Kitchen & F&B Cost Control

How to Calculate Food Cost Per Portion

A practical framework for chefs, kitchen managers, and F&B teams to price menus correctly and protect gross profit margins.

By Nigel A. Thomas • Hospitality Executive & Corporate Trainer

If your portion cost is off by even a few rupees, that gap doesn't stay small — it compounds across hundreds of covers a week and quietly erodes your gross profit. Food cost per portion is one of the first numbers I check when I walk into a kitchen, because it tells me whether the menu is priced on guesswork or on discipline.

This guide walks through what food cost per portion actually means, the formula behind it, a full worked example using a standard recipe costing sheet, and the follow-on calculations — food cost percentage, selling price, and gross profit — that turn a single number into a complete pricing strategy.

1. What Is Food Cost Per Portion?

Food cost per portion is the total cost of ingredients required to prepare one single serving of a dish — nothing more, nothing less. It's the raw-material cost baked into every plate that leaves your kitchen.

Why it matters:

It's the foundation for pricing every item on your menu correctly.
It gives kitchen leadership a real lever for controlling expenses.
It protects healthy, sustainable profit margins as ingredient prices move.

2. The Basic Formula

FOOD COST PER PORTION =

TOTAL COST OF INGREDIENTS USED NUMBER OF PORTIONS (YIELD)

3. Step-by-Step Process

List every ingredient used in the recipe — nothing gets left out.
Record the exact quantity of each ingredient used.
Note the purchase unit for each item (kg, g, ml, ltr, pcs, etc.).
Find the current cost of each ingredient based on that purchase unit.
Add up every ingredient cost to arrive at the total recipe cost.
Confirm the final yield — how many standard portions the recipe produces.
Apply the formula to get the cost per portion.

4. Recipe Ingredient Costing Sheet — Worked Example

Here's a full costing sheet for a Chicken Tikka Masala, portioned at 220 gm per serving with a yield of 6 portions.

S.No.	Ingredient	Qty Used	Unit	Rate per Unit (₹)	Cost (₹)
1	Chicken (boneless)	800	gm	280 / kg	224.00
2	Onion	250	gm	40 / kg	10.00
3	Tomato Puree	300	gm	60 / kg	18.00
4	Fresh Cream	150	ml	300 / ltr	45.00
5	Butter	60	gm	500 / kg	30.00
6	Cashew Paste	40	gm	800 / kg	32.00
7	Ginger Garlic Paste	25	gm	120 / kg	3.00
8	Spices & Masala	20	gm	1000 / kg	20.00
9	Salt	6	gm	20 / kg	0.12
10	Oil	40	ml	180 / ltr	7.20
Total Cost of Ingredients					₹ 389.32

5. Calculation

Total Cost = ₹ 389.32
Total Yield = 6 Portions

Cost per Portion = 389.32 ÷ 6 = ₹ 64.89

6. Portion Size Example

Dish: Chicken Tikka Masala
Portion Size: 220 gm
Total Yield: 6 Portions
Cost/Portion: ₹ 64.89

💡 Tip: Lock the portion size into your standard recipe card. The moment portion size drifts, every costing you've done becomes unreliable — and so does your pricing.

7. Additional Calculations

Food Cost Percentage

= (Food Cost per Portion ÷ Selling Price) × 100

Example: (64.89 ÷ 280) × 100 = 23.17%

Selling Price (when a target food cost % is known)

= Food Cost per Portion ÷ Target Food Cost % × 100

Example: If your target is 30% → 64.89 ÷ 30 × 100 = ₹ 216.30

Gross Profit per Portion

= Selling Price − Food Cost per Portion

Example: 280 − 64.89 = ₹ 215.11

8. Key Points to Remember

Always use the actual raw purchase price of ingredients — not an estimate from memory.
Include everything, even small-quantity items like spices, garnish, and oil.
Maintain consistency in portion size and standardized recipes across shifts and outlets.
Review your costing sheets regularly — market prices for proteins and produce move fast.

★ Quick Reference Formula Box

Cost per Portion = Total Cost of Ingredients ÷ Total Portions
Food Cost % = (Food Cost per Portion ÷ Selling Price) × 100
Selling Price = Food Cost per Portion ÷ Target Cost % × 100
Gross Profit = Selling Price − Food Cost per Portion

★ Control your cost, improve your profit! ☺

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