Kitchen · Planning
Getting catering quantities right
Too little food is a disaster and too much is money in the bin. A calm way to work out how much to cook.
The Platterly team · 2 October 2026 · 2 min read
Every caterer has a story about the night the food ran out, and another about the pile of leftover rice that nobody wanted. Getting quantities right is part experience and part method. Experience you build over years; the method you can start using tomorrow.
Know the real headcount
Start with the number of guests, split into adults and children. Ask the customer how firm the number is, and write down when it will be confirmed. A guest list that is "around 400" is not a number the kitchen can cook for, so agree a date by which it becomes one.
Cook from a recipe, not from memory
A recipe with quantities per person turns "how much dal for 400?" into simple arithmetic. Keep a quantity per portion for each dish, adjust it for the kind of event (a wedding feast eats differently from an office lunch), and let the total follow. Your best cook's judgement still matters, but now it is written down and the next cook can use it.
Keep a small buffer, and decide it in advance
Most caterers add a margin for extra guests and for dishes that turn out more popular than planned. The mistake is deciding the margin in the moment. Agree it with the customer before the event, price it in, and treat it as part of the plan.
Plan the shopping from the same numbers
When quantities come from the menu and the guest count, the shopping list is just the total of the recipes. Check it against what is already in the store, and order only the difference. It saves money and avoids the last-minute run to the market.
Look back after every event
After each event note what ran short and what was left over. Two or three events later you will see a pattern, and you can adjust the portion sizes. This is the single most useful habit for getting better at quantities.
A short checklist
- Adults and children counted separately, with a date for the final number.
- A recipe with a quantity per person for each dish.
- A buffer agreed in advance.
- A shopping list worked out from the menu, minus what is in the store.
- A short note of what ran short or was left over.