Party Food Calculator
How much food per person, by the pound — mains, sides, appetizers and dessert, without the leftovers.
Free · No sign-up · Runs in your browser
Who's eating
Counted at 1.5× an adult
What you're serving
Changes the weight you buy — bones and slow-cooking shrinkage are counted.
Splits the main into a meat dish and a vegetarian one.
34
Guests
33
Adult-sized appetites
Buffet
How it's served
Buy this much
The main event
- Chicken — boneless breast or thigh14.5 lb
About 38 fillets
- Vegetarian main2.5 lb
For the 15% not eating meat
Make it a real dish, not a side — and keep it off the same grill or tray.
- Appetizers & nibbles152 pieces
4 per adult-sized appetite · about 4 full platters
Sides, salad & bread
- Side dishes (3)10 lb each
115 g / 4 oz per guest per side · 29 lb in total
Potatoes, rice, slaw, roast veg — one starchy, one green, one cold.
- Green salad4 lb
Leaves only — dressing and toppings on top of this
- Bread & rolls57 pieces
1.5 per guest · buy the last of it fresh on the day
Dessert, cake & snacks
- Dessert57 servings
1.5 per guest — people take a second small one, not a second large one
- CakeServes 34
A 10 in / 25 cm two-layer round covers about 40
Order cake for your guest count, not your RSVP count — people take a slice home.
- Chips, nuts & bowl snacks5.5 lb
Out from the start — it's what stops early arrivals drinking on empty
- Kid-safe plain option6 portions
Plain pasta, bread, fruit and something beige
Counted inside the totals above — this is a reminder, not extra weight.
Worth knowing
- These numbers include the 15% self-service bump — people serve themselves bigger portions than a caterer would.
- 4 teenagers counted at 1.5× an adult portion. That is not a joke and it is not generous.
- Aim to run out of nothing and have leftovers of one or two things. Bread, salad and dessert are the cheapest places to be generous.
Free on iOS & Android
Turn these quantities into a real shopping list
- Every dish on your menu, with the amounts already worked out
- Split the list between whoever is cooking and whoever is shopping
- Track dietary requirements against your actual guest list
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Food sorted? work out the drinks
The method
How these numbers are worked out
Headcount becomes appetite, not people
Adults count as one, teenagers as one and a half, children under twelve as a half. Every weight on this page is worked out from that adjusted number rather than from a raw guest count, which is why a party of thirty with six teenagers needs noticeably more food than a party of thirty without.
Purchase weight, not cooked weight
The figures are what you put in the trolley. Bone-in chicken is scaled up by about 40% because you are buying bone, and slow-cooked cuts are scaled up by more than half because they lose water in the oven. Calculators that quote cooked weight consistently send people home with too little meat.
How the food is served changes the number
Self-service means larger helpings and some of everything, so a buffet carries about 15% more than the same meal plated. A party running past four hours picks up around another 10% for second laps. A BBQ starts from a higher base because grilled food is what people came for.
Where to be generous
Aim to run out of nothing and have leftovers of one or two things. Bread, salad and dessert are the cheapest places to over-cater and the least painful to have left over. Main protein is the expensive place to guess high, which is why it gets the most careful arithmetic here.
Common questions
How much food do I need per person at a party?
For a buffet, plan on about 7 oz (200 g) of main per adult before cooking, 4 oz (115 g) of each side dish, 1.5 oz (45 g) of salad leaves and 1.5 bread rolls. A sit-down meal needs slightly more main and fewer sides, and a BBQ needs the most main of all because it is the whole point of the meal.
How many appetizers do I need per person?
If finger food is the entire meal, plan 10–12 pieces per guest across five or six different things. If appetizers come before a proper meal, 4–5 pieces per guest is plenty — any more and people stop eating the dinner you cooked.
How much meat do I need for 40 people?
At a BBQ, roughly 25 lb (11 kg) of purchase weight for 40 adults, which is about 100 quarter-pound burgers or the equivalent in sausages and chicken. Bone-in cuts need about 40% more weight than boneless, and slow-cooked shoulder or brisket loses around 40% of its weight in the oven, so buy heavy for pulled pork.
Do children count as full guests when calculating food?
No. Children under 12 eat about half an adult portion. Teenagers eat about one and a half times an adult portion, which is the adjustment most people forget and then run short on. The calculator converts your headcount into adult-sized appetites before working out any weights.
How much extra food should I make for a buffet?
About 15% more than a plated meal. People serve themselves larger portions than a caterer would, and they take some of everything rather than choosing. A long party adds roughly another 10% for second helpings — both adjustments are built into the numbers here.
What size cake do I need?
An 8 in / 20 cm two-layer round serves about 20, a 10 in / 25 cm two-layer round serves about 40, and above that you want tiers or sheet cakes. Order for your full guest count rather than your RSVP count, because people take a slice home.
How much should I cater for vegetarian guests?
Ask rather than guess, then set the slider to match. Make the vegetarian option a real dish rather than a side, cook a little more of it than the headcount suggests, and keep it off the same grill or serving tray — meat-eaters will help themselves to a good vegetarian dish and leave the people who need it short.
Keep planning
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