How much deli meat for 50 people?

For 50 guests, order about 9.4 lb of sliced deli meat, which serves about 9.4 lb.

How much deli meat for 100 people?

For 100 guests, order about 18.8 lb of sliced deli meat, which serves about 18.8 lb.

Catering portion guide

How much deli meat per person?

In short

Plan on 3 oz of deli meat per person for sandwiches, or 2 oz per person if it is part of a larger spread. There is no cooking loss, so 50 guests needs about 9.5 lb of sliced meat.

How much deli meat for 10 to 100 people

Planned at finished weight, so what you make is what you serve.

Deli meat quantities by guest count, showing purchase weight and served weight
Guests	Order	Serves
8	1.5 lb	1.5 lb
10	1.9 lb	1.9 lb
12	2.3 lb	2.3 lb
15	2.8 lb	2.8 lb
20	3.8 lb	3.8 lb
25	4.7 lb	4.7 lb
30	5.6 lb	5.6 lb
40	7.5 lb	7.5 lb
50	9.4 lb	9.4 lb
60	11.3 lb	11.3 lb
75	14.1 lb	14.1 lb
100	18.8 lb	18.8 lb

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.

Things that change the number

A build-your-own sandwich bar runs higher, closer to 4 oz per person, because guests overfill.
Offering three or more meats does not increase the total, it just splits it.
Pair with roughly 1.5 slices of bread and 1 oz of cheese per person.

Common questions

How much deli meat per person?: Plan on 3 oz of deli meat per person for sandwiches, or 2 oz per person if it is part of a larger spread. There is no cooking loss, so 50 guests needs about 9.5 lb of sliced meat.
How much deli meat for 50 people?: For 50 guests, order about 9.4 lb of sliced deli meat, which serves about 9.4 lb.
How much deli meat for 100 people?: For 100 guests, order about 18.8 lb of sliced deli meat, which serves about 18.8 lb.

Working out a whole menu, not one dish?

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