How to figure out your Price Per Meal

Do you every wonder how much a recipe cost to make?

Well I do. Here is how you can figure out your cost per meal. I will do an example of a meal I made for us recently.

Take your items you use in your recipe or dinner menu.

• Tilapia 4 fillet
• Breadcrumbs
• Oil 2 T
• Potatoes 3
• Soy Milk 2T
• Margarine 2T
• 1 Can Green Beans

 

Then you figure out the cost of each item, such as:

Tilapia 2 lbs for $6.99 Grocery Outlet 3 meals per 2 lbs which equals $2.33 for the fish

Breadcrumbs 1 slice at $.80 a loaf of 17 slices equals about $.05

Oil usually cost me $2.99 for 48 oz making two tablespoons equal $.06

I put some seasonings in which I buy in bulk cheap so I just count $.02 for them unless it is an expensive one.

So my Fish main dish ends up costing $2.46 for 4 servings or about $.62 each serving.

I do this for my sides also to get the total cost of the meal

• Tilapia 4 fillet $2.33
• Breadcrumbs $.05
• Oil 2 T $.06
• Potatoes 3 $.20
• Soy Milk 2T $.04
• Margarine 2T $.09
• 1 Can Green Beans $.50

So My Grand total for the Dinner above is $3.27 for 4 servings or about $.82 per serving. This is not bad considering a fish and chips can cost anywhere from $5.99 to $9.99 at a fast food restaurant per meal. Also the meal cooked at home tastes so much better.

So if you are trying to get your grocery budget down you may consider figuring out the cost per meal for your family favorites and cooking the low cost ones more often. Also once you know what the expensive items are in a recipe you can be on the lookout for them on sale and stock up. This will bring down your price per meal. If you have any questions leave them in the comments  and I will do my best to answer them.