Plate cost is the sum of every ingredient's portion cost in a prepared dish. To calculate it, multiply the purchase quantity cost by the portion used per plate, then sum across all ingredients. Plate cost is the foundation of menu pricing and directly drives food cost percentage. For example, a burger with a 4-oz patty at $6/lb, $0.08/oz cheese, $0.12/slice bun, and $0.15 in toppings has a plate cost of approximately $1.99. MenuMargin AI automates this calculation by reading invoices and recipes, eliminating manual spreadsheet work.
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Plate Cost
The total ingredient cost for a single prepared menu item, calculated from the cost per ingredient portion.
Related terms
- Food Cost Percentage — The ratio of ingredient cost to menu price, expressed as a percentage. A key profitability benchmark.
- Recipe Costing — The process of calculating the per-portion cost of a recipe by accounting for every ingredient and yield.
- Menu Engineering — A framework for categorizing menu items by profitability and popularity to optimize item mix and pricing.