3 salads, 4 main dishes, and 2 desserts Total meal combinations are found by multiplying each salad, main dish, and dessert using the fundamental rule of counting. The fundamental rule of counting states, if there are a ways of doing one thing, b ways of doing another thing, and c ways of doing another thing, than the total combinations of all the ways are found by a * b * c. With 3 salads, 4 main dishes, and 2 desserts, our total meal combinations are: 3 * 4 * 2 = 24 different meal combinations.
