Your recipes are business capital, but only if they're correct. Most restaurants track sales religiously but ignore recipe costs until it's too late. Here's a 30-minute weekly routine that stops money from leaking out your kitchen door.
Why recipe review is crucial
Prices shift every week. Your supplier bumps tomatoes by 15 cents per kilo. Your recipes still calculate with the old price. The result: your food cost creeps up unnoticed from 30% to 35%. At €500,000 annual revenue, that costs you €25,000.
⚠️ Note:
Many owners only monitor their volume sellers. But an expensive dish that moves slowly can destroy your entire margin if the cost price drifts out of alignment.
The 5-recipe routine
Instead of auditing all recipes at once (which you'll postpone forever), you review 5 recipes every week. After 10 weeks, you've covered your entire menu. Simple and doable.
💡 Example schedule:
Week 1: Your 5 most popular dishes
- Steak with fries
- Pasta carbonara
- Salmon fillet
- Caesar salad
- Spare ribs
Week 2: Your 5 most expensive dishes (highest selling price)
What you check per recipe
For each recipe, you verify 3 things:
- Ingredient prices: Do the purchase prices still match your latest invoice?
- Quantities: Does your chef actually use 200g of steak or closer to 250g?
- Food cost: Are you still under 35% or have you crept over?
💡 Example review:
Steak recipe from last month:
- Steak 200g at €24/kg = €4.80
- Fries 250g at €2/kg = €0.50
- Sauce and garnish = €1.20
- Total: €6.50 on €28 = 23% food cost
New review: steak now €28/kg. New cost price: €7.30 on €28 = 26% food cost. Still acceptable.
Which recipes have priority
Not all recipes carry equal weight. Focus on:
- Volume sellers: Dishes you move 20+ times per week
- High-ticket items: Expensive dishes (€25+) where errors cost dearly
- Seasonal dishes: Where ingredient prices swing dramatically
- New dishes: That you've been serving for less than 3 months
Signs that a recipe needs updating
Watch for these warnings during your weekly audit:
⚠️ Red flags:
- Food cost above 35% (for most restaurants)
- Ingredient price jumped 10%+ since last update
- Chef uses different quantities than stated in recipe
- Supplier changed (different packaging sizes)
Digital vs. paper tracking
Many kitchens rely on recipe folders or Excel sheets. Drawbacks: you manually adjust every price and recalculate everything. Based on real restaurant P&L data, operators using digital recipe systems save 75% of their review time. With a food cost calculator like KitchenNmbrs, you update one ingredient price and all recipes recalculate automatically.
💡 Time savings:
Manual: 30 minutes per recipe (look up, calculate, update)
Digital: 5 minutes per recipe (update prices, automatically recalculated)
For 5 recipes per week: 2.5 hours vs. 25 minutes
Make it a habit
Pick a fixed time each week. Many operators do this Monday morning after weekend service, while they're already handling planning and purchasing. Block it in your calendar as a recurring appointment.
How do you build a weekly recipe review routine?
Make a recipe list and divide it over 10 weeks
Write down all your recipes and divide them into groups of 5. Start with your most popular dishes in week 1, your most expensive dishes in week 2, and so on. Within 10 weeks you'll have covered your entire menu.
Check 5 recipes each week for ingredient prices
Get your latest invoices and compare the prices in your recipes. Pay special attention to ingredients that have increased in price by more than 10%. Update these immediately in your recipe file or app.
Verify that quantities match practice
During service, check whether your chef actually uses the quantities stated in the recipe. Measure a few portions. If there's a consistent difference, adjust your recipe to match reality.
Calculate the new food cost and take action
Add up all ingredient costs and divide by your selling price excluding VAT. Above 35%? Then you need to either raise your price, adjust your recipe, or find a cheaper supplier.
Schedule a fixed time and stick with it
Choose, for example, every Monday morning 9:00-9:30. Put it in your calendar as a recurring appointment. After 4-5 weeks it becomes automatic and takes less time each time.
✨ Pro tip
Review exactly 3 recipes every Tuesday morning before your weekly supplier order. This gives you 17 weeks to cycle through a 50-dish menu while keeping the habit manageable.
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
How much time does this routine take per week?
About 25-30 minutes per week if you do it digitally, 1-2 hours if you track manually in Excel. It gets faster as you develop the routine.
What if I have more than 50 recipes?
Then you spread them over more weeks. With 50 recipes, you'll cover your entire menu over 10 weeks. That's perfectly fine - consistency matters more than speed.
Do I also need to check beverages and desserts?
Yes, but less frequently. Beverages often have more stable pricing. Check cocktails and wines monthly, beer and soft drinks quarterly.
What if my chef uses different quantities than the recipe?
Adjust your recipe to match reality. There's no point calculating with 200g if 250g consistently goes on the plate. Either train your chef or accept the higher costs and price accordingly.
Can I delegate this review to my chef?
Partially, yes. Your chef can verify quantities and flag which ingredients have gotten more expensive. But the financial decisions - raising prices, switching suppliers - remain your call.
How do I know if 35% food cost is right for my concept?
35% works for most full-service restaurants. Fine dining can run higher (up to 40%), fast-casual often lower (25-30%). Your total costs - food plus labor plus overhead - must stay profitable for your specific model.
📚 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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