How Many Trays Of Food Do I Need For 40 Guests? (2024)

FAQs

How Many Trays Of Food Do I Need For 40 Guests? ›

For 40 guests, you may need around 4-5 trays of food, depending on the dish and the serving size.

A “full” catering tray may feed up to 40 people to handle every aspect of the meal.

Each adult will consume 1 pound of food total; children, about 1/2 pound. The more options you have, the less you need of each; decrease the main course portion sizes by 1 to 2 ounces if served on a buffet.

Catering Trays

Most half trays serve approximately 8-10 people. Most full trays serve approximately 15-20 people.

To avoid waste and expense work to feeding about 34 people if 40 attending." Remember if you're doing a number of dishes, you don't need to provide enough for people to have a full portion of each. If you're worried about running out, bulk up on cheaper items like potatoes, bread and salad.

The costs remain low — around $800 to feed 40 people — at an average of $12 - $20 per person. You can also order drop-off catering of full-plated dinners at approximately $50 - $125 per person.

If you are serving just appetizers and not a main course, you need a selection for your guests to choose from which if it's 40, best to go with 6–8 different items. Having said that, the selection would also be from cold, room temperature to hot food items.

It's pretty simple too: We just determine an appropriate size portion of any dish in ounces per person, the we multiply that times the number of guests and divide by 16 (# of oz in a pound) and just like that you get the number of pounds you'll need.

NOT SURE HOW MANY PLATTERS TO ORDER? Each platter serves a party of 8-10 people. If you're hungry go ahead and order an extra platter or two.

As a rough estimate, a large tray of lasagne can typically serve around 8 to 12 people. How many jars of spaghetti sauce are needed for 10 lbs of pasta?

What is the correct order of a buffet? ›

– Place plates, cutlery and napkins at the starting point. – The dishes are served at the table in the order in which they are eaten, i.e. starters first, then main courses and finally desserts. Desserts may have their own table, if possible. – Place the cold dishes on the table before the hot dishes.

The easiest rule is the “One Pound Rule.” Provide one pound of food for each adult guest (not including drinks or dessert).

Cheap catering food ideas include rice or pasta-based dishes, hot dogs, burritos, tacos, cookies, and muffins, which are loved by everyone and are often more affordable than sophisticated seafood or meat dishes.

Generally, you will need enough for each guest to eat 2 of each type of appetizer you serve. For very large parties, you can lower this to 1.5 servings per person per appetizer. However, for high-protein appetizers such as mini sliders, deviled eggs, or bacon-wrapped shrimp, you can plan for 1.5 servings per person.

Handy Sandwich Platter Catering Tips

Here are some handy tips to be mindful of when you're ordering your delectable sandwich platter for the office: As a general rule, ordering 1.5 sandwiches per person is the perfect number.

For a party of 50, you will therefore require 250-400. If there is a meal to be served, then this number can be cut back to 3-4 per person, per hour, which therefore equates to 150-200 appetizers required.