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Shopping for a Crowd

Knowing how much food you need for your meal or event saves you money and helps insure success. After selecting a menu, you can use these tables to prepare your shopping list. Or you can plan your shopping and then select your recipes, or use these quantities to see if the shopping list you already made is about right for the number of people you plan to serve.

IMPORTANT! On these tables, the size for one ordinary serving is listed; a mixed adult group uses about 1.2 servings per person. with more men in the group, you will need about 1-1/2 servings per person, and teenagers and young 20's may eat double! There are also tables for "serving 100" throughout the kitchen site.

Beverages Desserts Fruit
Relishes Rice and Pasta Salads and Sides
Soup Vegetables Miscellaneous
Snack Foods

 Beverages
Servings Serving Size Amount
Needed
Buy as
Coffee, standard 25 1 cup (8 oz cup) 6 1/2 quarts 2 1/4 cups
1/2 pound, ground
Coffee, strong 25 1 cup (8 oz cup) 6 1/2 quarts 1/2 cup per quart
3/4 pound, ground
Milk 24 1 cup 1-1/2 gallons
Soft Drinks 24 10 ounces 4 2-liter bottles
Tea, hot 25 6 ounces, 3/4 cup 5 quarts 20-25 teabags, 2 ounces loose
Tea, iced 25 1 cup 1-1/2 gallons 24-30 tea bags, 3 ounces loose
Orange juice 32 1/2 cup 1 gallon
Lemonade 32 1 cup 2 gallons
Beer 24 12 ounces 1 case of 24 cans
 Wine 10 5 ounces 1.5 liter bottle

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 Desserts
Servings Serving Size Amount
Needed
Buy as
Cake 24

24

1/12 cake

2-1/2-inch square

2 13x9" cakes

1 15x10-1-inch sheet

2 9" 2 layer cakes

3 9" single layers

Ice Cream 24 1/2 cup 3 quarts
Frozen Yogurt 24 1/2 cup 3 quarts
Pie 24

30

1/8 pie

1/10 pie

3 9-inch pies

3 10" pies

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 Fruit
Servings Serving Size Amount
Needed
Buy as
Canned 24 1/2 cup 6-1/2 to 8 pounds 1 #10 can

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 Relishes
Servings Serving Size Amount
Needed
Buy as
Carrot Sticks
Mini carrots
25 2 to 3 sticks
(2-3 inches)
1 to 1-1/4 pounds
Cauliflower 25 1/2 cup 4 1-pound heads
Broccoli Florets 25 1/2 cup 4 1-pound heads
Celery 25 2 to 3 pieces
(2-3 inches)
2 to 3 bunches
Olives 25 3 to 4 1-1/4 quarts (5 cups)
Pickles, Sliced 25 3 to 4 slices 1 quart
Pickles, Spears 25 1 spear 1 to 1-1/4 quarts

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Rice and Pasta
Servings Serving Size Amount
Needed
Buy as
Elbow Macaroni 25 1 cup cooked 25 cups cooked 2-1/4 pounds, uncooked
Wide noodles 25 1 cup cooked 25 cups cooked 3 1/2 pounds, uncooked
Rice, Long-Grain 24 3/4 cup cooked 18 cups (4 1/2 qt) 2-3/4 pounds (6 cups) uncooked
Spaghetti 24 1 cup cooked 25 cups cooked 3 pounds, uncooked
Elbow Macaroni 25 1 cup cooked 25 cups cooked 2-1/4 pounds, uncooked

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Salads and Side Dishes
Servings Serving Size Amount
Needed
Buy as
Fruit, Fresh, Cut-Up 24 1/2 cup 3 quarts
Gelatin 24 1/2 cup 3 6-ounce packages, flavored
Lettuce 24 2 ounces
1 cup
50 ounces
6 quarts, torn (4 heads)
Potato 24 1/2 cup 3 quarts
Pasta 24 1/2 cup 3 quarts
Main Dish Salads 24 1-1/2 cups 9 quarts

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 Soup
Servings Serving Size Amount
Needed
Buy as
Soup 25 1-1/2 cup 10 quarts 3 50-ounce cans, condensed

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 Vegetables
Servings Serving Size Amount
Needed
Buy as
Canned vegetable 25 1/2 cup 1 6-1/2 to 7-1/4-pound can 1 #10 can
Fresh Potatoes, for Mashed 25 1/2 cup 7 pounds
Fresh Potatoes, for Scalloped 25 1/2 cup 8 pounds
Frozen beans, peas, corn, or mixed 24 1/2 cup 3 16-ounce packages

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Miscellaneous
Servings Serving Size Amount
Needed
Buy as
Butter or Margarine 32 1 pat (1 teaspoon) 1/2 pound 1/2 pound
Tub Margarine 32 1 tablespoon) 1 pound 1 pound

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Snack Foods
Servings Serving Size Amount
Needed
Buy as
Pizza 24 1/3 of a 12-inch pizza 8 12-inch pizzas
Potato Chips 25 3/4 to 1 ounce (1 cup) 1 1/2 pounds
Corn Chips 25 3/4 to 1 ounce (1 cup) 2 pounds
Mixed Nuts 12 1/4 cup 12 ounces

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