The quick answer
For a buffet dinner for 50 adults: about 24 lb of cooked meat, 17 lb of a starch (pasta, rice, potatoes), 17 lb of vegetables, 7 lb of salad greens, 83 rolls, and 56 dessert servings (7 cakes or 8 pies). For a cookout: 83 burgers, 28 hot dogs, 111 buns, plus the same sides. For a cocktail party: about 550 appetizer pieces. The rest of this page shows where those numbers come from and how to adjust them.
Buffet dinner for 50
Caterers plan a buffet at roughly 7 oz of cooked protein, 5 oz starch, 5 oz vegetable, 1 cup salad, 1½ rolls and one dessert per adult, then add 10% because self-serve guests take more than a plated portion. That's what the chart below uses. Meat is listed three ways because the number you need depends on what you're buying: cooked weight is what ends up on plates, raw boneless is what you buy at the counter (meat loses about 25% in cooking), and bone-in is for ribs, chicken pieces, bone-in ham or brisket point.
| Item | For 50 adults, buffet | Buy |
| Meat, cooked | 24 lb | 32 lb raw boneless · or 51 lb bone-in |
| Starch (pasta, rice, potatoes) | 17 lb cooked | ~6 lb dry pasta · or 6 lb dry rice · or 20 lb potatoes |
| Vegetables | 17 lb cooked | ~20 lb raw, or 6 lb if it's one of three veg dishes |
| Salad | 7 lb greens (55 cups) | 7 large clamshells + 2 quarts dressing |
| Rolls | 83 | 7 dozen + butter (2 lb) |
| Dessert | 56 servings | 7 cakes (8 slices) · or 8 pies · or 2 full sheet cakes |
| Drinks, 4 hours | 200 alcoholic + 130 soft drinks | See the drink calculator |
Plated instead of buffet? Drop the 10% and the protein to 5 oz: about 16 lb cooked meat (21 lb raw), 16 lb starch, 16 lb vegetables, 50 rolls.
Cookout for 50
Grill parties run on 1½ burgers and ½ hot dog per adult, plus the buffet bump. If you're also grilling chicken or sausage, cut the burgers to one per person.
| Burgers (¼ lb patties) | 83 → 21 lb ground beef |
| Hot dogs | 28 → 3–4 packs of 8 |
| Buns | 111 → 83 burger + 28 hot dog |
| Cheese slices | 60 (not everyone wants it) |
| Potato/pasta salad, baked beans (starch) | 17 lb total, ≈ 2 gallons |
| Corn, slaw, grilled veg | 14 lb total |
| Chips | 6–7 lb (about 7 party-size bags) |
| Condiments | 2 qt ketchup, 1 qt mustard, 1 qt mayo, 1 qt pickles, 4 lb tomatoes, 3 lb onions, 3 heads lettuce |
| Dessert | 56 servings — brownies (5 pans) or watermelon (4 large) are the easy wins |
Appetizer or cocktail party for 50
Pieces per person depend on whether dinner follows. Before a meal: 5–6 pieces. Cocktail party with no dinner, 3 hours: 11 per person, about 550 pieces. Heavy hors d'oeuvres as the meal: 16 per person, about 800 pieces. Offer 4–6 different items for 50 guests, half of them cold or room-temperature so you're not running a kitchen all night. A 550-piece plan might look like: 100 meatballs, 100 caprese skewers, 100 mini quiches or spanakopita, 75 shrimp, 75 crostini, 100 cheese-and-cracker pairings, plus a big crudité and dip platter that doesn't count as pieces.
Adjusting for your crowd
- Kids: count children under 12 as 0.6 of an adult. A party of 35 adults and 15 kids is 44 "adult units," not 50.
- Teenagers and athletes: count as 1.3 adults. A high-school team banquet for 50 is really a meal for 65.
- Leftovers wanted: add 25%.
- Long event (4+ hours) or late dinner: add the hungry-crowd 20%.
- More dishes: people take a little of everything, so with 8 sides instead of 4, each side can shrink by a third — the total stays about the same.
- Bone-in chicken: a leg quarter or two thighs per person; 50 people ≈ 50–55 lb.
- Pulled pork: ⅓ lb cooked per sandwich, and a pork shoulder loses half its weight — buy 35 lb of bone-in shoulder for 50 sandwiches with seconds.
Timing and equipment
Fifty people eat about 25 lb of hot food in the first 30 minutes of a buffet, so keep everything in full-size hotel pans (each holds about 12–15 lb) over chafing fuel — you'll need 2 pans per hot dish. Put plates at the start of the line and starch before protein; guests fill up on the cheap stuff first. Two serving lines (or both sides of one table) get 50 people through in 15 minutes instead of 30. For food safety, hot food stays above 140°F and cold food below 40°F; anything that's been out more than 2 hours gets tossed.
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Frequently asked questions
How much meat for 50 people?
About 24 lb cooked for a buffet — 32 lb raw boneless or roughly 50 lb bone-in.
How much pasta for 50 people?
About 6 lb dry (it triples when cooked) as a side; 10–12 lb dry if pasta is the main dish.
How much salad for 50 people?
About 7 lb of greens (55 cups) and 2 quarts of dressing.
How many burgers for 50 people?
About 83 quarter-pounders (21 lb beef) with hot dogs alongside; 55 if you're also serving chicken.
How many appetizers for 50?
550 pieces for a 3-hour cocktail party, 800 if it's the meal, 250–300 before a dinner.
How much dessert for 50?
About 56 servings: 7 round cakes, 8 pies, or two full sheet cakes.