Sub-Recipe
Also called: base recipe, prep recipe
What is Sub-Recipe?
A sub-recipe is a component prepared in bulk and used across several dishes — a base gravy, a stock, a spice mix, a sauce or a dough. It is costed once per batch and then charged into each finished dish at a per-unit rate.
Why sub-recipes break costing
Sub-recipes are where restaurant costing usually goes wrong. If a base gravy is treated as a lump kitchen expense rather than costed and allocated, every dish using it is understated — and the error is invisible, because each individual recipe costing sheet looks correct on its own.
How to cost a sub-recipe
Cost the batch at landed cost, divide by usable output rather than raw input, and carry that rate into each dish exactly the way you would carry a raw ingredient. Re-cost the sub-recipe whenever any of its inputs move, since one change ripples through every dish that uses it.
Frequently asked questions
Whenever a major input price moves, and at least quarterly. One sub-recipe often feeds a third of the menu.