Party food calculator

For a sit-down dinner, start from about 230 g (8 oz) of finished main and 125 g of side per adult — two sides share that side weight, they do not each get 125 g — plus about 60 g of bread and a dessert. All together that is roughly 1½ lb of food a person. A buffet runs heavier, because people serve themselves and try more dishes. A cocktail party on this menu is a lighter plate of bites; if the bites are dinner, use the appetizer calculator.

For 30 adults at a three-hour sit-down dinner the calculator gives about 16½ lb of cooked main dish, 10 lb of sides, around 33 rolls, 33 dessert servings and a little over 6 lb of appetizers. At a buffet the same crowd needs about 24½ lb of mains, because a buffet puts out two mains and people take some of each.

Yes. Children are counted at about two-thirds of an adult portion, so a party of 20 with 6 kids is sized for about 18 adults. If your kids are teenagers, count them as adults and set appetite to hearty.

The numbers already carry a small margin — about 6% — so a late guest or a second helping does not empty the platter. If you want planned leftovers to send home, set appetite to hearty; that adds 15%.

Cooked. Every weight here is finished food on the plate. Meat loses a quarter to a third of its weight as it cooks, so buy more raw weight than the cooked figure — roughly a third more for most roasts and braises.

Before a dinner, four to five bites a guest is enough to take the edge off. When appetizers are the whole meal, this calculator's cocktail menu is about nine bites a guest — the appetizer calculator is the one that sizes a standing dinner at a dozen or more.