Catering portion guide
Plan on about 10 oz of chili per person as a main, which is a generous 1.25 cups. For 50 guests that is roughly 4 gallons of finished chili.
Planned at finished weight, so what you make is what you serve.
| Guests | Order | Serves | Trays |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 3.1 qt | 3.1 qt | 1 half tray |
| 12 | 3.8 qt | 3.8 qt | 1 full tray |
| 15 | 1.2 gal | 1.2 gal | 1 full tray |
| 20 | 1.6 gal | 1.6 gal | 1 full tray |
| 25 | 2 gal | 2 gal | 1 full + 1 half trays |
| 30 | 2.3 gal | 2.3 gal | 1 full + 1 half trays |
| 40 | 3.1 gal | 3.1 gal | 2 full trays |
| 50 | 3.9 gal | 3.9 gal | 2 full + 1 half trays |
| 60 | 4.7 gal | 4.7 gal | 3 full trays |
| 75 | 5.9 gal | 5.9 gal | 4 full trays |
| 100 | 7.8 gal | 7.8 gal | 5 full trays |
These are standard food-service planning figures, not fixed constants. Real yield moves with cut, trim level, cooking method, and how long the food is held. Weigh your own results once and adjust the factor to your kitchen.
The catering food calculator takes your actual dish list and guest count and returns quantities, tray counts, and a cost range for the whole event.
Open the catering food calculator