Cost per Serving
Total recipe cost divided across the number of servings.
Formula
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Example
$12 / 6 ⇒ $2.00 per serving
How it works
This formula tells you how much one portion of a recipe costs by spreading the total ingredient cost evenly across all servings. It works because if a dish makes several equal portions, each portion accounts for an equal share of the ingredients, so dividing the total cost by the number of servings gives the cost per serving. It is useful for comparing recipes, pricing menu items, and planning meals within a budget.
When to use it
Use this when you know the full cost of ingredients for a dish and want to find the cost of one serving. It is especially helpful for meal planning, recipe scaling, and food business pricing.
Worked example, step by step
A soup costs $18.50 to make in total. It makes 5 servings. c_s = c_total / n c_s = 18.50 / 5 c_s = 3.70 Each serving costs $3.70.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Dividing by the number of people eating instead of the number of recipe servings
- Forgetting to include every ingredient cost in the total recipe cost
- Assuming the formula gives the selling price instead of just the ingredient cost per serving
Did You Know?
Cooking in bulk lowers cost per serving mainly by cutting waste and using cheaper large-format ingredients.
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