ChefSums: Recipe Costing & GP

Steak and ale pie with chips and peas: how much it costs to make, per portion

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Braised diced beef in an ale gravy under a puff pastry lid, served with chips and peas. Ten portions costed from JJ Foodservice prices dated 10 October 2026; the ale is a Morrisons shelf price from the same day.

Illustration of a steak and ale pie with a slice cut out, served with mash, peas and gravy
Illustration by The ChefSums team: a drawing of the dish, not a photo, and not the exact costing below.
Ingredients per portion£2.85
Batch of 10£28.52
Menu price · ChefSums' sample pub menu£16.96 inc VAT (£14.13 ex) · 80% GP
Lowest price · 68% GP£10.70 inc VAT (£8.91 ex)

The menu price is the one ChefSums uses for this dish on its sample pub 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.

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Ingredients and cost, 10 portions

IngredientPack pricePack sizeUsedCost
Diced beef braising steak£19.992000 g1800 g£17.99
Onions£7.4910000 g556 g£0.42
Carrots£7.4910000 g488 g£0.37
Plain flour£12.4916000 g60 g£0.05
Vegetable oil (browning)£26.9920000 ml50 ml£0.07
Amber ale£1.50500 ml500 ml£1.50
Stock (vegetable bouillon powder)£10.991000 g20 g£0.22
Tomato paste£7.493000 g30 g£0.07
Worcestershire sauce£16.994000 ml20 ml£0.08
Fresh thyme£1.79100 g5 g£0.09
Puff pastry (pre-sheeted), lids£47.9920000 g800 g£1.92
Eggs, medium (egg wash)£3.4930 each1 each£0.12
Frozen chips, 3/8-inch£13.999080 g2250 g£3.47
Vegetable oil (fryer top-up allowance)£26.9920000 ml300 ml£0.40
Frozen peas£5.292500 g800 g£1.69
Table salt£10.996000 g10 g£0.02
Ground black pepper£15.991000 g3 g£0.05
Batch total£28.52
Per portion (÷ 10)£2.85

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£2.85
Waste allowance, 5% (trim, ends, the odd one binned)£0.14
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£3.78

At the sample pub menu price (£14.13 ex VAT) that is 27% 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. Toss the diced beef in the seasoned flour and brown it in batches in a little oil.
  2. Soften the chopped onions and carrots, stir in the tomato paste, then add the beef, ale, Worcestershire sauce, thyme and about 1 litre of stock made with the bouillon.
  3. Cover and braise at 160 °C for about 2 hours, until the beef is tender; check the seasoning and cool.
  4. Fill individual pie dishes, top with 80 g puff pastry lids, egg wash and bake at 200 °C for 20-25 minutes until risen and golden.
  5. Serve with chips and peas.

Costing notes

The beef is £17.99 of the £28.52 batch, nearly two-thirds of the plate, at 180 g raw a portion. JJ listed the 2 kg pack of diced braising steak on delivery only that day, so this line uses the delivery price. A pie with a pastry lid only (no base) keeps the pastry cost to about £0.19 a portion.

The ale is a single 500 ml bottle at a supermarket shelf price. A pub using a cask or keg ale from its own cellar should cost it at its own price per pint, which is usually higher than a supermarket bottle, so put your figure in.

Prep loss is costed in: each fresh vegetable line is the weight you buy, not the prepared weight that goes in the pan. Onions: 500 g peeled is 556 g as bought at 90% (onion yield); Carrots: 400 g peeled is 488 g as bought at 82% (carrot yield).

Where the prices came from

JJ Foodservice collection prices as shown on its public search pages on 10 October 2026 (delivery runs about £1-2 a case higher; one line JJ listed on delivery only is marked). Lines JJ did not list that day are Morrisons shelf prices from its website on the same day, marked on each line; a supermarket pack usually costs more per kilo than a wholesale case. 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.

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