Cooking is part of the fun when you are planning a party but some people get into a panic, worrying that they have under- or overestimated the amount of food required, whether the food they are making will be enjoyed by everyone or whether their party food recipes will turn out right.

Guessing How Much Food for a Party

Unfortunately, there is no scientific formula for working out how much food for a party. It is more of an art and the more parties you cater for, the more you will be able to estimate the right food amounts. Here are a few tips that will allow you to estimate how much food for a party and will help you to relax rather than panic!

Have you only invited adults to the party or is there a need for some child-friendly recipes as well? How long will your party last for and at what time of day is it going to be? You would need a lot more food for an afternoon barbecue than for an after dinner cocktail party, for example.

Work out which dishes will be more popular and make more of those. Boneless chicken appetizers, for example, tend to be more popular than shellfish or pork appetizers, simply because nearly everybody likes boneless chicken recipes, so make more of those.

If you make many different recipes, your guests will have less of each. If you have only five dishes, your guests will eat quite a lot of each. If you have a buffet of thirty dishes, your guests will probably only take a small spoonful of each dish.

You can estimate how much food for a party quite well if you know how many people are coming and how much they are likely to eat. Round up your guesses rather than rounding them down because it is better to have a bit of food left over than running out before everybody has finished eating!

Make sure you have some bulk food items too, such as bread if you are having a sit-down dinner or nuts and olives for a cocktail party. People will nibble on these foods before starting on the main dishes or if they are still hungry between courses.

Party Food Portion Sizes

Allow six bites per guest for appetizers. Allow roughly seven ounces of meat or fish with the main meal, five ounces of potatoes, an ounce and a half of grains, an ounce of undressed salad and four ounces of vegetables per person. For dessert, allow a slice of cake, five ounces of ice cream or four ounces of creamy dessert such as mousse for each person. Different people eat different amounts, so these measures are just to give you an idea.

Good to Know Party Food Tips

* Avoid repeating the main ingredient if you are having a dinner party. Do not serve a boneless chicken appetizer followed by a boneless chicken main course, for example.

* If you are having buffet food, offer a choice of both warm and cold foods.

* Combine a variety of textures, such as crisp potato cakes with soft dips.

* For an attractive-looking dinner table or buffet table, use a variety of different food colors.

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