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Meal cost

Find the cost per serving of a home-cooked meal from ingredient prices.

Built and maintained by The NumberPrism Editorial TeamEditorial policy

Your details

Ingredient cost ($)

Other costs ($)

Servings per recipe

Times cooked per month

Results update as you type. The formula and assumptions are explained below the calculator.

Cost per serving

$3.50

Recipe total$14.00

Servings per recipe4 servings

Monthly spend$56.00

Annual spend$672.00

Estimate uses the prices entered and excludes energy, equipment and food waste. Bulk ingredients can lower the true cost.

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What does this tool do?

Home cooking is cheaper per serving only when the whole recipe is counted. This calculator adds ingredient and incidental costs, divides by servings and projects monthly spending.

The Formula

Cost per serving = (Ingredients + Other costs) ÷ Servings; Monthly = Recipe cost × Times cooked

Frequently Asked Questions

Does cost per serving include energy and labour?

No. The figure covers ingredients and any extra costs you enter. Energy, equipment wear and your time are not included.

Why does the cost change when I scale a recipe?

Some ingredients do not scale linearly, such as oil for frying or seasonings. Recalculate with the scaled quantities for a closer estimate.

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