Recipe costing
Know the margin on each dish.
See ingredient line costs, cost per serving, food cost percentage, suggested price, and profit per serving on one screen.
Recipe costing software
Keep recipe costs current when supplier prices change.
Start with one dish and your own ingredient prices. Save the recipe, then change a shared ingredient price to see every affected dish recalculate. Pro is $39/month. Cancel anytime.
Three saved recipes free. No time limit or credit card.
Want help entering your menu? See the ten-dish setup offer.From today's price list to the next price change.
1. Cost one dish
Enter ingredient quantities, portions, and a menu price. Check cost per serving and food cost percentage with your own numbers. You can save three recipes free.
2. Bring in your ingredient prices
Pro imports ingredient or supplier order-guide CSVs. Check the columns, pack sizes, and units in the preview. Existing recipes may need to be entered again; ingredient import does not import a whole recipe file.
3. Upload the next price file
For order guides, keep the vendor and item codes consistent. Review the changes before importing. The new ingredient prices flow through to saved dishes. You upload each new file; this is not a live supplier feed.
One prep recipe, two dishes, one price change.
Save a dressing once, then select that same prep item in each dish. We checked this in the app with a synthetic herb yogurt dressing and two dish batches. One yogurt price edit from $3 to $4/kg changed the prep and both dishes without editing their recipes.
The dressing uses 1,600 g yogurt, 200 g prepared herbs at $6/kg, and 200 g oil by weight at $5/kg. Use your measured usable yield; this example assumes 2,000 g with no handling loss. Set Yield to 2,000 g and Servings to 20 for 100 g reference portions. Yield sets the prep cost per g; Servings sets its cost per portion.
| Saved recipe | Batch before → after | Per serving before → after |
|---|---|---|
| Dressing, 20 servings | $7.00 → $8.60 | $0.35 → $0.43 |
| Grain bowls, 10 servings | $10.00 → $10.80 | $1.00 → $1.08 |
| Chicken wraps, 8 servings | $11.00 → $11.32 | $1.375 → $1.415 |
Scroll the table to see per-serving costs.
The bowls use 1,000 g dressing across ten portions; the wraps use 400 g across eight. Their other ingredient costs stay at $6.50 and $9.60 per batch. Enter prep quantities in its yield unit, here g, and set each dish's Servings field explicitly. The wrap costs display as $1.38 and $1.42 after rounding. Packaging, labor, and overhead are excluded.
View the saved prep after the edit
See the numbers
Recipe and menu costing in one place.
No sales demo. These are the screens you use to cost recipes and check your menu.
Menu costing
Find the dishes that need attention.
The menu overview ranks every recipe by food cost. A distribution bar separates healthy dishes from recipes with high costs or missing prices.
Menu engineering
Use sales and margin together.
Add weekly orders to sort dishes into Stars, Plowhorses, Puzzles, and Dogs. Then decide what to promote, reprice, or cut.
Spreadsheet or software?
Keep the spreadsheet until it becomes the work.
A spreadsheet still works when…
- You have a short menu with few shared prep items.
- One person owns the formulas and updates prices regularly.
- You only need a cost snapshot now and then.
Costing software earns its keep when…
- An ingredient price change touches several recipes.
- Sauces, doughs, and stocks are shared across the menu.
- You need to find bad margins before the monthly P&L.
Already have an ingredient sheet? Import the CSV instead of typing it again. For a neutral breakdown of the options, read our recipe costing software guide.
Food costing
The costing tools a working kitchen needs.
Nothing to install. No POS required.
Recipe builder with instant costing
Add ingredients and quantities, then see the total cost and cost per serving as you build. No formulas or cell references.
Automatic food cost %
Set your menu price and DishCost shows your food cost percentage. Set a target percentage and you'll also see the price needed to reach it.
Price change updates
Change an ingredient price once and every recipe using it recalculates. Price alerts show which dishes moved and by how much.
Prep items and sub-recipes
Define sauces, doughs, and stocks once. Use them in other recipes and let their costs flow through automatically.
Bulk CSV import
Bring in an existing ingredient spreadsheet or upload new prices in bulk. A downloadable template shows the format.
Distributor order guide import
Upload a supplier CSV and map its columns. Re-upload with the same vendor key and SKU to refresh prices. Pro plan; check your file format first.
Compare
Focused restaurant costing software, without the enterprise bill.
DishCost is $39/mo and month-to-month.
DishCost
MarketMan
xtraCHEF
Spreadsheets
Monthly cost
$39/mo
Starter: $249/mo
Pro: contact Toast
Free
Setup
Self-serve
Guided onboarding
Toast onboarding
Build it yourself
Contracts
Cancel anytime
Confirm quote terms
Confirm quote terms
None
POS required
No
No
Confirm with Toast
No
Recipe cost updates
Automatic
Automatic
Automatic
Depends on formulas
Bulk CSV import
Yes
Via onboarding
Via invoice scan
N/A
Order guide import
Yes (Pro)
Vendor portal
Invoice OCR
Manual
Competitor details checked October 9, 2026. MarketMan Starter includes recipe costing at $249/month. Confirm location charges, add-ons, and contract terms in your quote. xtraCHEF pricing requires a Toast quote. Its recipe module requires Pro; you can start onboarding before Toast POS is live. Confirm POS and contract requirements with Toast.
Comparing smaller recipe tools?
meez Starter is $24/month, or $19/month billed annually, and includes unlimited recipes, basic costing, and cost import/export. Recipe Cost Calculator Core is $24.17/month billed annually and includes Excel import and price history. Prices checked October 20, 2026.
Those plans can suit a kitchen that needs basic costing. DishCost Pro is $39/month for recipe costs, supplier CSV updates, alerts, and menu engineering. Test the workflow you need before choosing. If entering the recipes is the obstacle, ten-dish setup help is optional.
Pricing
$39 a month. Self-serve setup is free.
No annual contract. Cancel from your settings whenever you need to.
Pro
$39 /mo
For operators who want every dish accounted for.
- Unlimited recipes
- Menu engineering matrix
- Cost change alerts
- PDF & CSV export
- Menu cost dashboard
- Priority support
Less than the cost of one mispriced dish per month.
Not ready to commit? Try the public recipe demo — no account needed.
Want your first ten dishes entered for you? Assisted setup is $149 once, separate from the $39/month Pro plan.
Questions
Recipe costing software FAQ
What is recipe costing software?
Recipe costing software calculates the ingredient cost, cost per serving, and food cost percentage for each dish. When an ingredient price changes, affected recipes recalculate without rebuilding spreadsheet formulas.
Is recipe costing software the same as inventory software?
No. Recipe costing tells you what a dish should cost to make. Inventory software counts stock, tracks purchases, and measures actual usage. DishCost focuses on recipes, ingredient prices, and menu margins rather than full inventory management.
Can I import my existing spreadsheet?
Yes. DishCost Pro imports ingredient names, prices, package quantities, and units from CSV. You can also re-upload a file to update existing ingredient prices in bulk.
Do recipes update when an ingredient price changes?
Yes. Update the ingredient once and DishCost recalculates every recipe and prep item that uses it, including dishes that use that prep item.
Does DishCost support prep items and sub-recipes?
Yes. Create a sauce, dough, stock, or other batch as a prep item, then use it as an ingredient in multiple recipes. Its cost flows through to each dish.
Do I need a POS integration?
No. DishCost works without a POS. Enter menu prices to calculate food cost, and add weekly order counts if you want to use the menu engineering matrix.
How much does DishCost cost?
DishCost Pro is $39 per month, with no required setup fee or annual contract. Save three recipes free, with no time limit. Optional help setting up ten dishes costs $149 once, separate from Pro. You can cancel Pro from your settings.
Cost one recipe. Check the margin.
Start with the dish you sell most. You'll see its cost per serving and food cost percentage before you decide whether DishCost is worth paying for.