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Party food calculator
How much food, drink and ice to buy, from nibbles to a backyard BBQ. Tell it who's coming and for how long, and get a shopping list you can copy.
Your shopping list
20 adults for 4 hours
Food
- Finger food280 pieces
Make about 94 of them filling, like sliders and skewers.
Drinks
- Beer or cider38 cans
About 2 slabs of 24.
- Wine6 bottles
Five glasses a bottle. Go half red, half white.
- Bubbles2 bottles
Six glasses a bottle, enough for a toast.
- Soft drinks and juice5 bottles
1.25L bottles. Covers mixers and the drivers.
- Water10 litres
Two glasses a head. Put it out early.
Extras
- Ice2 bags
5kg bags, 10kg all up. Buy it last.
Rounded up. Better a few leftovers than running out.
How the party food calculator works
Planning a birthday, a barbie in the backyard or drinks at home? Put in how many adults and kids are coming, how long it runs and what kind of food you're doing: nibbles before a meal, finger food as the meal, a BBQ or a sit-down dinner. Then pick how many adults are drinking.
The list updates as you go. You get food by the piece or the kilo, beer and cider by the can and the slab, wine and bubbles by the bottle, soft drinks by the 1.25L bottle, plus water and bags of ice for the esky. Copy it into your notes and take it to the shops. If it's BYO or everyone's bringing a plate, see the questions below.
How we work it out
These are rules of thumb, not science. Every crowd is different, so nudge the numbers if yours eats like a footy team.
- Kids count as half an adult for food and never for alcohol. They still get a whole bread roll and a whole dessert.
- Nibbles before a meal: 5 pieces a head for the first hour, then 2 more for each hour after, up to 9.
- Finger food as the meal: 10 pieces a head for the first two hours, then 2 more for each hour after. Make about a third of them filling.
- BBQ: 250g of raw meat a head, one and a half bread rolls each, 150g of salads and sides a head and one dessert each.
- Sit-down dinner: 200g of the main a head, cooked weight, a cup each of two sides, and a bread roll and a dessert each.
- A BBQ or sit-down dinner of three hours or more gets 3 pieces a head of nibbles to start.
- Each drinker has 2 drinks in the first hour, then 1 an hour after that.
- Half the drinks are beer or cider, 40% wine and 10% bubbles for a toast. Under two hours, the bubbles go to the wine.
- A bottle of wine pours 5 glasses and a bottle of bubbles pours 6. Beer is a can a drink, 24 to a slab.
- Soft drinks and juice: a glass every two hours for each non-drinker and each kid, since the water covers the rest, plus one per drinker for mixers. A 1.25L bottle pours 5 glasses.
- Water: 500ml a head, or 750ml on a hot day.
- Ice: 500g a head, or 1kg on a hot day, in 5kg bags.
- Everything is rounded up, and weights go up to the next half kilo.
Tips for the host
Ask about dietary needs on the RSVP. Find out about the vegetarian and the coeliac before you shop, not at the table.
Put the water out early. People drink more of it than they plan to, especially on a hot day.
Buy the ice last. Grab it on the way home so it's still ice when people arrive.
Bring a plate? Say what to bring. Otherwise you'll end up with four pavlovas and no salad. A bring a plate sign-up where guests claim a dish sorts it out.
Not sure how many are coming? Not everyone who's invited turns up. Get a rough headcount from the guest turnout calculator, then put that number in here.
Keep a tray back. Leave one in the fridge and bring it out if the party runs long.
Party food questions
How much alcohol for 50 people?
For four hours with most of them drinking, that's 38 drinkers at 5 drinks each, so 190 drinks. Buy 95 cans of beer or cider (about 4 slabs), 16 bottles of wine and 4 bottles of bubbles.
How many canapés per person?
Before a meal, 5 a head for the first hour and 2 more each hour after, topping out at 9. If the canapés are the meal, 10 a head for the first two hours and 2 an hour after that, so 14 for a four hour party.
How much meat for a BBQ?
250g of raw meat a head, with kids at half. So 20 adults and 4 kids need 5.5kg. Add one and a half bread rolls each and 150g of salads a head.
How do I count the kids?
As half an adult for food and never for alcohol. They still get their own bread roll and dessert, and a soft drink or juice every two hours.
What if the party runs long?
Every extra hour adds a drink per drinker, and either 2 nibbles a head before a meal (up to 9) or 2 more pieces of finger food. Set the hours a bit long, or keep a tray back.
How much ice do I need?
500g a head, or 1kg on a hot day, in 5kg bags. 24 people need 3 bags, or 5 on a hot day.
What if it's BYO or bring a plate?
The calculator assumes you're buying everything. If it's BYO, set the drinkers to None and the list drops the alcohol and keeps the food, soft drinks, water and ice. If guests are bringing a plate, work out the full list, then take off what's been claimed. Nobody's going to say no to leftovers.