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
- 1Record purchased quantity, purchased cost, and the usable quantity after trim or cooking.
- 2Calculate total recipe cost and verify the final number of portions or usable units.
- 3Divide recipe cost by usable yield, then use that unit cost in every plated recipe.
Worked example
Illustrative example: you buy 5 kg of protein for $20.00. After trim and cooking loss you have 4.2 kg usable, so yield percentage = 4.2 / 5 x 100 = 84%. Usable cost = $20.00 / 4.2 kg = $4.76 per kg. If that batch makes 20 portions, cost per portion = $20.00 / 20 = $1.00. These are made-up figures: replace them with your own invoice cost and a measured yield test before you set a menu price.