Sizu Riatto
Vegan Meal Prep Math · Chapter 11

Cost per Portion

Price per gram × the grams you use, divided by the portions. Add the box, the label, the energy and the freezer, and you have the plate.

Home › Calculators › Cost per Portion

Opens on the book's Freezer Month. Change any number to your own and press Calculate.

A. One recipe: pack price, pack size, and the grams the batch uses (a liquid sold by volume needs its g per mL)

Per portion

B. The month, all recipes

Enter the ingredients and press Calculate.

The formula

  • Price per kg = pack price ÷ pack size in kg (1 lb = 0.4536 kg; a liquid: fl oz × 29.57 mL × its g per mL)
  • Food a portion = Σ (grams used ÷ 1000 × price per kg) ÷ portions
  • A plate = food + box + label + energy ÷ portions + freezer running ÷ portions a month
  • Saving a month = portions × (the alternative − your plate). Freezer payback = its price ÷ the saving, rounded up
The book's worked example, Chapter 11. The chili: 11.41 of food for 8 portions, 1.43 a portion; with the box, label, energy and freezer share, about 1.75 a plate. The month: food 55.92, boxes and labels 8.19, energy 1.65, freezer 3.75 = 69.51, 1.74 a plate. Against 6.29 frozen ready meals that saves about 182 a month, so a 290 chest freezer pays for itself in 2 months: only if you would otherwise have bought those ready meals.
Check it. Multiply back: the plate × portions, less the boxes, labels, energy and freezer share, gives the batch's food cost.

Honest limits. Prices are illustrative and US: put in your own. The comparison prices are one store's and one restaurant's (a bowl costs more delivered). If you would otherwise cook every night, the freezer is about convenience, not money. Your time is yours to price; the book leaves it out of the plate and shows it beside it. Prices are illustrative US prices from November 2026, shown without a currency sign; put in your own. Everything stays in your browser: no sign-up, nothing stored.

These calculators go with Vegan Meal Prep Math (Craft & Studio, Book 4), where every number on this page is worked by hand.