How much food will I need to feed 50 people at an outdoor party?

Question

BYOB party

OK ok, everyone is asking for details.
50 people 4 - 10pm. Menu right now is munchies with a little substance.
Hummus, Tabole, Babaganuj
Spinach salad, fruit salad, watermelon salad
Tandori Chicken(can be served at room temp). Key here is there is no refridgeration...so. Chips and dip..
Empanadas etc.

Thoughts? on how much or other room temp foods with substance (to soak up alcohol)

Answer 1

OVER $200

Answer 2

Your event is from 4pm-10pm, so you'd better be prepared that people are going to expect to eat when they come. Dinner time falls right in between your time frame, so you probably need more than just light finger foods.

Did you invite 50 people or are 50 people actually coming? Always assume that 10% of your people will not show...even if they RSVP'ed that they are coming. So, this drops your number down to 45 people.

Items to soak up alcohol would be bready food. Perhaps you want to have a bread to serve with spinach dip or even finger sandwiches. Pretzels are also good. You can make homade pretzels that will really impress your guests and help to soak up the booze!

Hope you have a great party!

Answer 3

Yes, it looks good. Except.....to be honest, I would go with 100 pieces of chicken. If I was a guest, I would definitely take the chicken and possibly even 1 burger. I question the white rice. I would totally eliminate that since you are also offering rolls, which would compliment the chicken with a carbohydrate. Unless this is really popular where you live, I have never been to even a casual reception where rice was served. Oh...unless people put the meatballs over the rice? Now I get it. Where I live people just eat the meatballs on their plate. The cake: You can probably get buy with a cake that only serves 125, instead of 180. Not everyone will eat cake. You can always get by with less cake. It all sounds yummy!

Answer 4

LOTS is the short answer. Figure 10 appetizers per person (depending on the group--teens, ladies, a mix of ages?).

Make sure you have food that you like, so leftovers can be packed up and enjoyed for the next few days.

Keep a few extra chips and dips handy as back ups. If it looks like you are running out much earlier than expected, call for pizza!

If there is beer/drinking, you need to have lots of food!!!

Answer 5

Depends on what you are serving. Things like potato salad, pasta salad, you normally go with about a 1/2 cup per person. Lunch meat is about 1/4 pound per person. Like I said, it just depends. Hope you have a great party!

Answer 6

Make 6 dishes that can be cooked and not refrigerated.
What I do is make a dish to feed 6 to 8 people and then figure out how many dishes I need to make. In your case you need to 6 or 7 items.

Spread it out.

Apetizers
Salads
Beef dish
Chicken dish
Pasta dish (maybe a couple of different pasta sauces)
2 deserts

Wine, beer, soda, bottled water.

Answer 7

first get a copy of Food for Fifty. It is a standard reference book for those of us who prepare large quantities of food on a regular basis,
Secondly you will be serving for 6 hours. From a food safety perspective that is dangerous- you are way over the 4 hour limit.
You need to find some way to keep your food cold or hot ,luke warm is unacceptable
Select foods with an extremely low potential for being hazardous.

Answer 8

Depends on who you are feeding....because you gave me nuttin' I'm going to tell you what to do for 50 strong men. Get three pigs, two chickens, a cow, and lots of potatoes.

Answer 9

Asian pasta salad (something with a little peanut butter and spicy chilis in it with steamed broccoli and shredded raw carrot it it)

Answer 10

Gee, you need to say if it's for lunch, supper, or just appetizers, desserts, or snacks. You need to get more specific for such info. Is it a BBQ?