Cost Per Portion Calculator

Calculate the cost per serving of a homemade recipe and compare it to restaurant pricing.

Results

Visualization

How It Works

Cooking at home is almost always cheaper than eating out. This calculator shows exactly how much you save per serving and per year. It also calculates the effective hourly rate of your cooking time to show how "well-paid" your kitchen time is.

The Formula

Cost Per Serving = Total Cost / Servings. Savings = (RestaurantPrice - HomeCost) x Servings. Effective Rate = Savings / (PrepTime / 60).

Variables

Total Cost = sum of all ingredient costs, Servings = number of portions, Restaurant Avg = $16/meal (US average 2024).

Example

A $15 batch of chili making 6 servings: $2.50/serving. Restaurant equivalent: $96. Savings: $81 per batch. At 30 min prep, your effective rate is $162/hour.

Tips

  • Buy staples (rice, beans, pasta, canned goods) in bulk to lower your per-recipe cost.
  • Plan meals around what is on sale at the grocery store for maximum savings.
  • Doubling a recipe rarely doubles the prep time -- make extra and freeze for future meals.
  • Track your actual grocery spending for a month to get accurate cost-per-recipe numbers.
  • Even expensive home-cooked meals (steak, seafood) are typically 50-70% cheaper than restaurant equivalents.