Yield Percentage Calculator
You can only serve what survives the cutting board. Weigh what you bought, weigh what's usable, and see your yield — plus what that ingredient really costs per pound served.
You can only serve what survives the cutting board. Weigh what you bought, weigh what's usable, and see your yield — plus what that ingredient really costs per pound served.
Enter both weights to see your yield percentage.
Yield % = (usable weight ÷ purchased weight) × 100
True cost per usable lb = invoice price per lb ÷ (yield % ÷ 100)
A 10 lb case of broccoli crowns costs $20.00 — $2.00/lb on paper. After trimming you have 6.1 lb of florets: a 61% yield. The broccoli on the plate costs 2.00 ÷ 0.61 = $3.28/lb — 64% more than the invoice says. Cost your beef-and-broccoli with the $2.00 number and every plate quietly lies to you.
Starting points, not gospel — your spec and knife work move these numbers. Run a real yield test (weigh in, weigh out) for anything you buy in volume.
| Ingredient | Typical yield |
|---|---|
| Broccoli (crowns to florets) | ~61% |
| Cauliflower | ~55% |
| Carrots (peeled) | ~80% |
| Yellow onions (peeled, trimmed) | ~88% |
| Potatoes (peeled) | ~81% |
| Celery (trimmed) | ~75% |
| Bell peppers (cored, seeded) | ~82% |
| Romaine (trimmed, cored) | ~75% |
| Tomatoes (cored) | ~90% |
| Whole chicken (to boneless usable meat) | ~55% |
| Beef tenderloin (peeled from whole) | ~75% |
| Salmon (whole to skin-on fillet) | ~55% |
Yield percentage is how much of what you buy actually ends up servable: (edible portion weight ÷ as-purchased weight) × 100. Buy 10 lb of broccoli, trim it down to 6.1 lb of usable florets, and your yield is 61%.
True cost per usable pound = invoice price per pound ÷ (yield % ÷ 100). Broccoli at $2.00/lb with a 61% yield really costs $3.28 per pound served. Recipes costed at invoice prices understate every trimmed ingredient.
In percent — 90 means 90%. It reads as "90 out of every 100 ounces survives prep." (We built a guard into Freecost after a real customer entered 0.9 meaning 90% and briefly had $209/lb broccoli.)
They're starting points. Your knife skills, spec, and vendor trim all move the number. The gold standard is a yield test in your own kitchen: weigh a case in, weigh the usable product out, divide.
Freecost stores a yield percentage on every ingredient and does this math on every recipe automatically — invoice price in, true plate cost out.
Start free — no credit cardFreecost is free recipe-costing software built by a chef. Web + Android.