How much rice for 50 people?

For 50 guests, order about 4.1 lb of dry rice, which serves about 12.5 lb. That is roughly 2 full trays.

How much rice for 100 people?

For 100 guests, order about 8.3 lb of dry rice, which serves about 25 lb. That is roughly 4 full trays.

Catering portion guide

How much rice per person?

In short

Plan on 4 oz of cooked rice per person as a side. Dry rice roughly triples, so buy about 1.3 oz dry per person: 50 guests needs about 12.5 lb cooked from just over 4 lb of dry rice.

Buy less rice than you serve

Dry rice roughly triples in weight when cooked. You buy about a third of the weight you serve, which is the one dish where the purchase figure is far LOWER than the served figure.

Planning factor: 0.33x. For every 1 lb you want to serve, order about 0.33 lb of dry rice.

How much rice for 10 to 100 people

Order is what to buy as dry rice. Serves is what reaches the plate after cooking.

Rice quantities by guest count, showing purchase weight and served weight
Guests	Order	Serves	Trays
10	0.8 lb	2.5 lb	1 half tray
15	1.2 lb	3.8 lb	1 full tray
20	1.7 lb	5 lb	1 full tray
25	2.1 lb	6.3 lb	1 full tray
30	2.5 lb	7.5 lb	1 full + 1 half trays
40	3.3 lb	10 lb	2 full trays
50	4.1 lb	12.5 lb	2 full trays
60	5 lb	15 lb	2 full + 1 half trays
75	6.2 lb	18.8 lb	3 full trays
80	6.6 lb	20 lb	3 full + 1 half trays
100	8.3 lb	25 lb	4 full trays
150	12.4 lb	37.5 lb	6 full trays
200	16.5 lb	50 lb	8 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.

Things that change the number

As the main starch under a curry, move up to 6 oz cooked per person.
Basmati expands slightly more than short grain, so it stretches a little further.
Rice is the most commonly over-ordered item on a catering list, because people buy dry weight as if it were served weight.

Common questions

How much rice per person?: Plan on 4 oz of cooked rice per person as a side. Dry rice roughly triples, so buy about 1.3 oz dry per person: 50 guests needs about 12.5 lb cooked from just over 4 lb of dry rice.
How much rice for 50 people?: For 50 guests, order about 4.1 lb of dry rice, which serves about 12.5 lb. That is roughly 2 full trays.
How much rice for 100 people?: For 100 guests, order about 8.3 lb of dry rice, which serves about 25 lb. That is roughly 4 full trays.

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