Cost Per Pound of a Home-Cooked Meal Calculator
Example: Total cost of the dish: 14 $ · Finished weight: 6 lb
| Cost per pound | $2 |
| Cost per ounce | $0 |
| Cost per kilogram | $5 |
Worked example
A big pot of chili that costs $14 in ingredients and yields about 6 pounds of finished food comes to roughly $2.33 per pound, about $0.15 per ounce, or around $5.14 per kilogram. A comparable prepared soup or entree from the deli case might run $6 to $9 a pound — meaning the convenience version costs three to four times as much per pound for the same weight of food.
Frequently asked questions
Should I weigh the food raw or cooked?
Weigh the finished dish as you would serve it, because that is what you are comparing against a store container. Cooking changes weight — meat loses water, grains and beans absorb it — so the cooked weight is the fair basis for a cost-per-pound comparison with ready-to-eat food.
Why compare by weight instead of by serving?
Serving sizes are inconsistent and often optimistic on packaging, which makes per-serving comparisons unreliable. Weight is objective: a pound of your chili and a pound of deli chili are directly comparable, so cost per pound cuts through marketing serving math.
How is this different from cost per serving?
Cost per serving depends on how big you call a serving; cost per pound does not. Use cost per serving to plan meals for people, and cost per pound to compare a dish head-to-head against store-bought or restaurant food of the same type.
What foods look worst per pound when bought prepared?
Anything mostly water and cheap staples but sold prepared — soups, stews, cooked grains, and casseroles — carries the steepest markup per pound versus cooking it yourself. Running those dishes through this tool usually reveals the largest home-cooking savings.