How to cook for a crowd

Choose dishes that scale

• Braises, stews, curries and ragùs. They scale almost linearly, improve when made ahead, reheat well, and need no attention at the moment of serving.
• Whole roasts. One large piece of meat feeds many and takes no more attention than a small one.
• Traybakes and gratins. Assembled ahead, baked in one go.
• Soups. Made entirely in advance.
• Big salads and grain dishes. Assembled at room temperature, dressed at the last moment.
• Avoid: anything fried to order, anything plated individually, risotto, soufflé, steak, or three components that all need the last five minutes.

What does not scale linearly

Ingredients mostly do. Almost nothing else does.

Seasoning is the main trap: doubling a recipe rarely means doubling the salt, and quadrupling it certainly does not. Add proportionally less, then taste and adjust. The same goes for strong aromatics — chilli, garlic and spice can become overwhelming at volume.

Cooking times change unpredictably. A bigger volume of liquid takes far longer to come to the boil and much longer to reduce. A deeper tray of anything takes longer than a shallow one. Browning takes longer because the pan is more crowded — and crowding is the single biggest quality loss when scaling up, so brown in batches even when it feels absurd.

Evaporation does not scale either. A stew for twelve in a big pot loses proportionally less liquid than one for four, so reduce the liquid you add or expect to reduce it at the end.

The plan

1. Decide the menu around what can be made ahead. Aim for one thing that needs attention on the day, not four.
2. Work out the oven schedule first — it is almost always the binding constraint. One temperature is ideal; two is manageable; three is a problem.
3. Cook everything you can a day or two ahead. Stews, sauces, soups and desserts are usually better for it.
4. Do all the shopping and preparation the day before, and check the fridge will actually hold it.
5. Write a timeline in clock times — see how to time a meal.
6. Count the serving dishes, plates, cutlery and glasses. Running out of bowls is a more common failure than running out of food.
7. Overestimate quantities by a little and plan what leftovers become.

Rough quantities per person

For a main course, adjusting for appetite and how many courses there are.

Meat on the bone

350–400g

Boneless meat

175–225g

Fish fillet

150–200g

Dried pasta or rice

75–100g

Potatoes

200–250g

Vegetables

150–200g in total across two or three

Salad leaves

50g

Common questions