Cheese omelette: how much it costs to make, per serve
Cheese omelette costs £0.82 a serve in ingredients, from UK pack prices dated 25 October 2026. To reach 68% GP, the UK food benchmark, it needs to sell for at least £3.06 including 20% VAT (£2.55 without).
A café and pub lunch standby: a three-egg omelette filled with cheddar, with a small side salad. 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.
Open in ChefSums — edit, cost, scale →
Ingredients and cost, one serve
| Ingredient | Pack price | Pack size | Used | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eggs | £3.79 | 30 each | 3 each | £0.38 |
| Salted butter | £29.99 | 5000 g | 10 g | £0.06 |
| Cheddar, grated | £25.99 | 5000 g | 40 g | £0.21 |
| Iceberg lettuce | £8.79 | 10 each | 0.05 each | £0.04 |
| Tomato | £11.99 | 6000 g | 60 g | £0.12 |
| Table salt | £8.99 | 12500 g | 0.5 g | £0.00 |
| Ground black pepper | £22.99 | 1750 g | 0.3 g | £0.00 |
| Total | £0.82 | |||
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 | £0.82 |
| Waste allowance, 5% (trim, ends, the odd one binned) | £0.04 |
| Staff time: 3 min hands-on per serve at £12.71/hr + 25% on-cost | £0.79 |
| Food, waste and staff per serve | £1.65 |
At the lowest price (£2.55 ex VAT) that is 65% 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
- Beat the eggs with salt and pepper.
- Melt the butter in a hot pan, add the eggs and draw the edges in as they set.
- Scatter over the cheese while the top is still soft, fold and slide onto the plate.
- Serve with a small salad of lettuce and tomato.
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.
- Eggs: Medium eggs, tray of 30 (EGG024), 30, £3.79 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
- Cheddar: JJ Red Label mild block cheddar (CHE116), 5 kg, £25.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-25
- Iceberg lettuce: Iceberg lettuce, case of 10-12, costed at 10 (VEG476), 10 heads, £8.79 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-25
- Tomato: Loose tomatoes, class I (VEG007), 6 kg, £11.99 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
- Scrambled eggs on toast — £0.70 a serve
- Lemon and sugar pancakes — £0.30 a portion
- Bubble and squeak — £0.29 a portion
- Bacon roll — £0.68 a serve