How Much Food Do I Need to Serve?

Know Your Guests as You Follow These Guidelines

When hosting a party, you want everyone to feel that they've had their fill, and were left wanting for nothing. Planning for a few leftovers will ensure that you won't have to cook for a few days after the party. On the other hand, you don't want to prepare or purchase so much food that there will be waste. In all cases, you should go with the higher end of your estimates, rather than the lower estimate.

Party Portion Guidelines
All Amounts are Per Person

Hors D'oeuvres

As the basis of your meal (such as a cocktail party) - 4-6 bites, per hour

Before a meal -- 6 bites

As a general rule for cocktail parties, the longer the party and the larger your guest list, the more variety you should plan to offer.

The Main Course

Meat, fish or poultry (serving a single main course) -- 6 ounces

Meat, fish or poultry (serving two or more main courses) - 8 ounces total

Rice and grains (as a side dish) - 1.5 ounces

Rice and grains (as a main course dish such as risotto) - 2 ounces

Potatoes - 5 ounces

Vegetables - 4 ounces

Beans (as a side dish) -- 2 ounces per person

Pasta (side dish) -- 2 ounces

Pasta (first course) -- 3 ounces

Pasta (main dish) -- 4 ounces

Garden Salad -- 1 ounce without dressing

Desserts

Cake, tart, or pastry -- 1 slice

Pudding or mousse -- 4 ounces

Ice cream -- 5 ounces

When offering multiple dessert choices, reduce each by approximately half.

Tips for Estimating Food Quantities:

• Consider the type and timing of your party. For an all-day open house graduation party, you'll want to have a lot more food available than for cocktails before the theater.
• When young children are included in your head count, you'll need less food than with teenagers.
• The more variety you serve, the smaller your portion calculation needs to be for each dish. Most guests will likely sample each item, but take a smaller portion of each one. If you only have a few choices, your guests will heap more of each one on their plates.
• If you have a show-stopping recipe that you know guests will instantly gobble up, you should plan on making more of it than other items that may appeal to only a few people.
• Fill in the holes in your menu with "no-cook" items that are easy to freeze or put away for the future if not required. These include breads, nuts, cheeses, pickles, crackers, fruit, to name just a few.