Meal Cost Calculator
Estimate the cost per serving of a meal you’re cooking. Add up your ingredient costs, divide by servings — see what each plate actually costs.
Inputs
About Meal Cost Calculator
What to include
Direct ingredients used. Spice for the spice cabinet? Usually a couple dollars amortized over many meals — round up rather than calculate precisely. Cooking oil, salt, pepper: under $0.20 per recipe typically.
Restaurant comparison
A restaurant marks up food roughly 3-4× cost. A $20 dish costs the restaurant $5-7 in food + labor + rent. Home cooking saves the markup but costs time and effort. Calculate hourly value: if a 1-hour meal saves $40, your time is worth $40/hour.
Hidden costs
Energy (oven, stovetop, dishwasher). Cleanup time. Specialty equipment if needed. For one-off recipes requiring rare ingredients, the per-serving cost may be deceptive — those costs amortize only if you cook similar dishes often.