someone slicing another tray just because brioche is usually done on that day.

The priority column sets the running order, not the section. The stock is High because it takes longest and other jobs depend on it, so it goes on first. The parsley is Medium because it takes minutes and is better picked close to service. Read a good prep sheet as an order of work, not a shopping list.

How to fill it in

1. List each item once, by section. Everything the section makes ahead: sauces, stocks, portioned proteins, picked herbs, dressings, garnishes. Write each one in the unit you actually count it in (kg, litres, portions, trays) and use that same unit for par and on hand.
2. Set a par for each item. Par is how much you want ready at the start of service. Base it on what the item really uses over the period it has to cover, then check it against shelf life: a par that outlasts the use-by date is a waste plan, not a prep plan.
3. Count on hand at the fridge, not from memory. Enter only what is there and usable. Anything past its date comes out before it is counted.
4. Let the sheet work out the prep. The prep quantity is par minus on hand, and it never goes below zero. You never type in that column.
5. Set priorities, then print or share it. Mark High for anything long, anything other jobs depend on and anything needed for the first tickets. Pin it on the section wall or keep it open on a tablet.
6. Tick, sign and keep it. Tick the done box as each job is finished and put a name on the chef line. A week of signed sheets shows which pars are wrong, which is how they get corrected.

Set up your own daily sheet

Keep an untouched copy of the download, then replace the five example items with your menu. For separate sections, duplicate the sheet and name each copy for the station. Add the date and chef before printing so yesterday's list cannot be mistaken for today's.

Enter quantities as numbers: put kg in the Unit column and 0.6 in On hand, rather than typing "0.6 kg" into a number cell. Par and On hand must use the same unit. A par of 2 kg and an on-hand count of 600 g should be entered as 2 and 0.6 on a kg row.

Check the formula before service

In the downloaded file, the first item is row 8: Par is C8, On hand is D8 and Prep quantity is E8. Its formula is =IF(C8="","",MAX(0,C8-D8)). A blank par leaves the prep cell blank; 2 minus 0.6 gives 1.4; and an on-hand count above par gives zero. Zero means no additional prep is needed, not that the surplus can be ignored.

If a prep cell stops updating, check that the quantities are numeric and that the formula has not been overwritten. Restore it from the untouched copy, or copy a working prep cell into the affected row so its row references adjust. When adding rows, copy a complete working row, then check the formula and print area include the new line.

Open in Google Sheets or print for the section

In Google Sheets on a computer, open a blank spreadsheet, choose File → Import → Upload, select the downloaded .xlsx and use the option to create a new spreadsheet. Google documents the import options in its spreadsheet import guide. After import, check the 2 minus 0.6 example still returns 1.4 before replacing it.

For a paper copy, use print preview with A4 landscape and fit the columns to one page wide. Allow extra pages vertically if shrinking everything makes the notes unreadable. Check the date, station, notes and done column are visible; after adding rows, check the final item is inside the print area.

Setting par levels that hold up

Pars go wrong in two directions. Too low, and the section runs out mid-service and someone preps under pressure. Too high, and the extra sits in the walk-in until it is binned. The fix is the same both ways: write down what each item actually used for a couple of weeks and move the par towards it. Busy days can carry their own pars; a Saturday and a Tuesday rarely need the same amount of portioned fish. The detail is in how to set par levels for kitchen prep and how to forecast daily covers.

Prep sheet, prep list or mise en place list?

Same job, different names. Mise en place is French for "everything in its place": the prepped, measured components a section needs within reach before service. A mise en place list is the written version, a prep list is the everyday name, and a prep sheet is usually the printed page with pars and quantities on it. This template covers all three. If you are writing the list from scratch for a new menu, how to build a mise en place prep list and how to write a kitchen prep sheet walk through it, and batch prep production schedules covers the bigger jobs that run across several days.

Use the notes column as an instruction

The notes column is where a prep sheet stops being a list and becomes a spec. "Fine 2 mm dice" on the shallots tells a new cook the size without anyone having to ask, and "170 g each, pin-boned, skin on" makes every salmon portion the same weight, which is what the dish was costed on. If your team needs a shared reference for cut sizes, our sister site The Pass has a knife-cut size guide with dice, julienne and chiffonade in millimetres and inches, and a method for blanching and holding vegetables ahead of service.

Questions people ask

Is the prep sheet template really free?

Yes. It is a direct .xlsx download with no email address and no sign-up. Edit it, print it and use it in as many kitchens as you like.

Does it work in Google Sheets?

Yes. Upload the file to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets; the prep quantity formula carries over. It also opens in Apple Numbers and LibreOffice.

How many items does it hold?

25 item rows on one sheet. For a longer list, copy the sheet once per section, or copy the last row down: the prep column is simply MAX(0, par − on hand).

What is a good par level?

One that covers the period until the next prep with a small margin and never outlasts the item's shelf life. Start from what the item used on a comparable day, not from how much fits in the container.

Does it tell me what to order?

No. The free sheet tells you what to prep, not what to buy. The Par-Level Prep & Order Sheet (£5.99) adds a supplier column, automatic order quantities and 30 rows.

Can I cost the prep as well?

Yes, with a second free tool. The recipe costing template prices a batch, and the free PrepSheet recipe tool scales a recipe to the batch size on your sheet and prints it.

When you outgrow it

When you want the numbers side too, the free in-browser PrepSheet tool costs each prepped batch and scales it to any yield, and the Par-Level Prep & Order Sheet (£5.99) turns the same par logic into your daily ordering.