Free recipe and menu costing template (Excel and Google Sheets, UK)

A menu costing template is a worksheet that turns what you pay for each ingredient into the cost of one portion, then checks that cost against your menu price. This free one does it in Excel or Google Sheets: enter pack price, pack size and quantity used, and it returns the dish cost, cost per portion, food cost %, gross profit and a suggested menu price ex-VAT.

It costs one dish per sheet, with 15 ingredient rows and a filled-in example to type over; copy the sheet for each dish on the menu. The GP is worked out on the ex-VAT price, the way UK kitchens and their accountants measure it.

Worked example: a beef burger and fries, batch of four

This is the example that is already in the file. Each line cost is pack price ÷ pack size × quantity used:

• Cost per portion: £11.95 ÷ 4 = £2.99.
• Suggested price at a 30% food cost: £2.99 ÷ 0.30 = £9.96 ex-VAT, which is £11.95 on the menu once 20% VAT is added.
• At the example's actual price of £10.50 ex-VAT (£12.60 on the menu): food cost 28.5%, GP 71.5%, £7.51 gross profit a plate.

The mince is £6.53 of the £11.95, 55% of the plate, so it is the line to watch: a 10% rise on the mince alone adds about 16p to every portion. Knowing which line carries the cost is half the value of costing a dish at all.

How to fill it in

1. Name the dish and the batch. Cost the batch you actually make, whether that is four burgers or a 10-litre pot, not a notional single portion.
2. One row per ingredient. Enter the pack price, the pack size and the quantity the recipe uses. Keep pack size and quantity in the same unit: 1,000 g with 680 g, not 1 kg with 680 g. The cost column works itself out.
3. Count everything that goes on the plate. Frying oil, garnish, the sauce in the ramekin, the bun. Small lines add up, and they are the ones a costing usually forgets.
4. Enter the portions the batch really yields. Weigh the finished batch and divide by the portion weight, rather than writing down the number you hoped for.
5. Set your target food cost. The example uses 30%. The sheet gives a suggested menu price ex-VAT and with 20% VAT added.
6. Check your real price. Enter your menu price ex-VAT to see food cost %, GP % and GP per plate. A £12.60 menu price for standard-rated food is £10.50 ex-VAT: divide by 1.2.

Using it as a menu costing worksheet

To cost a whole menu, copy the sheet once per dish (right-click the tab, then Move or Copy, then Create a copy). Then add a summary with one line per dish: cost per portion, menu price ex-VAT and food cost %. Sort it by food cost % and the dishes to look at first are at the top. That summary is the difference between costing a dish and costing a menu. Most UK kitchens aim for a food cost of 30–35% of the ex-VAT price, a GP of 65–70%; see UK food cost and GP benchmarks for where that range comes from.

Cost what you use, not what you buy

Raw purchase weight is rarely usable weight. If a 1 kg bag of carrots costs £0.90 and 85% is left after peeling, the usable kilo costs £0.90 ÷ 0.85 = £1.06. This free sheet has no separate yield column, so build the loss into the pack size: enter the usable 850 g as the pack size and the arithmetic follows. For meat and fish the gap is far wider, so measure it on the free AP-to-EP yield calculator or follow how to work out yield percentage when costing meat and fish.

Keep each price in one place

When mince goes into five dishes, its price should live in one place. With a sheet per dish, the practical way is to add a price-list tab (one row per ingredient with the current pack price and pack size) and point each dish sheet's price cells at it. Change the mince price once and every dish that uses it recosts. Take prices from invoices rather than from the list a rep left behind, and when a price does move, recost the dishes that use it.

Scaling a costed recipe

The sheet costs whatever batch you enter. Multiply every quantity by 10 and the burger batch serves 40, but the cost per portion stays £2.99, because pack prices have not changed. If you want the scaled quantities as a printable prep sheet, the free PrepSheet recipe tool scales a recipe to any yield; how to scale a recipe without ruining it covers the things that do not scale in a straight line, like seasoning and reduction.

Questions people ask

What is the difference between a recipe costing template and a menu costing template?

A recipe costing template prices one dish; a menu costing template puts every dish side by side so you can compare margins. This free sheet is the first, and copying it per dish with a summary gives you the second. The Food Cost & Menu Pricing template (£11.99) has that summary built in: a Menu Overview tab that flags every weak margin.

Should I cost with VAT or without?

Without, on both sides. Most food a kitchen buys in is zero-rated, and GP is measured on the ex-VAT selling price. Restaurant and hot takeaway food is standard-rated, so divide the menu price by 1.2 (HMRC Notice 709/1).

Does it work in Google Sheets?

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

How accurate will my costing be?

As accurate as what you put in. Weigh quantities rather than estimating them, use the usable weight after trim, count real portions, and update pack prices from invoices.

Can I cost a sauce or stock that goes into several dishes?

Yes. Cost the sauce on its own sheet, then enter it in each dish as an ingredient, using the batch cost as the pack price and the amount the batch makes as the pack size. How to cost a sub-recipe shows the full method.

Is there a quicker way to check one dish?

Yes. The free food cost calculator runs the same arithmetic in your browser, and the GP calculator works a price back from a target margin.

When you outgrow it

This free sheet costs one dish at a time. The full Food Cost & Menu Pricing template (£11.99) does your whole menu with a Menu Overview that flags every low-margin dish. The step-by-step method is in how to cost a recipe and work out cost per portion.