Recipe Costing Spreadsheet Template
A professional Excel spreadsheet for costing individual recipes, calculating per-portion costs, and setting profitable selling prices. Pre-built with formulas for ingredient costs, waste factors, and target margin calculations — the core workflow every UK caterer needs.
What's included
- ✓Ingredient costing sheet with automated cost calculations
- ✓Waste factor column (accounts for prep losses like peelings and trimmings)
- ✓Per-portion cost and recommended selling price (with VAT)
- ✓Target margin input — set your desired food cost percentage
- ✓Conditional formatting highlights high-cost ingredients
- ✓Data validation to prevent input errors
- ✓Example recipe pre-populated (duplicate the tab for each recipe)
- ✓Instructions tab with waste factor guidance and industry benchmarks
Who this is for
Designed for UK micro-caterers — private chefs, supper club hosts, market stall operators, and small event caterers who need to cost recipes accurately before quoting for events. Works in Excel, Google Sheets, and LibreOffice Calc.
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Outgrow the spreadsheet?
This template helps you cost recipes manually. CaterCost automates ingredient tracking, supplier price updates, and per-head event quoting — so you never open a spreadsheet again.