Free kitchen calculator tools: food cost, recipe scaling & yield
Three calculators every kitchen should have on hand. Free, no signup, no email gate.
Three numbers run a kitchen: what a dish costs to make, how a recipe scales to a different headcount, and how much of an ingredient actually ends up on the plate after trimming. Whether you're sketching a menu, prepping for a 50-person event, or just curious whether homemade pasta beats supermarket prices, these three calculators are the ones to keep in your bookmarks.
Unlike the gated calculators behind sign-up walls on competitor sites, these run entirely in your browser, with no login, no email, and no upsell screen between you and the answer. The same formulas power Cucinovo's full recipe costing engine, so what you see here is exactly what the product uses at scale.
Which calculator do I need?
| If you want to… | Use the… |
|---|---|
| Know if a dish is profitable | Food Cost Calculator → |
| Scale a recipe for a different number of servings | Recipe Scaler → |
| Know the real cost of an ingredient after trim & waste | Yield Calculator → |
| Check food + labor cost against the 55-65% benchmark | Prime Cost Calculator → |
| Price a dish from its plate cost | Menu Price Calculator → |
Food Cost Calculator
Calculate food cost percentage, gross margin, and recommended selling price from ingredient costs. Accounts for waste and trim loss.
Open calculatorRecipe Scaler
Scale any recipe up or down by changing the number of servings. Smart unit conversion turns 1500 g into 1.5 kg automatically.
Open calculatorYield Calculator
Calculate edible portion, yield percentage, and true cost per usable unit after trim and waste. Visual breakdown included.
Open calculatorPrime Cost Calculator
Add COGS and labor cost, divide by sales, and see your prime cost percentage against the healthy 55-65% benchmark band.
Open calculatorMenu Price Calculator
Turn a plate cost and target food cost percentage into a recommended menu price, with contribution margin and psychological pricing.
Open calculatorFrequently Asked Questions
Are these calculators really free?
Yes, completely free, no sign-up, no email gate. We built them because they solve real kitchen problems, and we want every chef and home cook to have access to accurate numbers. If you need to manage entire recipe collections and automate costing across a menu, that is where the full Cucinovo product picks up.
Do they save my data between sessions?
The calculators run entirely in your browser. Your inputs are not sent to a server and are not saved between sessions. If you want persistent recipes, cost history, and automatic recalculations when ingredient prices change, create a free Cucinovo account.
Can I use these calculators offline?
Once the page has loaded, the calculators work without an internet connection: all calculations happen client-side in JavaScript. You will need a connection to load the page initially.
Do you have a catering or par-level calculator?
Not as a standalone tool yet, but Cucinovo's Event Catering feature handles guest-count scaling, multi-course menus, and automatic prep list generation. It is available on the Pro plan with a 14-day free trial.
How do these calculators relate to the full Cucinovo product?
These standalone calculators use the same formulas that power Cucinovo's recipe costing engine. The difference is scale: the full product stores your recipes and ingredients, recalculates costs automatically when a supplier price changes, generates shopping lists, and handles team collaboration, turning a one-off calculation into an always-current system.
How accurate are the yield percentages?
The yield calculator is mathematically exact: it divides your edible portion by the as-purchased weight. Accuracy depends on your input measurements. For best results, weigh trimmed waste on a kitchen scale rather than estimating. Professional kitchens typically run yield tests on their top 20 ingredients by spend.
Need more than a calculator?
Cucinovo does all of this automatically across your entire recipe collection. Track costs, scale portions, and manage waste in one place, powered by the same engine behind these calculators. See how recipe costing works →