Plan Your Party, Serve the Right Amount of Food (2024)

FAQs

Plan Your Party, Serve the Right Amount of Food? ›

Guests tend to eat and drink more at night than during the day. However, an after-dinner co*cktail party requires much less food than an all-afternoon cookout. On average, plan for each adult to consume about 1 pound of food total (not including dessert). Count on children to consume about a ½ pound.

Rules to Plan By

Each adult will consume 1 pound of food total; children, about 1/2 pound. The more options you have, the less you need of each; decrease the main course portion sizes by 1 to 2 ounces if served on a buffet. Guests will always eat — and drink — more at night than during the day.

The easiest rule is the “One Pound Rule.” Provide one pound of food for each adult guest (not including drinks or dessert).

So, for an event of 100 guests, you'll need 80 platters to feed the guests at “full meal” capacity. You may feel the need to order 1-2 more than your calculation, but keep in mind that different guests have different levels of appetite.

You should calculate the exact portions of food for each person. A decent estimate for the amount of food to serve to one guest is approximately 1.5 pounds (600g). Divide this by the number of servings, taking into account the main course, as well as the smaller side dishes.

Aim to provide around 6-8 courses of small bite size food per person. Each course should have enough for 1-1.5 pieces of food per person.

What Does a Typical Catering Tray Feed? Generally, a catering tray can feed 15-20 people. For example, a full tray of chicken breasts should have enough protein for 15-20 people. However, remember that people may choose sides like salads and desserts, which may not factor into this.

Here's a quick guide to how many appetizers you should serve at your party: 10-12 guests = 5 appetizer selections. 25 guests = 9 appetizer selections.

As a general rule, you should plan to provide between 5 and 8 pieces of finger food per head when catering for an event. However, you should also consider the ages of the guests, the time and length of the event, and the popularity of certain foods.

How much does it cost to feed 200 people? ›

Handy Sandwich Platter Catering Tips

As a general rule, ordering 1.5 sandwiches per person is the perfect number.

Catering businesses profit margin

For smaller businesses, catering profit margins have similar food cost numbers to food trucks and a profit margin of around 7-8%.

For example, the average cost of a meal made with groceries at home is only $4 per person, compared to a whopping $13 per person at a restaurant. To put that in perspective, a family of four that only eats at home for dinner would spend just under $500 per month, compared to $1,600 eating out every night.

Unless you're serving an amuse bouche, a good rule to follow is to serve 6 appetizers per person for a standard dinner party and 8 to 12 appetizers per person for a co*cktail party. Plan on your guests to eat about 4-5 appetizers each during the first hour.

As a general rule, ordering 1.5 sandwiches per person is the perfect number. If you're ordering a salad or an accompanying platter, 1 sandwich per person is the preferred portion size.

Indeed, as it is possible to serve dishes that can cater to between 25 – 40 people. In most cases, a catering tray will measure 12-inches by 10-inches. Clearly, you can use 2 half trays to feed a large crowd with the same amount as a full tray. Half trays are commonly used to serve side dishes and smaller entrees.

At the bottom of the Pyramid were grains (6–11 servings), then fruits (2–4 servings) and vegetables (3–5 servings), then protein and dairy (2–3 servings of each), then at the top were fats/oils/sweets.