Portion Planner
Check off the dishes you're serving and enter your guest count — get back exactly how much of each item to prepare, sized for adults and kids.
How much to prepare
Building a per-dish prep list
Instead of one lump-sum “food for the day” figure, this planner treats each dish separately, because appetites don't split evenly across food types. A guest might eat one and a half sandwiches but only half a cup of salad, and have room for a full dessert on top — using one blanket portion size for everything either leaves you short on the popular items or drowning in leftovers of the rest.
Kids are figured at about 60% of an adult portion across the board, which tends to match how much a child actually eats once there are games, grass, and friends competing for attention. Check only the items you're really serving, and the tool returns a quantity for each one — round numbers you can take straight to the grocery list or the kitchen counter.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is this different from a general food-per-guest calculator?
A general per-guest calculator gives you one aggregate number — a total weight of food or drinks for the whole spread. This planner is itemized: you check off the specific dishes you're actually serving, and it returns a separate quantity for each one, so you end up with a real shopping and prep list instead of a single lump-sum estimate.
Why do different foods use different portion sizes?
A sandwich and a cup of salad don't fill the same role on a plate, so they aren't measured the same way. This tool uses typical serving-size guidance used for casual entertaining — for example, about 1.5 sandwiches per adult, half a cup of salad, and two drinks — reflecting how people actually plate a casual spread rather than a single generic 'amount of food' figure.
Why do kids get a smaller portion?
Children typically eat noticeably less than adults at an outdoor gathering, especially once games and running around compete with sitting still to eat. This planner figures each child at roughly 60% of an adult portion for every item, which keeps you from over-buying across the board.
How do I turn this into a shopping list?
Check only the items you're actually planning to serve, enter your adult and child counts, and the results give you a quantity and unit for each one — for example, '19 sandwiches' or '3 cups salad'. From there it's a straight read-off: buy or prepare that amount for each checked item, rather than guessing across an entire spread at once.
Appetites vary by group, weather, and how active everyone is. Treat these quantities as a solid starting point, not an exact requirement — round up a little for a hungrier crowd or a longer afternoon.