Price every item on your food truck menu for profit
Tacos, burgers, empanadas, arepas, bowls or loaded fries: see what each menu item really costs to make, with its sauces, prepped fillings and packaging, what to charge for it, and which items earn you the most. Built for food trucks, carts and market stalls.
No sign-up. Works in your phone's browser, right at the truck. Your recipes stay on your device.
Where a food truck's margin leaks away
Most trucks set prices by looking at the truck next door. The real cost of an item hides in the prep work and in what goes out with every order.
Your salsa is in ten items
The house salsa, the marinated meat, the pickled onions: they are made in big batches and go into half the menu. Their cost ends up spread across items nobody costs one by one.
Every order takes packaging
Clamshells, trays, cups, lids, foil, napkins and forks go out with every sale. On a small item they can be a big share of the cost, and they are the first thing left out of the price.
Prices move every week
Meat, avocados, cheese and frying oil change price all the time. A menu priced in spring may barely cover its costs by the end of the season.
How to price a menu item
A simple method many food businesses use is food cost percentage: the share of the selling price that goes to ingredients and packaging.
Find the cost per order
Add up what goes into one order: the ingredients you used (only the part of each package that went in), your share of the prepped salsa or filling, and the packaging.
Pick a target food cost
Food trucks commonly aim for a food cost between 25% and 35% of the price, which leaves a 65% to 75% gross margin for labor, fuel, permits, event fees and profit.
Divide to get the price
Price = cost per order ÷ target food cost. Then check it against your market and adjust.
An order of 3 carne asada tacos
3 tortillas ($0.30), 120 g of your marinated steak at $11.00 a kg ($1.32), 30 g of house salsa at $4.00 a kg ($0.12), onion and cilantro ($0.10), and a tray with napkins ($0.25) come to $2.09 an order.
- Cost per order
- $2.09
- Target food cost
- 30%
- Suggested price
- $2.09 ÷ 0.30 = $6.97
Selling it at $8 instead brings your food cost down to about 26%, a 74% gross margin. PanProfit shows all of this for every item, automatically, and works out the steak and the salsa per kg from their own recipes.
Made for the way a truck kitchen works
Prep recipes inside menu items
Save your salsa, marinade or slaw as a preparation with its total yield, and use it in any item by the gram, ml or portion. Change the salsa once and every item that uses it updates. Preparations are free: they do not count toward the 10 recipes of the Free plan.
Packaging in every order
Add trays, cups, lids and napkins as packaging, counted by the unit, and use one of each per order: they show in their own block of every menu item. Your prep time goes in each item at your own hourly rate, and fuel or event fees go in once, as an overhead percentage.
Only what goes in counts
A usable percentage for each ingredient covers meat trim, avocado pits and peels, so the cost follows what actually went on the plate.
See which items carry the menu
All your menu items in one table, colored by margin: green for healthy margins, yellow for tight ones, red for items that need a new price or a smaller portion.
Avocados went up again? Update the price once: every item that uses them changes, also through your guacamole, and PanProfit shows which items lost margin. With Pro, it also gives you the price that keeps it, and the price history of every ingredient.
Getting ready for a big event? The shopping list adds up everything you need across items and batches, breaks your preps down to raw ingredients, and groups it by store.
Questions from food truck owners
What food cost percentage should a food truck aim for?
Many food trucks aim for 25% to 35% of the selling price for ingredients and packaging. Items with cheap ingredients, like fries or drinks, often run lower and help balance pricier ones. PanProfit shows the food cost of every item so you can see your whole menu at a glance.
How do I cost a sauce or filling I use in many items?
Make it a recipe and answer "No, it is a preparation" when PanProfit asks if you sell it. Give it its total yield (for example 2 kg of salsa) and PanProfit works out its cost per kg. Then add it to any menu item like an ingredient, by the gram or the portion.
Can I include packaging in the cost?
Yes. Add each packaging item once, counted by the unit (for example a case of 500 trays), and use one per order in the Packaging block of the recipe. It is then part of the cost of every order and shows up in the shopping list.
Do I need a permit or license to run a food truck?
Almost always: health permits, business licenses and commissary rules depend on your city and state. Check with your local health department. PanProfit helps with costs and prices, not with permits.
Is it really free?
Yes, for up to 10 menu items, with unlimited ingredients and preparations and no sign-up. When your menu grows, PanProfit Pro (USD 19.99 a year) gives you unlimited items and the price that keeps your margin. Your recipes are saved in your own browser on every plan, and you can back them up to a file anytime. See Pricing.
Know what every item on your menu earns you
Add your best seller first, with its salsa as a preparation. It takes a few minutes, and you may be surprised by what it really earns.
Open the app, it's free