Kitchen Recipes: Standard, Prep & Resale Types
BarSight's recipe system lets you define what you sell and how it's made. Whether you're creating a multi-ingredient dish, a prep component like pizza dough, or simply reselling a wholesale item - understanding the three recipe types helps you track costs and manage inventory effectively.
The Three Recipe Types
Standard Recipes
Sellable items made from multiple ingredients - your core menu offerings.
- Use for: Finished dishes, drinks, meal kits, anything you make and sell
- Ingredients: Multiple inventory items (and prep recipes)
- Pricing: Set a selling price and target cost
- Cost tracking: Estimated cost calculated automatically from ingredients
- Example: Margherita Pizza (dough + sauce + cheese + basil)
Prep Recipes
Intermediate recipes used as ingredients in other recipes - your building blocks.
- Use for: Sauces, doughs, marinades, spice blends, prep components
- Ingredients: Multiple inventory items
- Pricing: No selling price (not sold directly)
- Yield: Define how much one batch produces
- Example: Pizza Dough (flour + water + yeast + salt) yields 10 portions
Resale Items
Single inventory items sold without modification - wholesale to retail.
- Use for: Bottled drinks, packaged snacks, merchandise
- Ingredients: Exactly one inventory item
- Pricing: Set a selling price
- Cost tracking: Target cost auto-calculated from inventory purchase cost
- Example: Bottled Water (1 unit of "Bottled Water" inventory item)
Creating a Standard Recipe
Step 1: Start a New Recipe
- Navigate to Kitchen → Recipes
- Click New Recipe
Step 2: Enter Basic Details
- Enter the Recipe Name
- Select Type: Standard
- Select or create a Category (e.g., "Entrees", "Appetizers", "Beverages")
- Check Global Recipe if this recipe should be available at all locations
- Enter the Price - your selling price
- Select the Tax code that applies
- Enter a Target Cost - your cost goal for this recipe
- Click Save
[SCREENSHOT: New recipe form with Standard type selected]
Step 3: Add Ingredients
- On the recipe form, find the Ingredients section
- Click Add Ingredient
- Select an Inventory Item from the dropdown
- Enter the Quantity used per recipe
- Select the UOM for this quantity
- Options are based on the ingredient's Default UOM
- Click Save
- Repeat for all ingredients
[SCREENSHOT: Add ingredient modal showing quantity and UOM fields]
Step 4: Review Costs
After adding ingredients, the recipe form shows:
- Estimated Cost: Calculated automatically from ingredient costs
- Target Cost: Your goal (what you entered)
- Compare these to ensure profitability
Creating a Prep Recipe
Prep recipes are building blocks - they don't sell directly but are used in Standard recipes.
Step 1: Create the Prep Recipe
- Navigate to Kitchen → Recipes
- Click New Recipe
- Enter the Recipe Name (e.g., "Pizza Dough")
- Select Type: Prep
- Select a Category
- Click Save
Step 2: Set the Yield
Unlike Standard recipes, Prep recipes have a Yield instead of a Price:
- Enter the Yield - how much one batch produces
- Select the UOM for the yield
Example: Pizza Dough yields 10 portions (each), or Tomato Sauce yields 5 liters.
[SCREENSHOT: Prep recipe form showing Yield and UOM fields]
Step 3: Add Ingredients
- Click Add Ingredient
- Add all base ingredients for this prep item
- The estimated cost will calculate automatically
Step 4: Use in Standard Recipes
Once created, your Prep recipe can be added to Standard recipes:
- Open a Standard recipe
- Click Add Prep Recipe
- Select your Prep recipe
- Enter the quantity used (in the Prep recipe's yield UOM)
Example: Your Margherita Pizza uses 1 portion of Pizza Dough and 0.2L of Tomato Sauce.
Creating a Resale Item
Resale items are the simplest - one inventory item sold as-is.
Method 1: From Inventory
- Navigate to Kitchen → Inventory
- Open the inventory item you want to resell
- In the Recipes section, click Create Resale Item
- The system creates a Resale recipe linked to this item
Method 2: Convert from Standard
If you have a Standard recipe with only one ingredient:
- Open the recipe
- Click Convert to Resale in the toolbar
- Confirm the conversion
Resale Item Behavior
- Ingredients: Locked to exactly one item (cannot add more)
- Target Cost: Auto-calculated from the inventory item's purchase cost
- Updates automatically: When you receive new stock at different prices, target cost adjusts
[SCREENSHOT: Resale recipe showing locked ingredients and auto-calculated target cost]
Converting Between Recipe Types
You can convert between Standard and Resale (but not Prep):
Standard → Resale
- Requirement: Recipe must have exactly 1 ingredient
- What happens: Type changes, target cost becomes auto-calculated
- Use case: You realize a "recipe" is really just reselling a single item
Resale → Standard
- Requirement: None
- What happens: Type changes, you can now add more ingredients
- Use case: You want to add components to what was a simple resale item
Prep Recipes Cannot Convert
Prep recipes are locked because they may be used as ingredients in other recipes. Converting could break cost calculations.
How to Convert
- Open the recipe
- In the toolbar, click Convert to [Type]
- Confirm the action in the popup
Recipe Availability and Scope
Available Toggle
The Available checkbox controls whether the recipe can be ordered:
- Checked: Recipe appears in order forms
- Unchecked: Recipe is hidden from ordering (useful for seasonal items)
Global vs. Location-Specific
- Global Recipe (checked): Available at all company locations
- Location-specific (unchecked): Only available at your current location
Note: Prep recipes are always location-specific.
Understanding Recipe Costs
Estimated Cost
Automatically calculated by adding up ingredient costs:
- Takes each ingredient's quantity used
- Multiplies by that ingredient's current cost per unit
- Sums all ingredients
- Updates when ingredient costs change or recipe is modified
Target Cost
- Standard: Manual entry - your cost goal
- Resale: Auto-calculated from inventory purchase cost
- Prep: Not applicable (internal use only)
Margin Analysis
Compare your Price against Estimated Cost to understand margins:
- If Estimated Cost > Target Cost: Recipe is costing more than planned
- If Estimated Cost > Price: You're losing money on this item
Quick Create Recipe (From Inventory)
For faster recipe creation from the inventory page:
- Navigate to Kitchen → Inventory
- Open an inventory item
- In the Recipes section, click Create Recipe
- Fill in the quick form:
- Recipe Title (pre-filled from item name)
- Category
- Price and Tax
- Add additional ingredients if needed
- Save to create the recipe
This is faster than starting from scratch when building recipes around a primary ingredient.
Tips and Best Practices
- Use Prep recipes for components: If you use the same sauce in 10 dishes, create it as a Prep recipe once. Changes to the sauce automatically update all dishes using it.
- Set realistic target costs: Use target cost to track food cost goals. If estimated cost exceeds target, it's time to review ingredient sourcing or portion sizes.
- Keep Resale items simple: If you're adding more than one ingredient, it's probably a Standard recipe.
- Organize by category: Good categories make finding recipes easier for staff taking orders.
- Review costs regularly: Estimated costs change as ingredient prices fluctuate - check periodically.
Troubleshooting
Problem: Can't convert Standard recipe to Resale
Solution: Standard recipes need exactly 1 ingredient to convert to Resale. Remove extra ingredients or keep it as Standard.
Problem: Can't convert Prep recipe
Solution: Prep recipes cannot be converted. If you need a sellable version, create a new Standard recipe that uses this Prep as an ingredient.
Problem: Estimated cost seems wrong
Solution: Check that all ingredients have correct costs in the inventory. Estimated cost pulls from current inventory item prices.
Problem: Can't add more ingredients to a Resale item
Solution: Resale items only have one ingredient by design. Convert to Standard if you need multiple ingredients.