🎉Party Food Calculator

About this tool

Enter the number of adults and children and how long the party lasts, tick the box for a hot day or an outdoor event, and choose snacks, heavy snacks instead of a meal, or a sit-down or buffet meal. The calculator lists canapés or snacks, main and side quantities for a meal, desserts, drinks, water, ice, plates, cups and napkins, ready to copy as a shopping list.

How much food to buy for a party

Caterers use simple rules of thumb, and this calculator applies them with children counted as about half an adult for food. For snacks and canapés, allow about six pieces per person for the first hour and four for each hour after, and half as much again when the snacks replace a meal. A three-hour snack party for 30 adults and 8 children needs around 476 pieces. For a meal, allow about 170 g, or 6 oz, of cooked main per adult, around 140 g of each side, and a few canapés beforehand. For drinks, plan roughly one per adult per hour plus one to start, and about half a kilo of ice per guest, more on a hot day. Desserts are about one and a half portions per person, because people like to try two. Round up rather than down, since running out is worse than leftovers, and plan to freeze or share what remains. Honest limits: appetites vary with the crowd, the time of day and how filling the food is, so adjust for big eaters, and always check for allergies and dietary needs. The recipe scaler, the shopping list and the pizza dough calculator help with the cooking.

Frequently asked questions