Realistic take-home math for a permitted home cook: three scenarios from a weekend side hustle to the MEHKO cap, with ingredient costs, platform fees, and hours worked out.
A permitted home cook selling meals part-time typically nets $400–$1,200 a month; a maker running at California's MEHKO limit (90 meals/week) can gross roughly $80,000–$100,000 a year and net $45,000–$60,000 after ingredients and fees. The three numbers that decide where you land are plate price, plates per week, and your food cost percentage. The scenarios below are illustrative — your menu and neighborhood will move them.
Every scenario below is the same arithmetic:
Net per plate = plate price − ingredients − packaging − platform fee − payment processing. Monthly net = net per plate × plates per week × 4.3.
For platform fees we use Makinson Street's rate: 3% of the plate price on card orders plus Stripe's processing fee (2.9% + 30¢), and nothing on in-person payments. On DoorDash or Uber Eats the commission alone is 15–30%, which is why the fee comparison matters more than almost any other number here.
You cook one menu on Saturday, list it Thursday, and sell 20 plates at $16 for pickup. Food cost runs 35% because you're buying at retail in small quantities.
| Line | Per plate | Per month (86 plates) |
|---|---|---|
| Plate price | $16.00 | $1,376 |
| Ingredients (35%) | −$5.60 | −$482 |
| Packaging | −$0.60 | −$52 |
| Platform fee (3%, card orders) | −$0.48 | −$41 |
| Stripe (2.9% + 30¢) | −$0.76 | −$66 |
| Net | $8.56 | ≈ $735 |
Call it 8 hours of shopping, cooking, and handing off — roughly $90/hour for your time. This is the most common way makers start: one signature menu, one day a week, a loyal crowd of regulars.
You cook Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, 20 plates each at $18. Buying in bulk from a restaurant supply store drops food cost to 30%. Half of your regulars pay in person, which is fee-free.
| Line | Per plate (blended) | Per month (258 plates) |
|---|---|---|
| Plate price | $18.00 | $4,644 |
| Ingredients (30%) | −$5.40 | −$1,393 |
| Packaging | −$0.60 | −$155 |
| Platform fee (on half the orders) | −$0.27 | −$70 |
| Stripe (on half the orders) | −$0.41 | −$106 |
| Net | $11.32 | ≈ $2,920 |
About 20 hours a week — a bit over $30/hour net — and roughly $35,000 a year. This is where most people who treat it as a real part-time business end up.
The California ceiling is 30 meals a day and 90 a week. You sell 90 plates at $21 — a premium menu, tasting-style, or family portions — with a 28% food cost and one part-time helper on delivery days.
| Line | Per plate | Per year (4,680 plates) |
|---|---|---|
| Plate price | $21.00 | $98,280 |
| Ingredients (28%) | −$5.88 | −$27,518 |
| Packaging | −$0.70 | −$3,276 |
| Platform fee (3%, card orders) | −$0.63 | −$2,948 |
| Stripe (2.9% + 30¢) | −$0.91 | −$4,259 |
| Helper (10 hrs/wk at $20) | −$2.22 | −$10,400 |
| Net before tax | $10.66 | ≈ $49,900 |
Notice you hit the $100,000 gross cap almost exactly at 90 plates × $21. Raise the price and you'd have to cut plates; that's the ceiling the law draws. Full-time hours — 35–40 a week — for a net around $50,000. Not restaurant-owner money, but no lease, no staff, no 6 a.m. deliveries.
The net figures are before income tax and self-employment tax. Track mileage, ingredients, permit fees, and your Food Protection Manager course — they're deductible. Talk to a tax professional; many home cooks are surprised how much the standard home-office and vehicle deductions cover.
Completely free for orders paid in person (3% plus Stripe's processing fee on card payments). No listing fees, no subscription.
Yes, at typical home-cook price points ($15–$25 a plate) and food costs (28–35%), a permitted maker nets $8–$12 per plate on a low-fee platform. Whether that's worth it depends on your hours: a weekend side hustle is high per-hour income, a full-time operation at the MEHKO cap nets around $50,000 a year.
California caps MEHKO gross sales at $100,000 per year (inflation-adjusted) and 90 meals per week. At those limits, net income after ingredients and fees is roughly $45,000–$60,000 depending on menu and whether you hire help.
Most single-serving home-cooked meals sell for $14–$22; family-size portions for $35–$60. Premium or specialty cuisines command more. Pricing below $14 usually means the maker is not covering their time.
The platform commission is 3% of the plate price on card orders, plus Stripe's standard processing fee (2.9% + 30¢). In-person payments are fee-free. There are no listing fees or subscriptions.