How Much Food Per Guest? 450 to 550g at a Buffet

How much food per person for a buffet?

Plan on roughly 450 to 550g of food per adult when a buffet is the main meal, which works out at around 10 to 12 finger items or a plate and a half of fork buffet food. When it is a top-up rather than the meal, such as an afternoon buffet after a lunch, plan about half that. These are caterers' rules of thumb, not law, and a crowd of teenagers or a long outdoor day will eat more.

A common mistake is ordering by the number invited rather than the number expected. The second is forgetting that people eat less of everything when there is more choice, so ten dishes does not need ten times the food.

How many canapés per person?

Four to six pieces a head for a drinks reception of about an hour before a meal. Eight to twelve pieces if canapés are replacing a meal over two to three hours, with some more substantial pieces (bowl food, mini burgers) in the mix. Add one or two pieces per head for every extra hour of drinking.

How many sandwiches per person?

For a sandwich buffet, plan roughly one and a half to two rounds of sandwiches (six to eight quarters) per person when sandwiches are the main item, alongside two or three other finger items. At a funeral or an afternoon event, one round (four quarters) plus other items is usually enough.

What about a hog roast, BBQ or street food?

Hog roast: a whole pig of 50 to 60kg is commonly quoted as serving roughly 80 to 150 guests in rolls, fewer when served as a plated meal. Our hog roast calculator works it through for your numbers.

BBQ: plan two to three items of protein a head (a burger, a sausage and a piece of chicken, say), plus two or three sides.

Street food vans: these sell or serve one portion a head; the question is how many portions an hour they can turn out, which you ask the trader.

How much drink per guest?

A simple rule used by many caterers: two drinks per guest in the first hour and one an hour after that. For a meal, allow around half a bottle of wine per wine-drinking adult. Always have more water and soft drinks than you think, especially outdoors in summer.

When should you order more, or less?

Order more when the event runs long, is outdoors, falls at a mealtime, or has a young or active crowd. Order less when it follows a meal, runs short, or is mid-afternoon. Tell the caterer the timings and what guests will have eaten before; a good one will size the order for you, and most would rather adjust the numbers than see a table of leftovers.