How Much to Serve Your Guests
One of the key elements to beginner party planning is figuring out how much food to serve your guests. This can be a challenging question, but there is some pretty good rule-of-thumb portion sizing tips for parties. I’ve combined these with some general tips and tricks to create an easy guide to help you out with your next social event. Let’s take a look!
The Basics
- These estimates are perfect for a 2-3 hour event
- On average, you want to offer about 1 lb of food per person, per meal, not including dessert. Expect to serve about 1 ½ cups of sides per person.
- Be sure to have fillers such as crackers, cheese, nuts, and olives (a simple charcuterie board would be perfect), or some variation of chips and dip, in case your appetizers run low.
Serving Sizes
Below is an overall general guide to how much you should serve your guests.
In regard to the appetizers, you will want 6-8 appetizers per person at a dinner party. If appetizers are the only food you are serving, you will want to increase this number to 10-12 appetizers per person.
Food
- Appetizers: 6-8 per person
- Meat: You want to shoot for about 8 oz (or ½ lb) for each guest
- Grains: 2 oz (dry) per person
- Vegetables: 4-6 oz per person
- Salad: 1 oz per person
- Bread: 1-2 pieces per person
- Dessert: 1 slice of cake or pie, 3-4 cookies, or 5 oz of ice cream/mousse/pudding, per person
Drinks
- Beer- 3 per guest (2 beers for the 1st hour, 1 beer for each hour after)
- Wine: 1 bottle per 2 guests
- Champagne 1-2 glasses per person
- Liquor and cocktails: 3 per person
- Non-alcohol: 1 per person (3 if not serving alcohol)
Factors to Consider
The above information is just a guide to portions for your guests, intended to be a good starting point for you in your hosting journey. However, there are a few other factors you should consider when determining portion sizing. Your guests, the time and type of event, and the menu itself can all affect how much you decide to provide.
Guests Effects on Serving Sizes
The age of your guests can make an impact on how much you serve. For example, if there will be lots of small children at your party, be sure not to count them in for adult portion sizing. Children under 12 often eat about half of what an adult would, and toddlers will eat a very little amount. You can check out this chart about children’s portions for more details.
On the other hand, we all know that teenage boys will eat more than the average adult, likely 1 and a half of a regular portion. These are all small variations and not a portion game changer overall, but if you are throwing a big family event, kids party, or high school graduation party, keep these adjustments in mind when you are planning how much to serve.
Events Effects on Portion Sizes
Another factor is the time of day and the type of event. For example, you will serve fewer appetizers at a dinner party than at a cocktail party, because they will be served before the main meal rather than being the main meal. People also tend to eat more food around regular mealtimes than outside of them. Timing can be helpful when planning out how much and what to serve at your party.
Menu Effects on Portion Sizes
When you are planning your menu, be sure to account for how long each dish will take to make. Cook anything you can ahead of time to help save you time the day of the event. Make use of any cooking device you have, and utilize your oven, stove, crockpots, instant pots, and any warmers you have at your disposal.
Don’t be afraid to mix homemade and store-bought foods. Not everything has to be made from scratch! By choosing simple ingredients for your dishes (like these quick and easy appetizers) and mixing them with pre-made items (like rolls from the deli or chopped veggies), it can save you time in the long run.
Consider how many different foods you wish to offer at your gathering. Variety is great, but more options mean more time is needed for you to prepare. Also, keep in mind that many people like to try everything, they will just tend to take smaller portions of each.
Make a Budget
Don’t forget to budget your event. When you plan your menu, as well as your invite list, have an idea of what you are willing to spend. This can greatly determine what type of food you serve, how many guests you invite, as well as how many different food options you’ll wish to provide. If the budget is getting past the desired amount, consider making changes to your menu or asking others to contribute.
Ask for Help
Please remember that you don’t have to do all the prep on your own! Recruit your spouse, family, or a friend or two for prep the day before or the day of. Also never hesitate to ask your guests to bring something. Preparing everything for an event can easily feel overwhelming, and distributing the work can make a huge difference in your stress levels as a hostess. This is meant to be an enjoyable event for you as well as your guests!
If you are looking for more posts like this, be sure to read about how to Host a Stress-free Party. For anyone new to entertaining, or just looking for a little extra guidance, I recommend reading these Party Planning Basics.
