By What does your recipe cost?
Add the ingredients and see what the dish costs in total and per serving, on published national average prices.
- Dish total
- $9.60
- Servings
- 4
- Cost per serving
- $2.40
Swipe sideways to see every column.
| Item | Amount | Cost | Share of dish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milk, whole | 1.00 gallon | $4.31 | 44.9% |
| Eggs, grade A, large | 1.00 dozen | $2.19 | 22.81% |
| Tomatoes, field grown | 1.00 lb | $2.00 | 20.83% |
| White rice, long grain | 1.00 lb | $1.10 | 11.46% |
How we calculate
The cost is the amount times the published average price for each item. Pantry basics like salt, spices and oil are not counted.
Prices come from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics average price series, read August 2026. Your own receipt depends on the store, the brand and what is on offer.
Where do the prices come from?
From the US Bureau of Labor Statistics average price series, read August 2026. They are national averages, not the price in your store.
Why does it not match my receipt?
Because brand, store and promotions move the price more than anything else. The calculator shows the order of magnitude on a fixed basis, so dishes can be compared against each other. Pantry basics like salt, spices and oil are not counted.
Is my recipe stored?
No. The calculator runs entirely in the browser. Nothing is sent, saved or tracked.
Is a meal kit cheaper? See the test
An estimate on published national average prices. Your own receipt will differ.
How the prices work
Every price in this calculator is a national average from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Average Price Data program, the same survey behind the Consumer Price Index. We use the July 2026 US city average for 26 tracked grocery staples, normalized to the unit shown on each row. The BLS list is why the search is limited: items BLS does not track, like onions or fresh garlic, are left out rather than guessed at.
The per-serving figure divides the dish evenly, and the serving picker rescales amounts the way a recipe would. Use it to sanity-check a meal kit's per-serving price against cooking the same dish from the store: for a fair comparison, remember your time, the trip, and what unused leftovers of a 1 lb pack actually cost you. Our meal kit vs grocery store guide walks through that math.