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Catering food calculator

Tell us your guest count and event style and get a caterer-grade breakdown: how much protein, sides, appetizers, and dessert to order, in pounds and in half/full trays, plus an estimated budget.

Your event

Service style
Meal
Appetite
Vegetarian30%
Length3 hr

Affects drinks only.

Your menu

7 dishes

Add your real dishes. We size each one and tell you the trays.

What to order

~62 lb of mains, sides & salad · ~1.24 lb/guest · +10% buffer.

50 guests Buffet 30% veg

Estimated budget

$900 – $1,600

Buffet catering

Entrées

Paneer / veg curryVEG

~6 oz per guest

6.2 lb1 full tray

Grilled chicken

~6 oz per guest

14.4 lb2 full + 1 half trays

Sides

Rice pilaf

~4 oz per guest

13.8 lb3 full trays

Roasted vegetables

~4 oz per guest

13.8 lb3 full trays

Salads

Garden salad

~4 oz per guest

13.8 lb2 full + 1 half trays

Bread

Dinner rolls

1.5 pieces per guest

83 pieces

Desserts

Assorted dessert

1 serving per guest

55 servings2 full + 1 half trays

Drinks

Non-alcoholic drinks

2 servings per guest over 3 hr

100 servings

Based on standard catering portions (≈6 oz protein, 4 oz per side, 3-5 oz salad) with a 10% overage. Trays use typical pan yields. Treat the budget as a planning range, not a quote.

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Start Order for 50Guests →Turn into invoice

How much of each dish per person

The calculator covers a whole menu at once. These guides go dish by dish, with a chart for 10 to 100 guests showing what to buy, what it serves, and how many trays that is.

How much food do you need per person?

A reliable rule of thumb is about 1 to 1.25 pounds of food per adult for a full meal. For the protein, plan roughly 6 ounces per guest at a buffet or BBQ where people serve themselves, and 4 to 5 ounces for a plated dinner. Add about 4 ounces per side dish, 3 to 5 ounces of salad, a dinner roll, and one dessert per guest.

This catering food calculator turns those standard portions into exact amounts for your guest count, broken down by the dishes on your menu, so you know how many pounds and how many trays of food to order.

How to use the catering calculator

Enter your guest count, choose a service style (buffet, plated, BBQ, or reception), and build your menu by adding your real dishes. The calculator sizes each dish, splits vegetarian and non-vegetarian entrées by your guest mix, and adds a 10% buffer so your most popular dish does not run out.

You will instantly see how much to order in pounds and pieces, the number of half and full trays per dish, an estimated drink count, and a planning budget range, all updating as you change the menu.

How much food for 25, 50, or 100 guests?

Bigger guest counts scale the totals while the per-person ratios stay the same. For 50 buffet guests you might plan around 19 pounds of entrées, roughly 14 pounds of each side, and 14 pounds of salad, which works out to about two to three full trays per dish. For 100 guests, double it. Use the calculator above to size it precisely for your exact menu and event style.

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Frequently asked questions

How much food do I need per person for catering?

Plan about 1 to 1.25 pounds of food per adult overall. For a plated meal that is roughly 4 to 6 oz of cooked protein per person; for a buffet or BBQ where guests serve themselves, plan 6 to 8 oz, plus 4 oz per side, 3 to 5 oz of salad, and a dessert. This tool applies those standard ratios to the actual menu you build.

How does it handle multiple entrées and sides?

Build your real menu and the tool sizes each dish. Because guests sample more than one option, it adds a little to the total for every extra dish and a 10 percent overage so your most popular dish does not run out, exactly how caterers plan.

How many trays of food do I need?

It depends on the dish: a full entrée pan serves about 18, while rice, salad, and dessert pans hold more. The tool converts each dish's servings into the right number of half and full trays so you can order without guessing.

Is the cost estimate accurate?

It is a planning range, not a quote. Per-head catering costs vary by cuisine, market, and service style, so we show a low-to-high range by service style. For an exact, itemized quote built from your real menu and prices, start a free ZiaPilot trial.

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Software behind the tool

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