Get a detailed ingredient list for every dish you decide to serve at your next catering event. Quickly filter menu items by categories like breakfast, lunch, dinner, or vegetarian options, select the total number of guests, set portion sizes, and print off or save the catering menu and shopping list in a csv file for your next corporate event or family gathering.
Catering Portion Calculator
Calculate portions and a detailed shopping list for your event.
Enter the total number of guests attending your event
Calculation Results
How to use this calculator
1. Enter Number of Guests
Start by entering how many people will attend your event. The default is set to 40, but you can adjust this to any number. This is your base number for all calculations.
2. Select Age Group
Choose the primary age group of your guests. You can run this tool multiple times to create different menus that will appeal to each group attending the event.
- Adults: Full portions
- Children: Reduced portions (60%)
- Toddlers: Small portions (30%)
Rigatoni is easy to serve at events.
3. Choose Portion Size
Use the slider to select portion sizes:
- Small: 1-4 ounces (appetizers, light snacks)
- Medium: 5-8 ounces (standard meals)
- Large: 9-12 ounces (hearty meals)
4. Select Menu Items
Browse through categories and select the items you plan to serve. The calculator will automatically adjust quantities based on your previous selections.
Understanding the results section
The calculator provides two key outputs:
- Per-Item Calculations: Shows how much of each menu item you need in total.
- Shopping List: Combines all ingredients and shows total quantities needed.
All measurements are automatically converted to practical units to make purchasing the right quantity of each ingredient easier:
- Less than 1 oz → teaspoons
- 1-8 oz → ounces
- 8-32 oz → cups
- 32-128 oz → quarts
- Over 128 oz → gallons
The formula
Total Amount = Number of Guests × Portion Size × Age Group Multiplier
This formula ensures that you have the perfect amount of food for every guest, taking into consideration the portion sizes based on the type of event and the age group of your guests. By multiplying the number of guests by the portion size and adjusting for age group, you can confidently prepare enough food without over or underestimating.
Serving up fried clams and fries.
The detailed ingredient amounts are then calculated based on each menu item you select. For every dish, the calculator breaks down the exact quantities of each ingredient needed. This means that whether you’re preparing a complex multi-course meal or a simple buffet, you will know exactly how much of each ingredient to buy.
How to plan ahead for catering events like a pro
“Staying organized, making sure everything from Monday to Saturday is in a timely fashion, and having as many things going at one time” are crucial for successful catering, according to Chef Marcus Buric of Culinary Creations. Buric’s insights highlight that the key to successful catering is preparation. It’s all about thinking ahead and careful planning.
Just as the Buric emphasizes, this calculator provides an organized approach to portion planning, allowing caterers to effectively manage the chaos of serving large groups by planning their entire shopping list well in advance of the event.
Creating an Efficient Shopping List
Buric repeatedly emphasizes the importance of an efficient shopping list to streamline the process. He says, “I do a meat, a produce, a dairy, and then another.” This systematic categorization of items ensures that nothing is forgotten and that the shopping experience is efficient and organized.
Soup is a highly scalable catering item.
The calculator mirrors this efficiency by generating a detailed ingredient shopping list that’s organized by categories, just like Buric teaches.
Portion Precision for Different Event Types
When preparing mini blue cheeseburgers for a party of 150, Buric offered a crucial piece of advice, noting, “You don’t want to forget that that meat’s going to shrink up… if you make them small, then that bread, you’re just going to have a little teeny piece of meat on there and that’ll be it.”
This statement underscores the importance of selecting portion sizes that fit the event and taking into consideration cooking factors like shrinkage. Portioning correctly is not only about volume; it’s about making sure the plated dish looks and feels right. The Catering Portion Calculator echoes this sentiment with its portion size sliders, which allow users to adjust servings for small, medium, or large portions depending on the menu item.
Related tools:
Resize Your Recipe Calculator & Shopping List Tool: If you have a specific recipe that you need to scale up or scale down for an event, you can use this tool to figure out the amount of ingredients you’ll need to purchase.
Food Waste Management Calculator: Calculate food waste and find ways to reduce the amount you throw away.
About the Author: Brett Lindenberg
