Bubble and squeak: how much it costs to make, per portion
Bubble and squeak costs £0.29 a portion in ingredients (£2.33 for a batch of 8), from UK pack prices dated 25 October 2026. To reach 68% GP, the UK food benchmark, it needs to sell for at least £1.09 including 20% VAT (£0.91 without).
The Boxing Day brunch dish, made here from scratch so it can be costed: mashed potato, sprouts and onion fried into eight crisp cakes. With leftover vegetables the ingredient cost is close to nothing. Costed from JJ Foodservice prices read on 25 October 2026.
The lowest price is the one that just reaches 68% GP, the UK food GP benchmark (UKHospitality × Christie & Co, 2022: 65.9–69% food GP across every segment). It covers the ingredients at a normal margin, not staff, rent or energy, and most cafés, pubs and takeaways charge more for simple dishes. Check what places near you charge. GP is worked out on the ex-VAT price.
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Ingredients and cost, 8 portions
| Ingredient | Pack price | Pack size | Used | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potatoes | £16.99 | 25000 g | 1250 g | £0.85 |
| Frozen button sprouts | £2.29 | 1000 g | 400 g | £0.92 |
| Brown onions | £7.49 | 10000 g | 150 g | £0.11 |
| Salted butter | £29.99 | 5000 g | 60 g | £0.36 |
| Rapeseed oil | £9.49 | 5000 ml | 40 ml | £0.08 |
| Table salt | £8.99 | 12500 g | 6 g | £0.00 |
| Ground black pepper | £22.99 | 1750 g | 1 g | £0.01 |
| Batch total | £2.33 | |||
| Per portion (÷ 8) | £0.29 | |||
Cost per line is pack price × (amount used ÷ pack size), the same sum the tool runs. Change one pack price and every line that uses it moves.
What it really costs: waste and staff time
| Ingredients | £0.29 |
| Waste allowance, 5% (trim, ends, the odd one binned) | £0.01 |
| Staff time: 25 min hands-on for the batch of 8 at £12.71/hr + 25% on-cost | £0.83 |
| Food, waste and staff per portion | £1.13 |
At the lowest price (£0.91 ex VAT) that is 124% of the price, before rent, energy and everything else. Many UK sites aim to keep food plus staff (prime cost) at or under 60–65% of sales. The staff line counts hands-on prep only, not unattended cooking, and uses the April 2026 National Living Wage; put your own rate, minutes and waste in the calculator's real cost section or the prime cost calculator. Every dish side by side: the UK dish cost index.
Method
- Peel, boil and roughly mash the potatoes.
- Cook and roughly chop the sprouts; soften the sliced onion in the butter.
- Mix everything, season and shape into eight cakes.
- Fry in the oil until deeply browned on both sides.
Where the prices came from
JJ Foodservice collection prices (single-unit price, no multi-buy tiers), read on 25 October 2026. Prices are as listed; JJ does not label VAT on most lines, and most raw food is zero-rated in the UK while alcohol and some ingredients carry standard-rate VAT. Your supplier's price is the one that matters: open the recipe and type it in.
- Potatoes: Chipping potatoes (POT112), 25 kg, £16.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-25
- Frozen button sprouts: Greens frozen button sprouts (VEG334), 1 kg, £2.29 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-25
- Brown onions: Brown cooking onions (VEG655), 10 kg, £7.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-25
- Salted butter: Lakeland salted butter, 20 x 250 g (DAI185), 5 kg, £29.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-25
- Rapeseed oil: KTC rapeseed oil (OIL110), 5 litres, £9.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-25
- Table salt: JJ table salt (SPI019), 12.5 kg, £8.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-25
- Ground black pepper: JJ ground black pepper (SPI596), 1.75 kg, £22.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-25
More costed dishes: café and breakfast
- Bacon roll — £0.68 a serve
- Flat white — £0.41 a serve
- Full English breakfast — £2.24 a serve
- Jacket potato with tuna mayo — £1.31 a serve