How much food for24 people.
For 24 people at a buffet, plan about 47.25 lb of finished food: 19.75 lb of mains, 10.5 lb of sides and 34 dessert servings. Pour about 120 drinks over 4 hours and buy 50 lb of ice.
Food amounts for 24 people by kind of party
Appetizers
5 lb
About 111 bites
Mains
13.25 lb
1 dish
Sides
8.25 lb
2 dishes
Bread & rolls
3.5 lb
About 27 rolls
Dessert
5.75 lb
About 27 servings
Cooked, ready-to-serve weights. Planning estimates with a small margin built in.
Appetizers
5.75 lb
About 127 bites
Mains
19.75 lb
2 dishes
Sides
10.5 lb
3 dishes
Bread & rolls
4 lb
About 30 rolls
Dessert
7.5 lb
About 34 servings, 2 kinds
Cooked, ready-to-serve weights. Planning estimates with a small margin built in.
Appetizers
9.5 lb
About 214 bites, 6 kinds
Dessert
3.5 lb
About 16 servings
- · If nobody eats afterwards, this is dinner and needs about twice the food. The appetizer calculator sizes it that way.
Cooked, ready-to-serve weights. Planning estimates with a small margin built in.
Mains
12.75 lb
1 dish
Sides
8 lb
2 dishes
Bread & rolls
3.5 lb
About 25 rolls
Dessert
5.5 lb
About 25 servings
Cooked, ready-to-serve weights. Planning estimates with a small margin built in.
Appetizers
6.5 lb
About 144 bites
Mains
22.25 lb
2 dishes
Sides
12 lb
3 dishes
Bread & rolls
4.5 lb
About 34 rolls
Dessert
7.5 lb
About 34 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
120 drinks for 24 people
Mixed bar, 4 hours, 80% of guests drinking alcohol — about 5 drinks a guest.
- Bottles of wine
- 8
- Beers
- 31
- Bottles of spirits
- 2
- Quarts zero-proof
- 9.9
- Quarts of water
- 25.4
- Glasses
- 64
Ice
0 lb
Indoors, bottles kept cold in tubs. On a hot day outside: 70 lb.
- 5 lb bags10
- 10 lb bags5
- 20 lb bags3
What changes at 24
The numbers, compared
- A buffet for 24 needs 47.25 lb of food against 35.5 lb for a plated dinner — people serve themselves and try more dishes.
- Cooked mains: 13.25 lb at a sit-down dinner, 19.75 lb at a buffet with 2 mains, 22.25 lb at a cookout. Buy roughly a third more raw weight for meat.
- Appetizers only: about 214 bites across a 3-hour cocktail party, or 9 a guest.
- On a hot day outdoors the ice rises from 50 lb to 70 lb, because bottles in a tub melt it too.
- Checked against a starting kitchen of 1 oven and 4 burners, the sample menu for 24 is over capacity; the busiest part is serving stations at 171%.
A sample plan
Buffet for 24, planned by the engine
A representative menu from our recipe library, sized for 24 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 24
To start
- Warm citrus-fennel olives4 batches · 32 servingson the day
Mains
- Chickpea & squash tagine5 batches · 30 servingsday before
Sides
- Cold green salad, sharp dressing2.5 batches · 20 servingson the day
- Potato gratin2.5 batches · 20 servingson the day
Bread
- Rosemary focaccia, torn3 batches · 30 servingson the day
Dessert
- Gulab jamun2.5 batches · 30 servingson the day
About 832 g of food a guest. 20% of the cooking can be done before the day.
Shopping highlights
- Citrus for garnish5 ea
- Garlic15 clove
- Herb for garnish — mint or rosemary2 bunch
- Lemon4 ea
- Onion12 ea
- Orange5 ea
- Potato10 lb
- Rosemary1 bunch
- Salad leaves2.3 lb
- Squash17 lb
10 of 33 lines. The full list comes with the plan.
Kitchen check
SERVING STATIONS — What runs out first
The day-of cooking does not fit the day
The day-of cooking does not fit the day. Move dishes to the day before, cut the menu, add an oven, or reduce the guest count. The plan will not compress cooking time for you.
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
- 96
- Ice
- 40 lb
- Food, estimated
- $582
About $24 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 24: questions hosts ask
How much food do I need for 24 people?
About 35.5 lb of finished food for a sit-down dinner for 24, or 47.25 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 24 people?
Plan about 13.25 lb of cooked main dish for a plated dinner for 24, or 19.75 lb for a buffet that puts out 2 mains. Meat loses about a quarter of its weight as it cooks, so buy around 18 lb raw for the dinner.
How many appetizers for 24 people?
When appetizers are the whole party, about 214 bites for 24 guests over 3 hours. Before a dinner, 111 bites is enough to take the edge off.
How many drinks for 24 people?
About 120 drinks over 4 hours with a mixed bar and most guests drinking: 8 bottles of wine, 31 beers, 2 bottles of spirits, and zero-proof drinks for everyone who isn't drinking alcohol.
How much ice for 24 people?
50 lb of ice indoors with bottles kept in tubs, or 70 lb outdoors on a hot day. That is 3 20 lb bags for an indoor party.
How many rolls for 24 people?
About 27 rolls for a sit-down dinner for 24 — close to one each, since bread is a side people take once.
The whole night
Planning for 24? 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.