Recipe Cost Calculator
Find what a cocktail or dish really costs to make, then price it. Enter what you use from each ingredient and what you pay for it, and the calculator gives you cost per serving, cost %, profit, and the menu price that hits your target.
Recipe Cost Calculator
Cost any cocktail or dish from what you pay for each ingredient, then price it.
1Recipe
2Ingredients
Enter what you use in the recipe and what you pay for it as purchased, like 2 fl oz from a $20, 750 ml bottle.
3Pricing
Many bars aim for roughly 18–24% pour cost on cocktails; kitchens often target 28–35% food cost.
Cost % is cost per serving divided by menu price (also called pour cost or food cost). Profit margin is the rest. Markup is profit divided by cost. Your recipe is saved in this browser only; use Share link to send it to someone else. Weight-to-volume conversions assume 1 g = 1 ml, which is close for juices and syrups but not for dry goods. To include labor, add it as a line (the example prices a minute of bartender time). For house-made syrups and juices, enter the batch cost and yield; see how to cost a drink and how to cost food for the full method.
How to use the recipe cost calculator
Name the recipe and set servings. Leave servings at 1 for a single drink or plate. For a batch (a quart of syrup, a tray of lasagna), enter how many servings it makes.
Add each ingredient. Enter the amount used in the recipe and what you paid for it as purchased: 2 fl oz of rum from a $20, 750 ml bottle; 1 lime wheel from a $2.17 batch of 24.
Enter your menu price. The calculator shows cost %, profit per serving, and profit margin.
Set a target cost %. The "Price at target" result is the menu price that hits it.
Not sure how to enter something? Click Load an example to see a fully costed Daiquiri, including garnish and a minute of bartender labor.
How to calculate recipe cost
The math behind every line is the same:
Line cost = (price paid ÷ purchase size) × amount used
Rum at $20 per 750 ml is about $0.79 per fl oz, so 2 fl oz costs $1.58. Add every line for the recipe cost, then divide by servings for cost per serving.
For house-made ingredients like simple syrup or lime juice, cost the batch first: add up what went into it, then enter that total as the price and the batch yield as the purchase size. How to Cost a Drink walks through a full Daiquiri this way, and How to Cost Food does the same for a burger.
Cost %, profit, and menu price
Cost % (pour cost or food cost) = cost per serving ÷ menu price × 100. A $2.92 Daiquiri sold for $12 has a 24.3% pour cost. What is pour cost?
Profit per serving = menu price − cost per serving.
Profit margin = profit ÷ menu price × 100. It's always 100% minus cost %. What is profit margin?
Menu price at a target cost = cost per serving ÷ target cost %. To run that Daiquiri at 20%, charge $2.92 ÷ 0.20, or about $14.60.
Targets vary by concept and market. Many bars aim for somewhere around 18–24% on cocktails, and many kitchens for 28–35% on food. What matters more is knowing your number for every item so you can spot the ones dragging the menu down. Menu engineering covers what to do with them.
Frequently asked questions
What is a recipe cost calculator? A tool that adds up the cost of every ingredient in a recipe, based on what you pay and how much you use, so you know what each serving costs to make.
Can I use this as a cocktail cost or pour cost calculator? Yes. Enter the spirits, modifiers, juices, syrups, and garnish, add your menu price, and read the Cost % result. That's your pour cost.
Does it work for food? Yes. Use weight units (g, kg, oz, lb) or "each" for things like eggs and buns, and set servings to the number of plates a batch makes.
What about ingredients I buy by weight but measure by volume? The calculator converts using 1 g = 1 ml. That's close for juices and syrups but not for dry goods like flour or sugar. For those, measure both sides the same way.
Does it include labor? Only if you add it. Enter labor as a line (for example, 1 minute at $10 per 60 minutes). Spec tracks labor on recipes automatically.
Is my recipe saved? In your browser only, so it'll be there if you come back on the same device. To save recipes for your team and keep costs updated from invoices, use Spec.
Also try the Cocktail Dilution Calculator to work out stir time, dilution, and batching water.
Keep every recipe costed in Spec
This calculator costs one recipe at a time. Spec keeps your whole menu costed: ingredient prices update from your invoices, sub-recipes like syrups and juices flow into every drink that uses them, and labor is tracked for you.