Portions & Catering Calculators

One of the biggest challenges when catering for a group is getting quantities right. Too little food leaves guests hungry, while too much means waste and unnecessary expense. Our portions and catering calculators take the guesswork out of event planning by providing tried-and-tested quantities based on standard UK portion sizes and professional catering guidelines.

Whether you are planning a wedding reception, a summer barbecue, a buffet for a birthday party, or an elegant afternoon tea, each calculator gives you per-person quantities that you can scale to your exact guest count. We account for variables like event duration, whether a dish is a main or a side, and the type of service — sit-down meals require different quantities to standing buffets where guests graze over several hours.

All portion sizes are based on UK standards and use metric measurements. For buffets, we follow the professional catering guideline of 8–10 items per person for a two-hour event, with approximately 250–350g of food per person in total. For individual dishes like pasta, rice, and meat, we use standard serving sizes recommended by food industry bodies. These calculators are designed for home cooks and amateur caterers — if you are catering professionally, you may wish to adjust quantities based on your experience and client preferences.