Full English breakfast: how much it costs to make, per serve
The café and pub breakfast plate: two Cumberland-style sausages, two rashers of back bacon, a fried egg, beans, a slice of black pudding, a hash brown, mushrooms, half a grilled tomato and two slices of buttered toast. Costed from JJ Foodservice wholesale prices dated 9 October 2026.
The menu price is the one ChefSums uses for this dish on its sample café 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pork sausages, Cumberland style (6 to the lb) | £15.99 | 3630 g | 150 g | £0.66 |
| Back bacon, rindless | £8.99 | 2270 g | 50 g | £0.20 |
| Eggs, medium | £3.49 | 30 each | 1 each | £0.12 |
| Baked beans | £28.99 | 15720 g | 150 g | £0.28 |
| Black pudding | £4.99 | 1360 g | 50 g | £0.18 |
| Hash browns | £4.99 | 2270 g | 90 g | £0.20 |
| Button mushrooms | £6.29 | 2500 g | 60 g | £0.15 |
| Beef tomatoes | £18.49 | 7000 g | 80 g | £0.21 |
| Sliced white bread, thick | £1.59 | 800 g | 80 g | £0.16 |
| Unsalted butter | £30.49 | 5000 g | 10 g | £0.06 |
| Vegetable oil | £8.50 | 5000 ml | 15 ml | £0.03 |
| Total | £2.24 | |||
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 | £2.24 |
| Waste allowance, 5% (trim, ends, the odd one binned) | £0.11 |
| Staff time: 10 min hands-on per serve at £12.71/hr + 25% on-cost | £2.65 |
| Food, waste and staff per serve | £5.00 |
At the sample café menu price (£9.58 ex VAT) that is 52% 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
- Start the sausages first: they take 15-18 minutes in the oven or on a low griddle.
- Grill the bacon and black pudding, and griddle the halved tomato cut-side down.
- Fry the mushrooms in a little oil with salt until the liquid has gone and they colour.
- Heat the beans and cook the hash brown (oven or fryer) to the pack time.
- Fry the egg last, toast and butter the bread, plate everything hot.
Costing notes
Sausages are the single biggest line. "6s" means six sausages to the pound (about 75 g each); a 4s sausage looks more generous on the plate but costs a third more per piece. The beans at 150 g are a full ladle; a 2.62 kg catering tin does about 17 portions.
A full English is usually where cafés make their margin on a weekend, but only if the extras (extra egg, extra toast, swap for bubble) are priced: an extra egg costs about 12p and commonly sells for £1.
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.
- Pork sausages, Cumberland style (6 to the lb): JJ Butchers Cumberland Style Pork Sausages 6s 1x3.63kg, 3.63 kg, £15.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Back bacon, rindless: A1 Rindless Back Bacon 1x2.27kg (BAC002), 2.27 kg, £8.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Eggs, medium: Medium Eggs Size 3 1x30, 30 each, £3.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Baked beans: Heinz Baked Beans 6x2.62kg (VEG063), 15.72 kg, £28.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Black pudding: The Bury Black Pudding 1x1.36kg (POR082), 1.36 kg, £4.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Hash browns: JJ Blue Label Hash Browns 1x2.27kg, 2.27 kg, £4.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Button mushrooms: Button Mushrooms 1x2.5kg (VEG879), 2.5 kg, £6.29 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Beef tomatoes: Beef Tomatoes Class I 1x7kg (VEG783), 7 kg, £18.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Sliced white bread, thick: Kingsmill Great Everyday Soft Thick White Bread 1x800g (BRE062), 800 g, £1.59 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Unsalted butter: Lakeland Unsalted Butter 20x250g (DAI186), 5 kg, £30.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-09
- Vegetable oil: Tesco Vegetable Oil 5 Litre (list price, not the Clubcard promo), 5 L, £8.50 — Tesco (retail), accessed 2026-09-07
More costed dishes: café and breakfast
- Jacket potato with tuna mayo — £1.31 a serve
- Cheese and ham toastie — £1.18 a serve
- Egg mayo sandwich — £0.57 a serve
- Beans on toast — £0.60 a serve