When catering for a lot of people, as with everything, success is in the planning and this goes for the shopping as well. We have put some handy quantities below to help you write your shopping lists.
Catering Quantities
(pp= per person)
Soup
Half a pint pp
Chicken and Turkey
450g pp
Minced Meat
170g pp (cottage pie, beefburgers)/ 85g pp lasagne/
55g pp spaghetti
Lamb
Casserole: 285g/ roast: 2.7kg per 8 people
Beef
Casserole: 225g pp/ roast off bone: 200g pp/ roast
bone: 340gpp
Pork
Casserole: 170g pp/ roast off bone: 200gpp/ roast bone: 340g pp/ avge fillet 3-4
Vegetables
110g pp, 3 roast potatoes pp, 170g mash pp
Rice
55g precooked weight pp
Salads
The more salads served, the less a person will eat ie: if 5 salads are served for 100 people, allow 150 portions
Cheese
85g pp up to 8 people, 55g pp up to 20 people, 30g
pp for over 20 people
Milk
1 pint per 18-20 cups of tea
• Keep the food simple and do it well rather than try and be too ambitious
• Ask your food suppliers about multi- portion meals- these will save you time and be more cost effective for bulk catering
• Place your food order in time for delivery the day before your event
• Plan your food preparation, use a preparation list and don’t get caught out- it often takes longer than you think
• Think about how you are going to keep the food hot
• Remember a cold buffet can only be on display for 4 hours out of refrigeration
• Consider numbers- try not to over-cater and make sure you don’t run out!
• Check to see you have enough cutlery and crockery to serve everyone at once, or use disposable plates and cutlery
