Lamb doner kebab in pitta: how much it costs to make, per serve
A large doner: 200 g of pre-cooked lamb doner in a large pitta with iceberg, red onion and cucumber, chilli sauce and garlic mayonnaise. Costed from JJ Foodservice wholesale prices dated 9 October 2026.
The menu price is the one ChefSums uses for this dish on its sample takeaway menu, a realistic UK menu price. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lamb doner, pre-cooked and cut | £42.99 | 4000 g | 200 g | £2.15 |
| Large pitta bread | £15.49 | 120 each | 1 each | £0.13 |
| Iceberg lettuce | £9.99 | 10 each | 0.1 each | £0.10 |
| Red onions | £9.99 | 10000 g | 33 g | £0.03 |
| Cucumbers | £7.99 | 14 each | 0.1 each | £0.06 |
| Chilli sauce | £14.99 | 4540 ml | 20 ml | £0.07 |
| Garlic mayonnaise | £16.79 | 6000 ml | 30 ml | £0.08 |
| Total | £2.62 | |||
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 | £2.62 |
| Waste allowance, 5% (trim, ends, the odd one binned) | £0.13 |
| Staff time: 3 min hands-on per serve at £12.71/hr + 25% on-cost | £0.79 |
| Food, waste and staff per serve | £3.54 |
At the sample takeaway menu price (£7.08 ex VAT) that is 50% 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
- Heat the doner meat on a griddle or under the grill until the edges crisp.
- Warm the pitta and split it.
- Fill with salad, then meat, then the sauces.
Costing notes
Pre-cooked and cut doner (about £10.75 a kilo at JJ that day) is used here so the costing has no cooking-loss guesswork. A raw doner cone is cheaper per kilo but loses fat and weight on the spit; if you use one, weigh what comes off it over a service and cost on the cooked yield.
Meat is over 80% of this cost. On a "large" against a "small", the meat weight is what you are pricing.
Prep loss is costed in: each fresh vegetable line is the weight you buy, not the prepared weight that goes in the pan. Red onions: 30 g peeled is 33 g as bought at 90% (onion yield).
Where the prices came from
JJ Foodservice collection prices as shown on its public search pages on 9 October 2026 (delivery runs about £1-2 a case higher). A few lines JJ did not list in that day's searches reuse the dated prices already on our other starter recipes (7 September 2026, JJ Foodservice or Tesco retail, marked on each line). JJ does not label VAT on most lines: raw food is zero-rated in the UK, while soft drinks, alcohol, confectionery and some ingredients carry standard-rate VAT. Your supplier's price is the one that matters: open the recipe and type it in.
- Lamb doner, pre-cooked and cut: JJ Halal Pre-Cooked & Cut Lamb Doner Kebab 1x4kg, 4 kg, £42.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Large pitta bread: JJ Large Frozen Pitta Breads 20x6, 120 each, £15.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Iceberg lettuce: Iceberg Lettuce 1x10-12, costed at 10 a case, 10 each, £9.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Red onions: Red Onions 1x10kg, 10 kg, £9.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Cucumbers: Cucumbers Class I 1x14-16, costed at 14, 14 each, £7.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Chilli sauce: Lion Very Hot Chilli Sauce 2x2.27L (SAU025), 4.54 L, £14.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Garlic mayonnaise: JJ SQ-easy Garlic Mayonnaise Bottle 6x1L (SAU017), 6 L, £16.79 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
More costed dishes: takeaway
- Portion of chips — £0.40 a portion
- Southern fried chicken burger — £1.56 a serve
- Buffalo chicken wings — £1.72 a portion
- Margherita pizza (12-inch) — £2.01 a portion