Cost and business
Meal Prep Cost Calculator
To find the cost of a prepped meal, divide what you spent on groceries by the number of meals you made. A $60 shop that makes 12 meals costs $5.00 per meal. Against a $13 bought lunch, that saves $8.00 a meal, or $96 across the batch.
Cost per meal
Enter what you spent and how many meals it made.
Show the math
Cost per meal chart
| Groceries | 6 meals | 8 meals | 10 meals | 12 meals | 14 meals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $30 | $5.00 | $3.75 | $3.00 | $2.50 | $2.14 |
| $40 | $6.67 | $5.00 | $4.00 | $3.33 | $2.86 |
| $50 | $8.33 | $6.25 | $5.00 | $4.17 | $3.57 |
| $60 | $10.00 | $7.50 | $6.00 | $5.00 | $4.29 |
| $80 | $13.33 | $10.00 | $8.00 | $6.67 | $5.71 |
| $100 | $16.67 | $12.50 | $10.00 | $8.33 | $7.14 |
How the calculator works
The cost of a prepped meal is one division.
cost per meal = grocery spend / meals made
If you also enter the price of a meal you would otherwise buy, the calculator compares the two.
saved per meal = bought price - cost per meal
saved across the batch = saved per meal x meals made
When prep works out dearer than buying, the calculator says so. That happens more often than people expect with small batches and expensive ingredients.
Worked example
On Sunday you spend $60 on chicken thighs, rice, broccoli, a jar of sauce and a few extras, and fill 12 containers.
- Cost per meal: 60 / 12 = $5.00.
- The lunch you usually buy near work costs $13.
- Saved per meal: 13 - 5 = $8.00.
- Saved across the batch: 8 x 12 = $96.
If you eat a prepped lunch five days a week, that is $40 a week.
What to count
The answer is only as good as the grocery figure you put in.
Count the food that went into these meals. If the shop also included breakfast things and snacks, leave them out.
Count staples by the share you used. A 5 pound bag of rice at $6 that will last five batches adds about $1.20 to this one, not $6. The Recipe Cost Calculator will work out the cost of the amount you used.
Count what you threw away. If you bought a bunch of cilantro for one recipe and binned the rest, the whole bunch belongs to this batch.
Leave out what you would have bought anyway. A bottle of soy sauce you use for everything is not a cost of this week’s prep.
What makes the cost per meal go down
Bigger batches of the same thing. Buying a family pack of chicken or a large bag of rice lowers the price per portion, and a recipe that makes 12 does not take three times as long as one that makes 4.
Cheaper proteins. Protein is usually the largest part of the bill. Thighs in place of breasts, beans or eggs for some meals, or a smaller portion of meat with more vegetables, all move the number.
Shared ingredients. Two recipes that both use rice, onions and the same sauce leave nothing half-used at the end of the week.
Eating all of it. Twelve meals at $5 is only true if twelve are eaten. If three go in the bin, you paid $60 for nine meals, which is $6.67 each.
A fair comparison
The saving depends entirely on what you compare with.
Compare like with like. A home-cooked chicken and rice bowl against a $13 restaurant bowl is fair. Against a $4 supermarket sandwich it is not, and the honest answer may be that prep saves you little on those days.
Be honest about what you would do. If, without a prepped meal, you would have eaten leftovers at home, the comparison price is close to zero and the batch is not saving money. It may still be saving you time or helping you eat better, which are good reasons too.
Beyond the food cost
The calculator measures food cost. A few other things belong in the picture.
Containers. A set of reusable containers costs money once. Spread over a year of weekly batches it comes to a few cents per meal.
Energy. An hour of oven and stove time has a cost, though it is small next to the ingredients.
Time. A couple of hours on a Sunday is the real price of meal prep for most people. Whether that is worth $40 a week is a personal decision, not a calculation.
Using the chart
The chart above shows the cost per meal for common grocery totals and batch sizes. It is a quick way to see where your batch lands and what one or two more portions from the same shop would do. Stretching a $60 shop from 10 meals to 12 takes the cost from $6.00 to $5.00.
Tips and common mistakes
Keep the receipt. Guessing the grocery total from memory usually comes in low.
Track a month, not a week. One batch can look expensive because you bought oil, spices and containers. Over four weeks those costs spread out and the real figure shows.
Count the meals you ate. At the end of the week, change “meals made” to the number that were eaten and look at the cost again.
Do not prep food you do not like. The cheapest meal in the fridge is not a saving if you leave it there and buy lunch anyway.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate cost per meal?
Add up what you spent on the ingredients for the batch and divide by the number of meals it made. If you spent $47.50 and filled 10 containers, each meal cost $4.75.
Is meal prep cheaper than buying lunch?
It depends on what you cook and what you would have bought. Enter the price of the meal you would otherwise buy and the calculator shows the difference per meal and across the batch.
What should I include in the grocery cost?
Everything that went into these meals: protein, grains, vegetables, sauces and oil. For staples you already had, such as rice or spices, count the share you used, not the whole packet.
Should I count containers and my time?
Reusable containers are a one-off cost, so most people leave them out after the first month. Your time is real, but it is yours to value. The calculator covers food cost only.
How many meals should I prep at once?
Only as many as you will eat while they are still good. Meals you throw away are counted in the cost but not in the savings, so a smaller batch that all gets eaten is cheaper per meal.