How much food for 10 people
For 10 people at a sit-down dinner, plan about 15 lb of finished food: 5.75 lb of mains, 3.5 lb of sides and 11 dessert servings. Pour about 50 drinks over 4 hours and buy 25 lb of ice.
Food amounts for 10 people by kind of party
Appetizers
2.25 lb
About 47 bites
Mains
5.75 lb
1 dish
Sides
3.5 lb
2 dishes
Bread & rolls
1.5 lb
About 11 rolls
Dessert
2.5 lb
About 11 servings
Cooked, ready-to-serve weights. Planning estimates with a small margin built in.
Appetizers
2.5 lb
About 53 bites
Mains
8.25 lb
2 dishes
Sides
4.5 lb
3 dishes
Bread & rolls
1.75 lb
About 13 rolls
Dessert
3.25 lb
About 15 servings, 2 kinds
Cooked, ready-to-serve weights. Planning estimates with a small margin built in.
Appetizers
4 lb
About 89 bites, 6 kinds
Dessert
1.5 lb
About 7 servings
- · A cocktail party that runs past dinner time becomes dinner. Guests eat as though it is one.
Cooked, ready-to-serve weights. Planning estimates with a small margin built in.
Mains
5.5 lb
1 dish
Sides
3.5 lb
2 dishes
Bread & rolls
1.5 lb
About 11 rolls
Dessert
2.5 lb
About 11 servings
Cooked, ready-to-serve weights. Planning estimates with a small margin built in.
Appetizers
2.75 lb
About 60 bites
Mains
9.25 lb
2 dishes
Sides
5 lb
3 dishes
Bread & rolls
2 lb
About 15 rolls
Dessert
3.25 lb
About 15 servings
- · 4 hours of service — quantities carry 7% for the long tail.
Cooked, ready-to-serve weights. Planning estimates with a small margin built in.
Drinks
50 drinks for 10 people
Mixed bar, 4 hours, 80% of guests drinking alcohol — about 5 drinks a guest.
- Bottles of wine
- 4
- Beers
- 13
- Bottles of spirits
- 1
- Quarts zero-proof
- 4.1
- Quarts of water
- 10.6
- Glasses
- 28
Ice
0 lb
Indoors, bottles kept cold in tubs. On a hot day outside: 30 lb.
- 5 lb bags5
- 10 lb bags3
- 20 lb bags2
What changes at 10
The numbers, compared
- A buffet for 10 needs 19.75 lb of food against 15 lb for a plated dinner — people serve themselves and try more dishes.
- Cooked mains: 5.75 lb at a sit-down dinner, 8.25 lb at a buffet with 2 mains, 9.25 lb at a cookout. Buy roughly a third more raw weight for meat.
- Appetizers only: about 89 bites across a 3-hour cocktail party, or 9 a guest.
- On a hot day outdoors the ice rises from 25 lb to 30 lb, because bottles in a tub melt it too.
- Checked against a starting kitchen of 1 oven and 4 burners, the sample menu for 10 is comfortable; the busiest part is recovery window at 62%.
A sample plan
Sit-down dinner for 10, planned by the engine
A representative menu from our recipe library, sized for 10 with a shopping list and a kitchen check. Yours will change the moment you tell the planner about your guests and your kitchen.
Menu for 10
Starters
- Warm toasts, seasonal topping1.5 batches · 12 servingson the day
Mains
- Chickpea & squash tagine2 batches · 12 servingsday before
Sides
- Cold green salad, sharp dressing1 batch · 8 servingson the day
- Butter lettuce with green goddess and seed crunch1 batch · 8 servingson the day
Bread
- Rosemary focaccia, torn1.5 batches · 15 servingson the day
Dessert
- Lemon posset1.5 batches · 12 servingsday before
About 745 g of food a guest. 40% of the cooking can be done before the day.
Shopping highlights
- Butter lettuce4 ea
- Citrus for garnish3 ea
- Garlic2 clove
- Lemon8 ea
- Mixed herbs1.3 cup
- Onion5 ea
- Rosemary1 bunch
- Salad leaves15 oz
- Seasonal topping1.8 lb
- Squash7 lb
10 of 30 lines. The full list comes with the plan.
Kitchen check
Comfortable
Checked against a starting kitchen of 1 oven and 4 burners — not yours yet. Seats are not counted here: the planner asks for your real number rather than guessing it.
Drinks and cost
- Drinks, all kinds
- 44
- Ice
- 20 lb
- Food, estimated
- $232
About $23 a guest — a planning estimate from typical supermarket costs, not a price.
Scale it
More or fewer people?
Different party?
Set your own numbers
Food for 10: questions hosts ask
How much food do I need for 10 people?
About 15 lb of finished food for a sit-down dinner for 10, or 19.75 lb as a buffet, which is roughly 23.7–31.3 oz a person. These are planning estimates for cooked food, with a small margin for a late guest.
How much meat for 10 people?
Plan about 5.75 lb of cooked main dish for a plated dinner for 10, or 8.25 lb for a buffet that puts out 2 mains. Meat loses about a quarter of its weight as it cooks, so buy around 8 lb raw for the dinner.
How many appetizers for 10 people?
When appetizers are the whole party, about 89 bites for 10 guests over 3 hours. Before a dinner, 47 bites is enough to take the edge off.
How many drinks for 10 people?
About 50 drinks over 4 hours with a mixed bar and most guests drinking: 4 bottles of wine, 13 beers, 1 bottle of spirits, and zero-proof drinks for everyone who isn't drinking alcohol.
How much ice for 10 people?
25 lb of ice indoors with bottles kept in tubs, or 30 lb outdoors on a hot day. That is 2 20 lb bags for an indoor party.
How many rolls for 10 people?
About 11 rolls for a sit-down dinner for 10 — close to one each, since bread is a side people take once.
Planning for 10? Get the whole plan
A menu that fits your oven, a full shopping list and a countdown timeline — sized to your real guest list. Free, no sign-up.
Plan my party for 10