Holiday Appetizers, Guest to Food Ratio Tip

BEST entertaining tips, ratio to gauge how many apps to make versus how many guests you will be hosting. Guest To Food Ratio And Extra Tips!

Although holiday entertaining may be a little different this year as far as hosting large parties, wise intimate gatherings are still on the table. Certainly depends on where you live. Just the same, whether entertaining a lot of guests, or just a few, I’ve got the BEST tip and ratio for how to gauge how many apps to make versus how many guests you will be hosting.

I absolutely love to entertain. Even on the fly, I love to make tasty bites, delicious drinks and wait on our guests. With this important rule of thumb, you’ll know exactly how many bites to serve to however many guests you host.

Even if you aren’t planning on entertaining this season, make sure you bookmark this page, so you’ll have it as a reference the next time you entertain!!

Basically, plan that each guest will eat between 10-12 appetizer bites each. Now, how many offerings you serve is totally up to you, but let me give you this suggestion: Say you want to offer six different appetizers, I would suggest making three on your own, and buying three from the grocery store, leading me to another rule of thumb…

Let the grocery store help you out. I know that fancy well-thought out parties give the impression that every last appetizer must be homemade, but I beg to differ. I’ve been fortunate to attend a few black tie parties. Servers were walking around passing amazing appetizers, from foie gras lollipops, to caviar topped smoked salmon rosettes. But do you want to know what the next server had on her platter to pass??

The answer may or may not shock you. However, I must say that these appetizers were the hit of the party.

Beautifully displayed and served on a sterling silver platter with a side of spicy mustard were pigs in a blanket.

They weren’t even homemade. They were store bought. Truth is, everyone loves these things. My point here is, don’t crinkle your nose at some store bought apps. Presentation is key. Same goes for the good ol’ onion dip and chips. Little sour cream and Lipton’s onion soup mix, and you’ve got a dip.

Meatballs are always a good choice to serve, and they’re semi-homemade. My recipe is simple, and it really was a happy accident. Originally, my recipe was for frozen meatballs, a bottle of chili sauce, and a can of jellied cranberry sauce. But, one day when I went to make them, I was short half a bottle of chili sauce and needed to improvise. I quickly squirted in some BBQ sauce, mixed everything together and let them slow cook for about 20 minutes on low. The end result was a happy accident.

Serve them with toothpicks, these happy accident and very saucy meatballs have been an appetizer hit around here for years. The best part? All of the ingredients can be on hand, with the meatballs kept in the freezer, the other three ingredients in the pantry. Done and done.

Still, are you on the hunt for a couple more homemade and delicious appetizers that will be a big hit with your guests?

How about this AMAMZING Ricotta & Goat Cheese Dip With Sun Dried Tomato Salsa!

Keeping things even easier, how about these semi-homemade Rosemary Infused Almonds!

No matter how many guests you host, these are great tips to heed when entertaining. Follow this guest to food ratio to make sure you have just enough appetizers offered while entertaining.