Kitchen Prep List & Production Planner

Your kitchen prep list, built the way chefs run prep. Set each item up once with its station, batch size, prep time, shelf life and a par for every day of the week, then count what is on hand and the planner works out what to prep.

What is inside

• Prep quantities rounded up to full batches
• Use-by dates, prep minutes and prep hours by station
• Pars for Monday through Sunday, adjusted for expected covers
• One clean prep list for the kitchen or one per station, sorted by priority
• An example planner for a 150-seat bistro with 53 items
• A start-here guide

Who it is for

Chefs and sous chefs who want prep driven by pars and covers rather than memory.

How it works

Excel and Google Sheets. Count on hand each day, then print the lists.

A look inside

The tabs, one by one

• Settings. Name up to 8 stations, enter the covers a normal day brings for each day of the week, and choose printed headers in English, Spanish or both.
• Prep Items. Your master list of up to 200 items. Each one gets a station, unit, batch size, minutes per batch, shelf life, a priority and a par for every day of the week. Batch items can also carry a make when below level.
• Daily Prep. Set the date, enter forecast covers if the day looks busier or slower than normal, then count what is on hand. The sheet works out what to prep in full batches, with use by dates and prep hours.
• Prep List. The printout. Whole kitchen or one station, only the items that need prep, in priority order.

A worked example

The example file is counted for a Friday with 310 covers forecast against a normal 290, so every par scales to 107 percent. Burger patties carry a par of 64 for the day and 22 are on hand. The shortfall is 42, the batch size is 12, so the planner calls for 4 batches, which is 48 patties and 60 minutes of work. With a 2 day shelf life the use by date lands on Saturday, because the day you prep counts as day one.

Across the whole kitchen that day, 34 items need prep, 3 are out of stock and the list adds up to 19.1 prep hours, broken out by station so you can staff the morning.

Is this the right tool?

Pick this one if your prep changes with the day of the week and you want the math done for you. If you only need a blank sheet to fill in by hand, our free prep list template covers that and has a quick par calculator. For the wider kitchen, see the Kitchen Opening and Closing Checklist and the Recipe Cost Card System.

Questions and answers

What do I get?
The blank planner for your own kitchen and the filled in example file, so you can see every tab at work before you set up your own.

Which versions of Excel does it need?
Excel 2010 or newer on Windows, Excel 2016 or newer on Mac, or Google Sheets. There are no macros.

How is the use by date worked out?
Prep date plus shelf life, minus one, the way the FDA Food Code counts it. Your local health code has the final say.

Can it print in Spanish?
Yes. Column headers on Daily Prep and Prep List print in English, Spanish or both.

What is make when below?
A trigger for big batch items such as stocks, sauces and dressings. Nothing is called for until you drop below that level, so nobody makes a fresh batch every day.

How do I get the file?
Checkout is through our Etsy shop and the files are ready to download right after purchase.