ChefSums: Recipe Costing & GP

Chicken liver pâté with toast: how much it costs to make, per portion

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Chicken liver pâté with toast costs £0.78 a portion in ingredients (£7.78 for a batch of 10), from UK pack prices dated 25 October 2026. To reach 68% GP, the UK food benchmark, it needs to sell for at least £2.92 including 20% VAT (£2.43 without).

A make-ahead starter for a Christmas set menu: chicken livers cooked pink with shallot, garlic and brandy, blended with butter and served with toast and chutney. Ten portions of about 70 g, costed from JJ Foodservice and Morrisons prices read on 25 October 2026.

Ingredients per portion£0.78
Batch of 10£7.78
Lowest price · 68% GP£2.92 inc VAT (£2.43 ex)
Premium · 75% GP£3.73 inc VAT (£3.11 ex)

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, 10 portions

IngredientPack pricePack sizeUsedCost
Chicken livers, 2 x 400 g£1.75400 g800 g£3.50
Salted butter£29.995000 g250 g£1.50
Shallots£9.494000 g100 g£0.24
Garlic£3.491000 g10 g£0.03
Brandy£19.501000 ml40 ml£0.78
Fresh thyme£1.79100 g5 g£0.09
Double cream£3.791000 ml50 ml£0.19
Table salt£8.9912500 g6 g£0.00
Ground black pepper£22.991750 g2 g£0.03
Bread, toasted£1.59800 g400 g£0.80
Chutney£15.495000 g200 g£0.62
Batch total£7.78
Per portion (÷ 10)£0.78

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£0.78
Waste allowance, 5% (trim, ends, the odd one binned)£0.04
Staff time: 30 min hands-on for the batch of 10 at £12.71/hr + 25% on-cost£0.79
Food, waste and staff per portion£1.61

At the lowest price (£2.43 ex VAT) that is 66% 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

  1. Trim the livers of sinew and green patches; pat dry.
  2. Soften the shallots, garlic and thyme in 50 g of the butter, then add the livers and cook until browned and the centre reaches 70 °C for 2 minutes.
  3. Add the brandy and let it bubble for a minute.
  4. Blend with the remaining butter, the cream, salt and pepper until smooth; pass through a sieve and set in a tub or ramekins.
  5. Serve about 70 g with toast and a spoon of chutney.

Costing notes

Food safety. Chicken livers are a known source of campylobacter, and undercooked liver pâté has caused UK outbreaks. Cook until the centre reaches 75 °C, or an equivalent such as 70 °C for 2 minutes, as in the FSA Safer Food, Better Business cooking checks. Probe the core; do not judge by colour.

Where the prices came from

JJ Foodservice collection prices (single-unit price, no multi-buy tiers) and Morrisons shelf prices, read on 25 October 2026. Morrisons lines are used where JJ Foodservice listed no equivalent that day; wholesale is usually lower, so treat those lines as cautious. 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.

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