Italian Phrase
Quanto costa la ricetta?
Meaning
A direct way to ask the price of a recipe, a cooking instruction booklet, or a medical prescription. The question focuses on the cost rather than the content of the recipe.
When to use
Use this phrase in a shop, pharmacy, or market when you need to know how much you’ll have to pay for a written recipe, a printed cookbook page, or a prescription slip.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Quantocostalaricetta?
Quanto (interrogative adverb)
Used to ask about quantity or price; it does not change form for gender or number.
costa (present indicative of costare)
Third‑person singular of the verb ‘costare’ (to cost). It agrees with the subject ‘la ricetta’.
la ricetta (definite article + noun)
Feminine singular noun meaning ‘recipe’ or ‘prescription’; the article ‘la’ marks it as a specific item.
🗨In Conversation
Quanto costa la ricetta?
How much does the recipe cost?
Costa dieci euro.
It costs ten euros.
✕Common Mistakes
Che costa la ricetta?
‘Che’ is a relative pronoun; the correct interrogative adverb for price is ‘Quanto’.
Quanto è la ricetta?
‘È’ asks ‘what is the recipe?’, not its price. Use ‘costa’ to ask about cost.
Quanto costa il ricetta?
‘Ricetta’ is feminine, so the article must be ‘la’, not ‘il’.
↔Alternatives
Quanto devo pagare per la ricetta?
How much do I have to pay for the recipe?
Qual è il prezzo della ricetta?
What is the price of the recipe?
Che prezzo ha la ricetta?
What price does the recipe have?
Cultural Tip
In Italy most medical prescriptions are covered by the national health service, so pharmacies usually charge a small administrative fee (often €1‑€5). For printed recipes or cooking classes, prices can vary widely, so it’s polite to ask the cost before committing.