A guest arrives, or two people are hungrier than expected, and there is visibly not enough in the pan. Nothing needs to be started again. Almost every dish can absorb two more people with ten minutes and something already in the cupboard.
Add bulk that cooks faster than the dish
Into a stew, curry or sauce: a tin of beans or chickpeas, a handful of rice or small pasta, a chopped potato if there is time, frozen peas or spinach at the end. Into a pasta dish: more pasta than you planned, and loosen the sauce with a ladle of the cooking water so it still coats everything. Nobody counts the sauce; they notice a dry plate.
Add a side that takes ten minutes
The fastest way to feed more people is not to change the main dish at all. Bread with oil and salt. A bowl of rice. A quick salad of whatever leaves and raw vegetables exist, dressed sharply. Eggs fried and laid on top of anything. Two sides turn a small main into a table. They also make the meal look more generous than a single larger pan ever does.
Serve it in the middle, not on plates
Portioning in the kitchen makes the shortage visible and fixes it in place. Put everything on the table in bowls and let people take what they want; it reads as abundance, and people serve themselves less than you would give them. Bring the sides out first. By the time the main dish arrives, everyone has already started.
Change the shape of the protein
Meat or fish is what runs out first. Slice it thin rather than serving pieces, stir it through the dish instead of on top, or shred it. A piece of chicken serving one person becomes a topping for four. This is not a trick — it is how most of the world’s food is built. Protein as a flavouring rather than a centrepiece is the older and more interesting way to cook.
Five minutes of thinking beats forty of panic
Look at what you have before you announce anything. A tin, an egg, some bread and frozen vegetables cover almost every version of this problem. And do not apologise while serving. A dish that is presented as enough is enough, and pointing out the stretch is the only thing that would have made anyone notice.
Add something starchy, add a side or two, serve it in the middle of the table and cut the protein finer. Two more people is a ten-minute problem, not a reason to start again.