How to Cost a Plate of Food Based on Your Recipes in Ireland

Running a restaurant in Ireland means juggling rising ingredient costs, shifting diner expectations, and the need to stay profitable without compromising on quality. This guide walks you through the basics of food costing, using Irish-relevant examples and formulas, and connects the dots to broader strategies like pricing, portion sizing, and recipe optimisation.

What Is Plate Cost?

Your plate cost (or dish cost) is the total cost of the ingredients used to prepare one serving of a menu item. It’s a foundational metric that helps you:

• Price dishes profitably

• Control food waste

• Standardise recipes

• Compare supplier value

• Improve overall financial planning

While it might sound like a behind-the-scenes metric, Irish consumers increasingly expect transparency when it comes to pricing and portions. According to the Toast Consumer Preferences Survey 2025, where 200 Irish diners were surveyed about restaurant pricing and value, over 70% say portion sizes and price value are major decision factors when dining out.

Why Plate Costing Matters in Ireland’s Hospitality Landscape

With over 70% of Irish restaurants reporting a decline in profitability in 2023, according to Toast’s Voice of the Restaurant Industry in Ireland report, operators are doubling down on smarter, tech-powered cost control strategies. And getting a grip on plate costing is a crucial first step.

Whether you run a gastropub in Galway or a quick-service café in Cork, plate costing can empower you to:

• Protect margins amid inflation and ingredient volatility

• Optimise portions without compromising experience

• Price items competitively, based on real-time data

• Train staff on consistent portion control and prep

Pro tip: Using EPOS-integrated tools like Toast’s restaurant management suite makes this process much easier by tying inventory, menu, and sales data together.

How to Calculate Plate Cost: The Formula

The basic formula is:

Plate Cost = Total Cost of Ingredients / Number of Servings

Let’s look at a simplified Irish example:

Dish: Shepherd’s Pie

Recipe:

• 1kg minced beef (€10)

• 1kg potatoes (€1.50)

• 100ml cream (€0.90)

• 100g cheese (€1.00)

• Herbs and seasoning (€0.50)

Total recipe cost: €13.90

Number of servings: 4

Plate cost per serving = €3.48

You can use a digital costing sheet to run this for every menu item.

Don’t Forget About Overheads

While plate cost focuses on ingredients, smart Irish restaurateurs also factor in:

• Labour costs: Staff prep time

• Packaging: For takeaway items

• Utilities: Energy used in prep

• Waste: Trimmed or unused ingredients

Want to take it further? Use your food cost percentage formula:

Food Cost % = (Plate Cost / Menu Price) × 100

Example: If the Shepherd’s Pie is priced at €11.50, then:

Food Cost % = (€3.48 / €11.50) × 100 = 30.26%

Benchmarks for Irish Operators

What’s a good food cost percentage? Most Irish restaurants aim for 28-35%, depending on cuisine and service type. But the ideal number varies by region and concept.

Offering bundled templates and guides to match this demand can help both staff and new managers understand the numbers.

Use Plate Costing to Improve Pricing Strategy

Once you’ve calculated your plate costs, you can:

• Flag low-margin dishes

• Identify upsell opportunities

• Create combo or set menus to improve value perception

• Adjust portion sizes or swap out costly ingredients

This is especially important now, as, according to The Toast Consumer Preferences Survey 2025, 86% of Irish consumers say eating out is becoming too expensive. Additionally, around 60% of survey respondents said that they strongly prefer or somewhat prefer restaurants that highlight cost transparency, like sourcing info and price justifications.

By linking your plate cost insights to your pricing strategy, you can meet customer expectations for fair pricing and stay financially resilient.

Tools to Make It Easier

You don’t have to do this manually. With a connected restaurant tech stack like Toast’s, you can:

• Build and store standardised recipes

• Track cost fluctuations

• Automatically update menu prices based on real margins

• Analyse sales trends alongside cost data

Check out how BANG Restaurant in Dublin boosted earnings by 12.5% by switching to Toast and using data-led recipe costing and reporting tools:

Final Thoughts

In today’s Irish dining climate, where 70% of guests are looking for better value, knowing how much each plate costs — and how to optimise those costs — isn’t just smart. It’s essential.

From helping you price dishes with confidence to spotting new menu opportunities, plate costing helps bring together what Irish restaurants need most: clear margins, consistent quality, and guest trust.