How much food for 15 people
For 15 people at a sit-down dinner, plan about 22.25 lb of finished food: 8.5 lb of mains, 5.25 lb of sides and 17 dessert servings. Pour about 75 drinks over 4 hours and buy 30 lb of ice.
Food amounts for 15 people by kind of party
Appetizers
3.25 lb
About 70 bites
Mains
8.5 lb
1 dish
Sides
5.25 lb
2 dishes
Bread & rolls
2.25 lb
About 17 rolls
Dessert
3.75 lb
About 17 servings
Cooked, ready-to-serve weights. Planning estimates with a small margin built in.
Appetizers
3.5 lb
About 79 bites
Mains
12.25 lb
2 dishes
Sides
6.75 lb
3 dishes
Bread & rolls
2.5 lb
About 19 rolls
Dessert
4.75 lb
About 22 servings, 2 kinds
Cooked, ready-to-serve weights. Planning estimates with a small margin built in.
Appetizers
6 lb
About 134 bites, 6 kinds
Dessert
2.25 lb
About 10 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
8 lb
1 dish
Sides
5 lb
2 dishes
Bread & rolls
2.25 lb
About 16 rolls
Dessert
3.5 lb
About 16 servings
Cooked, ready-to-serve weights. Planning estimates with a small margin built in.
Appetizers
4 lb
About 90 bites
Mains
14 lb
2 dishes
Sides
7.5 lb
3 dishes
Bread & rolls
3 lb
About 22 rolls
Dessert
4.75 lb
About 22 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
75 drinks for 15 people
Mixed bar, 4 hours, 80% of guests drinking alcohol — about 5 drinks a guest.
- Bottles of wine
- 5
- Beers
- 19
- Bottles of spirits
- 1
- Quarts zero-proof
- 6.1
- Quarts of water
- 15.9
- Glasses
- 41
Ice
0 lb
Indoors, bottles kept cold in tubs. On a hot day outside: 45 lb.
- 5 lb bags6
- 10 lb bags3
- 20 lb bags2
What changes at 15
The numbers, compared
- A buffet for 15 needs 29.5 lb of food against 22.25 lb for a plated dinner — people serve themselves and try more dishes.
- Cooked mains: 8.5 lb at a sit-down dinner, 12.25 lb at a buffet with 2 mains, 14 lb at a cookout. Buy roughly a third more raw weight for meat.
- Appetizers only: about 134 bites across a 3-hour cocktail party, or 9 a guest.
- On a hot day outdoors the ice rises from 30 lb to 45 lb, because bottles in a tub melt it too.
- Checked against a starting kitchen of 1 oven and 4 burners, the sample menu for 15 is comfortable; the busiest part is recovery window at 68%.
A sample plan
Sit-down dinner for 15, planned by the engine
A representative menu from our recipe library, sized for 15 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 15
Starters
- Warm toasts, seasonal topping2 batches · 16 servingson the day
Mains
- Chickpea & squash tagine3 batches · 18 servingsday before
Sides
- Cold green salad, sharp dressing1.5 batches · 12 servingson the day
- Butter lettuce with green goddess and seed crunch1.5 batches · 12 servingson the day
Bread
- Rosemary focaccia, torn2 batches · 20 servingson the day
Dessert
- Lemon posset2 batches · 16 servingsday before
About 745 g of food a guest. 30% of the cooking can be done before the day.
Shopping highlights
- Butter lettuce6 ea
- Citrus for garnish4 ea
- Garlic2 clove
- Herb for garnish — mint or rosemary1 bunch
- Lemon11 ea
- Mixed herbs2 cup
- Onion8 ea
- Rosemary1 bunch
- Salad leaves1.5 lb
- Seasonal topping2.3 lb
10 of 31 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
- 66
- Ice
- 30 lb
- Food, estimated
- $313
About $21 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 15: questions hosts ask
How much food do I need for 15 people?
About 22.25 lb of finished food for a sit-down dinner for 15, or 29.5 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 15 people?
Plan about 8.5 lb of cooked main dish for a plated dinner for 15, or 12.25 lb for a buffet that puts out 2 mains. Meat loses about a quarter of its weight as it cooks, so buy around 12 lb raw for the dinner.
How many appetizers for 15 people?
When appetizers are the whole party, about 134 bites for 15 guests over 3 hours. Before a dinner, 70 bites is enough to take the edge off.
How many drinks for 15 people?
About 75 drinks over 4 hours with a mixed bar and most guests drinking: 5 bottles of wine, 19 beers, 1 bottle of spirits, and zero-proof drinks for everyone who isn't drinking alcohol.
How much ice for 15 people?
30 lb of ice indoors with bottles kept in tubs, or 45 lb outdoors on a hot day. That is 2 20 lb bags for an indoor party.
How many rolls for 15 people?
About 17 rolls for a sit-down dinner for 15 — close to one each, since bread is a side people take once.
Planning for 15? 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 15