BuiltByEstradaBook a call

Recipe Costing and Menu Engineering Workbook

Restaurants and Bars line

A workbook that turns your invoice prices into the real cost of every plate, the food cost % and the price that hits your target. It rates every dish Star, Plowhorse, Puzzle or Dog and shows what a lime, avocado or beef price jump does to each plate.

Excel and Google Sheets workbook, English and Spanish files

Fare

$29

founding price until January 31, 2027 · then $47

Secure checkout by Stripe, which adds sales tax where it applies. You download the file as soon as you pay.

Not what you needed? Write to us within 30 days of purchase and we refund you in full.

Recipe-Costing-Menu-Engineering.zipSCREENSHOTS · full version
Recipe Costing and Menu Engineering Workbook: the Ingredients tab, with EXAMPLE data
Ingredients: tab with EXAMPLE data See the whole tab
Recipe Costing and Menu Engineering Workbook: the Recipes tab, with EXAMPLE data
Recipes: tab with EXAMPLE data See the whole tab
Recipe Costing and Menu Engineering Workbook: the Menu tab, with EXAMPLE data
Menu: tab with EXAMPLE data See the whole tab

Screenshots of the full version, taken from the real file. Every number in them is an EXAMPLE.

Download the free version (.xlsx) ↓

Free file: Start here and Plate cost for one dish. Recipes, menu engineering and price change are in the full version only. See what each one has

What you do, what the sheet does

YOUTHE SHEET
You type what a case or sack costsIt works out the cost of every usable ounce or piece
You list what goes on each plateIt shows plate cost, food cost % and the price for your target
You type units sold from your POSIt rates every dish Star, Plowhorse, Puzzle or Dog
You type a new price for limes or avocadosIt shows which dishes need a new price

What the full version has

  • Ingredients tab: pack price, units per pack and yield give the cost per usable unit, 150 rows
  • Recipes tab: one row per ingredient in each dish, 500 lines
  • Menu tab: plate cost, food cost %, suggested price for your target and units sold, 60 dishes
  • Recipe card to print for the kitchen
  • Menu mix and a 2 x 2 matrix: Star, Plowhorse, Puzzle and Dog, with what to do
  • Price change tab for lime, avocado and meat price jumps
  • English and Spanish files in one download

Who it is for

Taquerías, family restaurants, food trucks and caterers who set menu prices by feel and want to know what each plate really costs.

Every dish, price, name and number already in the files says EXAMPLE. They are fictional and only show how each file works.

Free version and full version

The free Plate Cost Calculator costs one dish at a time. The full workbook costs your whole menu, rates every dish and tracks price jumps.

FREE FILE (.XLSX)

  • 2 tabs: Start here, Plate cost
  • One dish, up to 15 ingredients
  • Plate cost, food cost % and the price for your target
Download the free version (.xlsx) ↓

FULL VERSION · $29

  • 8 tabs, Start here included
  • 150 ingredients, 500 recipe lines, 60 dishes
  • Menu mix and the 2 x 2 matrix
  • Price change for limes, avocados and meat
  • Recipe card to print
Buy the full version →

Made by BuiltByEstrada in McAllen, Texas. In English and Spanish.