Meal Prep Cost Calculator
Meal prep cost per serving and savings.
What it does
Meal prep math is division plus one comparison. Groceries over plates packed gives cost per serving, and the same plates at restaurant prices show what stayed home. This page keeps both lines together.
The default is $60 for 6 servings against a $12 plate out. Home costs $10.00 each, the street would charge $72.00, and the batch keeps $12.00. Set eat out to zero to plan without the comparison.
Totals decide honesty. Include the rice, oil, and spices used, not just the headline protein, and count real plates packed rather than the optimistic eight on the card. Small batches often cost more per plate than doubled ones.
Savings are gross kitchen savings. Time, power, containers, and the odd failed batch sit outside, so treat the kept dollars as ingredient savings to weigh against effort.
How to use
- Enter grocery total for the batch.
- Enter servings packed.
- Enter eat out plate price (0 to skip).
- Read per serving first.
- Read savings against eating out.
Formula
- total
- Grocery spend for the batch.
- servings
- Equal plates packed.
- eat out
- Comparable plate price eating out.
Total is grocery spend for the batch including oil and spices used. Servings are equal plates packed, not recipe claims. Eat out price is the comparable plate nearby; savings turn negative when cooking costs more than buying.
Worked example
Example: $60 for 6 servings
$60 groceries, 6 servings, $12 eat out price.
- Per serving: 60 / 6 = $10.00.
- Eating out: 12 x 6 = $72.00.
- Savings: 72 - 60 = $12.00.
- Check: 6 x 10 = $60.00 back to total.
- Tool shows $10.00 each and $12.00 kept.
Reference table
| Batch | Servings | Each |
|---|---|---|
| $60 | 6 | $10.00 |
| $80 | 8 | $10.00 |
| $45 | 3 | $15.00 |
| $100 | 10 | $10.00 |
| $50 | 4 | $12.50 |
Limits
- Ingredients only. No time or power.
- Equal plates assumed. Portions vary.
- One batch per pass. Mixed menus need adding.
- Eat out price is a guess.
Common mistakes
- Skipping pantry staples in total.
- Counting recipe servings instead of packed.
- Comparing to a unlike plate out.
- Doubling food without scaling spices.
- Reading savings as profit.
Try it yourself
Quick checks. Answers sit tucked under each question.
$80 for 8, $15 out?
$10.00 each, $40.00 kept (120 - 80).
$45 for 3 servings?
$15.00 each (45 / 3).
Questions
Cost per serving?
Total over servings. Here $10.00.
How much is saved?
Out price times servings minus groceries. Here $12.00.
No comparison?
Yes. Set eat out to 0 to see only the per serving line.
All costs included?
No. Power, time, and waste sit outside grocery math.
Pantry items free?
No. Pantry staples already home still count when used.
Double batch?
Scale both total and servings together; per serving holds.