Recipe Costing

How do you calculate recipe yield cost?

Direct answer

Recipe yield cost starts with the total usable cost of a prepared recipe. Divide that cost by the number of usable portions, or by the final usable weight or volume, to find cost per portion or unit.

Key points

  • Cost per usable portion = Total Recipe Cost / Number of Usable Portions.
  • Yield percentage equals usable quantity divided by purchased quantity, multiplied by 100.
  • Trim and cooking loss must be reflected before the cost reaches the plate-cost calculation.

What to do next

  1. 1Record purchased quantity, purchased cost, and the usable quantity after trim or cooking.
  2. 2Calculate total recipe cost and verify the final number of portions or usable units.
  3. 3Divide recipe cost by usable yield, then use that unit cost in every plated recipe.

Deeper tools and guides