Serving Quantities for a Large Group. How much to serve Cooking for a Crowd (2024)

Chicken

Unless you’re grilling, in almost ALL cases, the large group chicken-choice should be boneless, skinlessthighs. Why is that you ask? Well, let me tell you:

1. Chicken thighs are more tasty than breasts. They have more of that chicken flavor you’re after.

2. Chicken thighs are much less likely to dry out during cooking than breasts.

3.Boneless, skinless thighs are the way to go. Period. They are WAY easier to cook and WAY easier to prepare than bone-in, skin-on thighs. They can be beautifully poached in chicken broth, (as I do in myfabulous chicken salad for a crowd). And this is a HUGE deal. Your alternative to poaching the boneless, skinless thighs is to pan-sauté skin-onchicken on the stove top or bake skin-on chickenin the oven. Neither isgood. Don’tEVEN think about processing150 skin-on chicken pieceson astovetop as it leads to: unsightly and painful grease splatter burns on your wrists, grease splatter in a 4 foot radius of your range top, and more chicken fat renderings than you know what to do with. Just sayin. It’s very messy, and you have to process the chicken after baking. Don’t. Do. It.

Instead, of subjecting yourself (and your happy marriage) to this folly, poachyour chicken instead! I’ll choose boneless, skinless thighs poachedhands-down anytime.

Costco typically have 5 and 8 pound pouches. Sam’s has a 6 pound pouch.They are frozen individually (very handy) and prettymuch trimmed of excess fat (another HUGE time saver when cooking for a crowd). Or you can buy it in case quantities. If your chicken is a component of a recipe, plan on 3 to 4 ounces of chicken per serving. Large quantities of boneless, skinless chicken thighs are very oftenNOTavailable at your local supermarket.

If you followAlohaDreamsyou know I use boneless, skinless chicken thighs a LOT! They also work GREAT in the slow cooker. Here’s a secret,you generally don’t need tothaw yourchicken before puttingit in the crockpot.

By the way – This is how much refrigerator or freezer space you’ll need for 245 chicken thighs. Just sayin…

Grilling chicken? Choose thighs! (Noticing a theme here?) For all the reasons itemized above, thighs are your best choice. Except if you’re grilling, you’ll want bone-in, skin-on thighs. However, let me pass on a HARD WON word of large group chicken grilling caution. If you exceed more than about 30 thighs on a medium size grill, you are very likely to experience a grill fire. Not fun. Especially not fun in the middle of a Princess-theme Girls Camp.

MyHuli Huli chicken for a Crowd(a HUGE hit at our last luau for 170 friends and neighbors) is a great choice for a large group. It’s easy and everyone loves it! Another great recipe for a crowd is my Roasted Chicken for a Crowd in Mushroom Cream Sauce(coming soon) was another HUGE hit at our last Fabulous Christmas Feast for 80. By the way, these are both delicious meals for your family and the recipes include family size quantities as well.

Chicken Breasts – if you want a more delicate, subtle chicken option

There are occasions where I do like chicken breast better. For example, in my smaller size chicken salad recipe or in my sautéed chicken breast recipes. However, if you are planning ona whole chicken breast per person, you will have too much. A serving of chicken is 3-4 ounces, about the size of a deck of playing cardsorthe palm of your hand. Depending on your source, some chicken breasts are twice or even three times the size of a recommended serving. Just cut them on the diagonal into 2 or 3 (3 ounce) servings.

Chicken refrigerator shelf life

• Raw chicken can be kept in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 days in the original package. Cooked chicken will keep 2 –3 days in the refrigerator.
• To maximize the shelf life in the refrigerator, don’t open the original packaging until ready to use.
• Do notleave your raw chicken unrefrigerated more than 2 hours. If you have raw chicken that has set out more than 2 hours –discard it!

Chicken freezer shelf life

• Raw or cooked chicken will keep up to 4months in the freezer. Although it’s not a safety concern, after 4 months, depending on packaging, the quality of the frozen chicken begins to degrade.
• To maximize the shelf life in the freezer, wrap the original packaging in another layer of freezer paper, plastic wrap or heavy duty aluminum foil and store in large heavy-duty freezer bags.
• Plan on time to thaw in the refrigerator. Raw chicken that has been defrosted in the refrigerator (which is the best way todo it) can be kept for1 to 2 daysin the refrigerator before cooking.
• Raw chicken that was thawed in the microwave or in cold water should be cooked immediately.

Ground Beef

Hamburger

A quarter pound burger (4 ounces) is a bitlarger than the recommended 3 ounce serving size. And sometimesrestaurant burgers are even 1/3 to 1/2pound (5 1/3 ounces to 8 ounces).

You should plan on 3 ounces per person if you’re incorporating it with other ingredientsor making smaller hamburgers. I would plan on 4 ounces (think a Quarter Pounder burger) for a more substantial burger.

If you are purchasing hamburger in large quantities, it will come in a tube-like package called a chub. The image above is a 10 pound chub. See below for hamburger serving sizes.

Sizes Available

• 1 pound – 4 (4 ounce) to 5 (3 ounce) servings
• 2 pounds – 8 (4 ounce) to 10(3 ounce) servings
• 3 pounds – 16 (4 ounce) to 20(3 ounce) servings
• 5pounds – 24(4 ounce) to 30(3 ounce) servings
• 10 pounds (chub) –48 (4 ounce) to 60(3 ounce) servings

Hamburger Refrigerator Shelf Life

• Up to 3-4days in the unopened chub packaging

Hamburger Freezer Shelf Life

• Up to 6 months; no need to re-wrap if freezing in unopened chub packaging. Plan to thaw overnight.

SOURCE: American Meat Institute

Sandwich

Potatoes & Onions

It’s hard to order potatoes by the pound not knowing how many potatoes you’re getting. This 10 pound bag of potatoes from Sam’s Club:

Side Dishes

Fruit

Watermelon – large

Cut into 8 slices. Cut each slice into 4 quarters to serve 32.

Cover cut watermelon with plastic film and store for up to 3 days in fridge.

Grapes

Grapes – 1cup serving of grapes is 16 grapes.

Potato Salad, Chicken Salad, Baked Beans or Coleslaw

Bars & Cakes

The answer to the question, “How Many People Does A Sheet Cake Feed?” actually lies in the answers to two other questions:

• How big is the sheet cake?
• What size servings will you offer?

In the U.S. there are two“typical” sizes of sheet cake pans.

• Homemade Sheet Cake, 9″ x 13″, serves 13-28

Cut 3 x 6 (roughy 2″ x 3″ pieces) = 18 servings. This is a typical serving size.

Cut3 x 7 (roughly 2″ x 3″ pieces) = 21 servings

Cut4 x 6 (roughly 2″ x 2″ pieces) = 24 servings

• Half Sheet Pan (Church size)Sheet Cake, 13″ x 18″, serves

Cut4 x 6 (roughly 3″ x 3″ pieces) = 24 servings

Cut6 x 9 (roughly 2″ x 2″ pieces) = 54 servings

Here’s everything you need to know to serve ice cream to a large group

Refreshments

Nacho Cheese Sauce

How much nachos your guests eat will depend on a lot of factors, such as:

• Percentage of your guests who are men, young men or boys (or me)
• Amount of other food you have
• Temperature (if it’s hot they will eat less)

• A typical serving size of queso dip is 3tablespoons (2 1/4 ounces of queso), which isabout 1/4 cup or 1 ladle-full.
• Even heated, the sauce straight out of the can is far to thick to eat, let alone serve, effectively. You’ll need to thina (6 pound, a 11 ounce can)can of thesauce down with 3 cups (24 ounces) of water.
• 1 (6 pounds, 11 ounces) can of cheese sauce plus 24ounces of water hasa total weight of 8pounds 3ounces – andserves50 – 60 people.
• On average if you’re feeding 100 people for dance or party,you only need 2 (6 pounds, 11 ounces) cans of cheese sauce each thinned with24ounces of water. The most I’d get is 3.

• A typical serving size is 1 ounce.
• On average if you’re feeding 100 people for dance or party, get4 (28 ounce) bags of chips.