How Much Food and Beer Do You Need for Your Super Bowl Party?

The biggest Bowl of the year is upon us (not the Puppy Bowl, though that’s a momentous event in its own right). Super Bowl LVI is around the corner (and the CDC has been mercifully devoid of stark warnings not to gather). If party hosting is on your agenda, it’s time to prepare your fare. Whether it’s a small or large group, here’s how not to fumble your hosting duties.

How much beer do you need?

Super Bowl parties aren’t like regular parties. I mean, they are, in that people gather to eat, drink, and forget about their adult responsibilities. But their singular focus on football (and comfort food) means you need a small brewery’s worth of beer in your home.

The general rule of thumb when calculating how many alcoholic beverages you’ll need at a party is two drinks per person for the first hour, then one drink per person for each additional hour. So if you’re expecting:

• 20 people
• For 4 hours
• You’ll need (40 drinks during 1st hour) plus (60 drinks over the next 3 hours) for a total of 100 drinks. (In reality, your guests may consume far less, but it’s better to be prepared than commit a party foul.)

Evite has a drinks calculator that lets you refine the count by dividing your guests into “heavy,” “light” and “average” drinkers, and specifying what you’ll be serving.

What type of beer should you serve?

Beer is the quintessential football drink. Lifehacker senior food editor Claire Lower does make a strong case for serving Champagne (or sparkling wine) instead for its palate-cleansing and salty, greasy flavor-cutting properties. (The Super Bowl is known for many things, but health food isn’t one of them.) If you’re not all about that bubbly, light, crisp beers like pilsners and lagers—cheap ones without much body or flavor to compete with the food—are ideal. So if there’s any day for a beer snob to guzzle Miller High Life, this is it. (If you’re having a Super Bowl blowout of 30-40+ people, a keg might be worth it.)

Of course you can make a signature cocktail to represent the hometown of your favorite team (or both teams if you’re impartial). But it’s equally acceptable to save yourself the trouble of setting out ice, glasses, liquors, mixers, and garnishes and stick to beer and wine. If there’s any party that lends itself to simplified drink offerings, it’s a party brought to you by the Budweiser Clydesdales.

Don’t forget non-alcoholic drinks

Always remember children and adult guests who want to remain sober; have plenty of water and soda on hand for the non-drinkers (and juice for the littles). In general, plan on having a liter of water for every four guests, and 8 oz. of soft drinks per person.

How many wings and slices do you need?

Finger foods are the name of the game at a Super Bowl party: chips and dips, pizza, sliders, and of course—wings. But considering that rampant inflation has made the price of chicken wings 14% to 26% higher than last year, you may want to serve fewer. How many depends on the quantity of other foods you’ll be serving, but as a general rule, if wings are the main sustenance (served alongside light apps like crudités, pretzels, and popcorn) estimate 10 wings per person. With several other appetizers to nosh on, 5-6 wings per person is adequate. Check out this chicken wing calculator for further details. Just get them early: The National Chicken Council estimates Americans will consumer 1.42 billion wings this year, so get yours before the shelves run out. (Also, there’s a Chicken Council! Who knew.)

When it comes to pizza, the general guideline is three slices of pizza per adult and two slices per child. But this is for a “pizza party.” If pizza is your main fare outside of chips and salsa, feel free to use this guideline. If your table will be crowded with nachos, dips, pigs in a blanket, etc. you can safely order less. Whatever you do, be sure to order it one to three days in advance. It’s the busiest day of the year for many chains.

Keep in mind, there’s no better time to ask guests to bring their favorite app or side, cutting down on your work and costs. People love an opportunity to prepare their dad’s famous queso and show off that pepperoni-covered-cheese-chunk-in-the-shape-of-a-football recipe they found on Pinterest.