Cooking For A Crowd
Source of Recipe
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Recipe Introduction
Hope this helps with the amount of food for a crowd.
List of Ingredients
For individual meats, fish, poultry:
5-6 ounces protein per person
"Take bones into account and add more weight if necessary. Don't worry about the loss during cooking unless the meat has a lot of fat and it's going to really shrink. Then estimate a little higher."
For multiple-meat meals and buffets:
4-6 ounces protein per person
"Estimate a similar quantity per person even when serving more than one protein, because people will taste some of everything."
For pasta:
For a sit-down dinner, a pound of pasta will serve 4-6
For a buffet, a pound will serve 8-12
"Double the normal amount of servings for a buffet, because people won't eat as much pasta when they're filling their plates with other foods as well."
For vegetables:
With a premixed salad, estimate one handful person.
One head of lettuce will feed about 5 people, taking into account different sizes--four medium heads will serve 15-20
"Think about how much you serve when you buy for your own family. If you buy a head of broccoli, how many servings do you usually get out of it? Some people cook the stems, other discard them."
For cocktail parties--finger foods, hors d'oeuvres, and appetizers:
Professional caterers estimate 10-12 items total per person
"Make 3-4 items per person of the more complicated hors d'oeuvres. For the easier things, make many more. Remember, the estimate of 10-12 items might not work if people know you're a serious cook, because no one will eat before they come to your party and they'll all be starving."
Additional Tips:
Hors d'oeuvres if serving dinner:
3 side dishes (2 savory, 1 sweet), with different textures (smooth, crunchy), and varying colors (greens, browns)
Side dishes:
3 side dishes (2 savory, 1 sweet) with dfferent textures (smooth, crunchy) and varying colors (greens, browns)
1 cup savory side per person
1/2 cup sweet side per person (apple sauce, cranberry sauce, etc.)
Beverages:
1/2 bottle of wine per person
Non-alcoholic beverages (about 20% will not drink), 1 cup per person of seltzer, ginger ale, and water
Desserts:
Calculate one full portion of dessert per person
For multiple desserts, people will taste smaller portions of more items. A cake that serves 10 will yield 15 portions if you're also having a tart.
If a recipe serves four, and you want to prepare it for 40, you simply multiply the quantities by 10, right? Wrong say our experts in the Food Network Kitchens! Unfortunately, it's not as easy as just multiplying. Check out the tips below for more advice on feeding the multitudes.
Tips for Feeding a Crowd
If you're baking a cake for 40 people, but your recipe only serves 10 to 12, double the recipe and make two batches of the double recipe. You can do them simultaneously if you have enough pans and if the leavening agent is stable--something other than beaten egg whites alone, for example.
Remember that not everyone is going to eat everything.
People eat more starches and meats than vegetables at parties.
If there's anything fried, it's going first.
Don't forget the buffet rule: people feel the pressure of others behind them, so they move along swiftly and won't take a whole big chunk of food on the first trip.
If you're like most home cooks, you'll probably overestimate your portions no matter how careful you are. And that's okay--it's bound to happen with the sort of generous personality that likes to throw big parties.
Last but not least, it's better to have a groaning board and leftovers than to have a sparse spread at a party!
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