Most restaurant owners think they know their dish costs. They track ingredients down to the penny but completely ignore the time their kitchen team spends on each plate. For your ten bestsellers, this blind spot can mean the difference between profit and loss.
Why labor cost per dish matters
Your chef earns €18 per hour. A steak takes 5 minutes to prepare, a risotto 25 minutes. You sell both for €28. Which one actually makes money? Without labor cost, you're flying blind.
💡 Example:
Steak vs. risotto - both €28 selling price:
- Steak: €8 ingredients + €1.50 labor (5 min) = €9.50 total
- Risotto: €6 ingredients + €7.50 labor (25 min) = €13.50 total
The steak brings in €18.50 gross profit, the risotto €14.50
What you need for the calculation
Before you can calculate, gather this data:
- Hourly wage for kitchen staff - including employer contributions (pension, vacation pay, sick pay)
- Preparation time per dish - from start to ready to serve on the plate
- Number of people involved - does only the chef work on it, or does another cook help too?
⚠️ Note:
Calculate with the total hourly wage including employer contributions. That's about 30-40% more than the gross salary. A chef at €15/hour gross actually costs you €20-21/hour.
The formula for labor cost per dish
The basic formula is straightforward:
Labor cost = (Hourly wage ÷ 60) × Preparation time in minutes
If multiple people work on the dish:
Labor cost = ((Hourly wage person 1 + Hourly wage person 2) ÷ 60) × Preparation time
💡 Example calculation:
Pasta carbonara - preparation time 8 minutes:
- Chef hourly wage: €20/hour (incl. employer contributions)
- Preparation time: 8 minutes
- Calculation: (€20 ÷ 60) × 8 = €2.67
Labor cost per portion: €2.67
Measuring preparation time correctly
Preparation time isn't just the cooking itself. Include these tasks:
- Mise-en-place - cutting, weighing, setting up (divide this by number of portions)
- Actual preparation - frying, cooking, grilling
- Plating - garnishing, sauce, presentation on the plate
Don't count: time to read orders or walk to the cooler between dishes. It's the kind of thing you only learn after closing your first month at a loss - every second of actual hands-on work counts, but not the downtime.
💡 Practical example:
Caesar salad - total time 6 minutes:
- Washing and cutting lettuce: 2 minutes (divided by 4 portions = 0.5 min/portion)
- Making dressing: 1 minute (divided by 4 portions = 0.25 min/portion)
- Building salad per plate: 3 minutes
- Garnishing and serving: 2.25 minutes
Total per portion: 6 minutes
Labor cost in your total cost price
Labor cost is part of your total cost price, alongside ingredients and overhead:
Total cost price = Ingredient costs + Labor cost + Overhead per dish
You calculate overhead per dish by dividing your monthly fixed costs (rent, energy, depreciation) by the number of dishes served per month.
⚠️ Note:
Don't forget overhead. A dish with €8 ingredients and €3 labor doesn't cost you €11, but €11 plus your overhead. That can be another €4-8 per dish.
Tracking digitally vs. manually
You can track labor cost in Excel, but it gets complex quickly if you change recipes or adjust wages. A system automatically calculates your labor cost per dish once you enter the preparation time and hourly wages.
Benefits of digital tracking:
- Automatic recalculation when wages increase
- Overview of your most labor-intensive dishes
- Comparison of labor cost between different dishes
- Total cost price (ingredients + labor + overhead) in one overview
How do you calculate labor cost per dish? (step by step)
Gather wage data and preparation times
Note the hourly wage of your kitchen staff including employer contributions (about 30-40% more than gross wage). Measure the preparation time for each of your ten best-selling dishes from start to ready to serve.
Calculate labor cost per minute
Divide the hourly wage by 60 to get the cost per minute. At €20/hour, that's €20 ÷ 60 = €0.33 per minute. If multiple people work on it, add their hourly wages together.
Multiply by preparation time
Multiply the cost per minute by the preparation time of each dish. A dish that takes 8 minutes at €0.33/minute costs €2.64 in labor. Add this to your ingredient costs for the total cost price.
✨ Pro tip
Track your 10 bestsellers' labor costs over the next 30 days and identify which dishes generate the highest profit per minute of kitchen time. Push these high-efficiency dishes harder on your menu.
Calculate this yourself?
In the KitchenNmbrs app you can do this in just a few clicks. 7 days free, no credit card.
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Frequently asked questions
Do I also need to count the dishwasher's time?
No, dishwashing is overhead that you distribute across all dishes. Only count the time of staff that work directly on the dish: cutting, cooking, garnishing.
What if my chef is much faster than my other cooks?
Use the average time of your team, not the fastest. In practice, the same person doesn't always make the same dish. Calculate with realistic times that reflect your actual kitchen operations.
Do I also count the time for mise-en-place?
Yes, but divide it by the number of portions. If you spend 30 minutes cutting vegetables for 10 portions, count 3 minutes mise-en-place per portion.
What about dishes that simmer for a long time?
Only count active work time. If a stew simmers for 2 hours but you only spend 15 minutes working on it, count 15 minutes of labor cost.
📚 Sources consulted
- EU Verordening 852/2004 — Levensmiddelenhygiëne (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 853/2004 — Hygiënevoorschriften voor levensmiddelen van dierlijke oorsprong (2004) — Official source
- EU Verordening 1169/2011 — Voedselinformatie aan consumenten (2011) — Official source
- NVWA — Hygiënecode voor de horeca (2024) — Official source
- NVWA — Allergenen in voedsel (2024) — Official source
- Codex Alimentarius — International Food Standards (2024) — Official source
- FSA — Safer food, better business (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
- BVL — Lebensmittelhygiene (HACCP) (2024) — Official source
- Warenwetbesluit Bereiding en behandeling van levensmiddelen (2024) — Official source
- WHO — Foodborne diseases estimates (2024) — Official source
Food Standards Agency (FSA) — https://www.food.gov.uk
The HACCP standards shown in this application are for informational purposes only. KitchenNmbrs does not guarantee that displayed values are current or complete. Always consult the FSA or your local authority for the latest regulations.
Written by
Jeffrey Smit
Founder & CEO of KitchenNmbrs
Jeffrey Smit built KitchenNmbrs from 8 years of hands-on experience as kitchen manager at 1NUL8 Group in Rotterdam. His mission: give every restaurant owner control over food cost.
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