Fish and chips: how much it costs to make, per portion
Beer-battered cod loin, chips fried twice, peas and a wedge of lemon. Ten portions costed from wholesale case prices dated 7 September 2026, with the fish on its own line so you can watch it.
The menu price is the one ChefSums uses for this dish on its sample pub menu, a realistic UK menu price (also on the takeaway menu £10.50). 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, 10 portions
| Ingredient | Pack price | Pack size | Used | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cod loin, skinless (180-200 g) | £32.99 | 10 each | 10 each | £32.99 |
| Plain flour | £12.49 | 16000 g | 500 g | £0.39 |
| Cornflour | £8.49 | 3000 g | 100 g | £0.28 |
| Lager (batter) | £25.99 | 7920 ml | 600 ml | £1.97 |
| Bicarbonate of soda | £1.99 | 1000 g | 10 g | £0.02 |
| Potatoes (chipping) | £15.49 | 25000 g | 3704 g | £2.29 |
| Vegetable oil | £8.50 | 5000 ml | 500 ml | £0.85 |
| Frozen peas | £5.29 | 2500 g | 500 g | £1.06 |
| Lemons | £9.99 | 6000 g | 300 g | £0.50 |
| Malt vinegar | £7.49 | 10000 ml | 100 ml | £0.07 |
| Batch total | £40.43 | |||
| Per portion (÷ 10) | £4.04 | |||
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 | £4.04 |
| Waste allowance, 5% (trim, ends, the odd one binned) | £0.20 |
| Staff time: 40 min hands-on for the batch of 10 at £12.71/hr + 25% on-cost | £1.06 |
| Food, waste and staff per portion | £5.30 |
At the sample pub menu price (£11.25 ex VAT) that is 47% 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
- Chip the potatoes at 12-14 mm, rinse the starch off, blanch at 140 °C (285 °F) until tender and pale; drain and chill.
- Whisk the flour, cornflour and bicarbonate with the cold lager to a batter that coats the back of a spoon; keep it cold and use it within the hour.
- Dust each cod loin in flour, drag through the batter and lower away from you into oil at 180 °C (355 °F). Fry 6-8 minutes, turning once, to a deep gold and a core of 63 °C (145 °F) or above.
- Finish the chips at 180 °C (355 °F) until crisp; salt.
- Simmer the peas until soft, crush with a little butter and season. Serve with a lemon wedge and malt vinegar.
Costing notes
The fish is more than four-fifths of the plate: at £3.30 a loin, nothing else matters until that line is right. The case price is for frozen IQF loins; fresh cod is dearer and yields less. Oil is 50 ml a portion, a share of the fryer's life. Lager is costed by the millilitre from a 24-pack; a keg or a cheaper batter beer changes that line.
Prep loss is costed in: each fresh vegetable line is the weight you buy, not the prepared weight that goes in the pan. Potatoes: 3,000 g peeled is 3,704 g as bought at 81% (potato yield).
Where the prices came from
JJ Foodservice collection prices as shown on its public search pages on 7 September 2026 (delivery prices run about £1-2 a case higher). The site does not label VAT on most lines: raw food is zero-rated in the UK, while oil, vanilla and alcohol carry standard-rate VAT. Where JJ had no line that day, a Tesco retail price is used and marked. Your supplier's price is the one that matters: open the recipe and type it in.
- Cod loin, skinless (180-200 g): MSC Atlantic IQF Skinless Boneless Cod Loins 180-200g 1x10 (FSH447), 10 loins, £32.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-09-07
- Plain flour: JJ Plain Flour 1x16kg (FLO016), ex VAT, 16 kg, £12.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-09-07
- Cornflour: JJ Corn Flour 1x3kg (FLO024), 3 kg, £8.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-09-07
- Lager (batter): Stella Artois 24x330ml, 24 x 330 ml, £25.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-09-07
- Bicarbonate of soda: JJ Signature Bicarbonate of Soda 1x1kg (SPI797), 1 kg, £1.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-09-07
- Potatoes (chipping): Chipping Potato 25kg (POT112), 25 kg, £15.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-09-07
- Vegetable oil: Tesco Vegetable Oil 5 Litre (list price, not the Clubcard promo), 5 L, £8.50 — Tesco (retail), accessed 2026-09-07
- Frozen peas: Darta Frozen Choice Peas 1x2.5kg (VEG497), 2.5 kg, £5.29 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-09-07
- Lemons: Fresh Lemons 1x6kg (VEG743), 6 kg, £9.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-09-07
- Malt vinegar: JJ Malt Vinegar 2x5L (SAU449), 2 x 5 L, £7.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-09-07
More costed dishes: pub and restaurant classics
- Chicken tikka masala with rice — £1.34 a portion
- Sticky toffee pudding — £0.87 a portion
- Roast tomato soup — £1.19 a portion
- Sweet chilli sauce — £0.16 a portion