Sub-recipe
Also called: prep recipe · component recipe
A sub-recipe is a preparation used as an ingredient in other recipes — a stock, a mother sauce, a dough, a spice blend. Costed properly it has a cost per ounce that flows automatically into every dish that uses it. Costed by guess, it corrupts every one of them at once.
Worked example · Demi-glace, costed once, used six times
- Batch cost (bones, mirepoix, wine, time)
- $41.20
- Yield after reduction
- 96 oz
- Cost per oz
- $0.43
- Used in 6 dishes at 1.5–3 oz each
- $0.65–$1.29 per plate
- Cost per oz
- $0.43
Guessed at "about a quarter an ounce" instead, the six dishes are collectively understated by roughly $0.27–$0.54 each — and the error is invisible because it's spread thin.
Run the numbers
Recipe cost calculator
The guide that works it through
Recipe Costing, Step by Step
How to cost a recipe properly: yield-adjusted ingredient costs, sub-recipes, the Q factor, and a full worked example from invoice to plate cost to menu price.