How to Price a Food Truck Menu: Recipe Costing, Food Cost Percentage and Daily Sales Targets

Food truck owners often price their menu by looking at the truck next door. But the truck next door might have cheaper suppliers, a smaller menu, a different commissary deal or no idea what its food costs. Your prices must come from your own recipes and costs, then be checked against the market. This guide walks through recipe costing, food cost percentages, menu engineering and the daily sales target that tells you whether a location is worth it.

All figures are illustrative as of 2026. Verify ingredient prices with your suppliers.

Step 1: Cost every recipe

Cost each menu item to the cent, including packaging.

Example: chicken taco plate (3 tacos)

Use cooked yields for proteins. If chicken thigh loses 25 percent of its weight in trimming and cooking, the cost per cooked ounce is higher than the raw price suggests. Weigh it yourself.

Tip: Re-cost your top five items every month. Protein, oil and produce prices move, and a menu priced last spring may be losing margin now.

Step 2: Apply a target food cost percentage

Menu price = plate cost ÷ target food cost percentage

$2.61 ÷ 0.30 = $8.70

Round to a sensible price, such as $9.00 or $9.50. Many trucks target a blended food and packaging cost of 25 to 33 percent.

Step 3: Check against the market

If competitors sell similar plates for $12, you may have room to price higher and improve margin. If they sell for $7, lower cost through portion changes, cheaper cuts or better purchasing, or differentiate so customers will pay more. Never simply copy the lower price without knowing your costs.

Step 4: Engineer the menu

Sort items by popularity and profit:

A short menu also speeds service, reduces waste and makes ordering easier at a busy window. Many successful trucks run six to ten core items plus a rotating special.

Step 5: Add profitable extras

Drinks, sides and add-ons carry the best margins. A canned soda that costs around $0.50 and sells for $2.50 has a food cost of about 20 percent. Train staff to ask, "Would you like to add a drink or fries?" A small increase in average ticket across hundreds of orders changes monthly profit significantly.

Bundle example:

• Taco plate $9.50 (cost $2.61)
• Chips and salsa $3.00 (cost $0.55)
• Drink $2.50 (cost $0.50)
• Combo price $13.00 (cost $3.66, or about 28 percent)

Step 6: Set your daily sales target

Daily break-even sales = (monthly fixed costs ÷ working days) ÷ contribution margin

Example: $6,000 of monthly fixed costs (truck payment, insurance, commissary, permits, software, phone) ÷ 20 working days = $300 a day. With a 45 percent contribution margin after food, packaging, card fees and hourly labour, $300 ÷ 0.45 = about $667 in sales per day to break even. At a $14 average ticket, that is about 48 orders.

Use this number to judge locations. If a lunch spot reliably produces 70 orders, it covers fixed costs and makes profit. If it produces 35, it loses money no matter how pleasant it is.

Evaluating event fees

Events charge in different ways:

• Flat fee: for example, $150 to $1,000 or more depending on event size
• Percentage of sales: often a share of gross sales
• Minimum guarantee: you pay the organiser a minimum or owe the difference

Before accepting, estimate attendance, the number of other food vendors, the expected share of attendees who will buy from you, and your average ticket. Then calculate expected sales minus food cost, labour, fees and travel. A big event with too many trucks can be worse than a quiet weekday lunch.

Worked example: a month of numbers

Raising the average ticket from $14 to $15.50 through combos and add-ons, with the same orders, adds about $2,250 of revenue and roughly $1,500 of contribution. That one change increases monthly profit by almost half.

Control the cost side

Menu prices are only half of food cost. The other half is purchasing and waste:

• Standardise portions with scoops, scales and portion cups so every plate matches the recipe cost.
• Track waste at the end of every shift; the items you throw away are real costs.
• Prep to forecast, using sales history by location and day of the week.
• Cross-utilise ingredients so the same protein or sauce appears in several items.
• Compare suppliers monthly and ask about volume pricing.
• Count inventory weekly and compare actual food cost with your theoretical cost from recipes.

If actual food cost runs several points above theoretical, the problem is usually portioning, waste or theft, not prices.

Display prices clearly

A menu board that is easy to read sells more. Show prices without cents where possible, place your stars and combos in the top right or most visible spot, keep descriptions short and list add-ons beside the items they pair with. Fast decisions at the window mean shorter lines and more orders per hour.

Price catering separately

Private events and catering are priced differently from window sales. Charge per guest or a minimum guarantee, include travel, setup time and staffing, and require a deposit. Because you know the headcount in advance, food waste is lower and margins can be better than street service, which is why many trucks build catering into their weekly schedule.

Raising prices without losing customers

Raise prices in small steps rather than one large jump. Pair increases with a menu refresh, a new special or improved packaging. Keep one or two value items so price-sensitive customers still have an option, and focus increases on your stars, where demand is strong.

Common pricing mistakes

1. Pricing without costing recipes, including packaging.
2. Using raw instead of cooked yields for proteins.
3. Too many menu items, which raises waste and slows service.
4. Ignoring card fees and labour in profit calculations.
5. Never re-costing as ingredient prices change.
6. Accepting every event without running the numbers.

Questions readers ask

Should food truck prices include sales tax?

Some trucks build tax into round menu prices so transactions are faster, while others add tax at checkout. Either can work if you follow your state's rules on how tax is collected and displayed. If you include tax in the price, make sure your recipe costing and profit calculations use the pre-tax amount.

How often should I change my menu prices?

Review costs monthly and adjust prices when your food cost percentage moves outside your target range for more than a few weeks. Many trucks make one or two planned price updates a year and use specials to test new price points between updates.

Should I offer a kids' menu?

Only if your locations attract families; keep it short and priced from cost like everything else.

Your next step

Cost your three best-selling items to the cent this week, including packaging, and compare each with your target food cost percentage.

The full guide, Starting a Food Truck Business, covers concept, startup costs, the truck, permits, commissary operations, insurance, menu pricing and profit math, locations and events, marketing and a 30/60/90-day plan, for $0.99.