potato salad for a crowd

13 years ago

I am beginning to plan for my son's graduation party, and I am having a little trouble figuring out how much food I need. I am planning for about 75 people.

The Menu:

Pulled pork sandwiches

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Cucumber Sandwiches

Potato Salad

Pasta Salad

Meatballs

Hot Wings

Veggie Tray

Cheese & Sausage Tray

Various Desserts

I think I am OK with quantities, except for the potato salad. How many pounds of potatoes should I use to serve 75? Also, is there anything that is glaringly missing from my menu?

Thanks,

Gail

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Comments (12)

Teresa_MN
13 years ago
I would add a fresh fruit tray or salad. With everything else you are serving I would say 12 to 15 lbs of potatoes. But I love potato salad and would be eating more of that than anything. :-)
lindac
13 years ago
Teh rule of thumb for potato salad is 5 pounds of potatoes and a dozen eggs for 30 people.
But with a pasta salad too, you will need only a little more than half that.

Sounds like a buffet/open house sort of meal?
I would add coleslaw...or sub slaw for the pasta salad.
Here's the recipe I use....best made the day before....2 heads of cabbage will easily feed your crowd.

Fred Harvey Cole Slaw:
Shred one medium head of cabbage and one small onion, cover with 1/2 cup of sugar.
Bring to a boil 1 tsp sugar
1/2 Tablespoon salt
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp celery seed
1/2 c peanut oil
1/2 c cider vinegar.
Pour over the cabbage and set stand at least 4 hours before eating.
Keeps well.
Linda C
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You didn't mention if your meal would be sitting out for any length of time, but here are some more ideas. Some include mayo, so use your own judgement on whther they will work for you or not. This one will serve 6 people, maybe more, and is easy to double or triple, if necessary. Tequilaberry's Salad Dressing: 1 cup Hellmann's Mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip!) 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup milk 1 pound bacon-cooked until crisp and crumbled (can use real bacon bits) Salad Base: 2 pounds bagged Dole Salad Mix ( I use my own mixed greens) 1/2 head of cauliflower, cut in small pieces 11/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese Mix dressing ingredients until they are the consistency of heavy cream. If needed, add extra milk or sugar to taste. Toss together the Salad ingredients and pour the dressing on. Toss until well coated. This one makes enought ot feed probably 8 people. Again, easily doubled. Caesar Pasta Salad From Cooking Light 3 c. cooked Penne pasta 2 c. chopped Romaine lettuce 1\-1/2 c. halved cherry tomatoes 1/2c. chopped fresh basil 1/2 c. chopped green onion 1/3 c Caesar dressing 1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley 4 oz. crumbled Feta cheese 1 garlic clove, minced 3 c. shredded cooked chicken breast I think it was Ruthanna who posted this one a few years ago. Sorry if I am mistaken. Simple but very good! GEORGIA PEACH POUND CAKE 3 cups flour 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup butter, softened 3 cups granulated sugar 6 eggs (at room temperature) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon almond extract 1/2 cup sour cream 2 cups chopped, peeled peaches Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan. Mix the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time,mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla and almond extracts. Add the dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in the sour cream and peaches. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 75 to 85 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Invert onto wire rack and cool completely. Icing 8 ounces cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup butter, softened 1 tablespoon milk 1/2 teaspoon almond extract 1 (1 pound) box confectioners' sugar, sifted Cream the cream cheese and butter in a mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Add the milk and almond extract and mix well. Add the confectioners sugar gradually, beating until smooth. Frost cake. Store leftover cake covered in refrigerator. CREAMY DUTCH APPLE DESSERT 1/4 c. butter 1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs 1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk) 1 c. (8 oz.) sour cream 1 (3 oz.) cream cheese 1/4 c. Realemon lemon juice 1 can Comstock apple pie filling 1/4 c. chopped walnuts 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a 1 1/2 quart shallow baking dish (10 x 6 inch) melt butter in oven. Sprinkle in crumbs; stir well. Press on bottom of dish. In medium bowl, mix together sweetened condensed milk, sour cream and lemon juice and cream cheese. Spread evenly over crumbs. Spoon pie filling evenly over creamy layer. Sprinkle with walnuts that have been mixed with the cinnamon. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until set. May be served warm or cold. Refrigerate leftovers. Variations: Omit cinnamon, substitute blueberry, cherry or peach pie filling for apple pie filling. Linda
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chase_gw
13 years ago
I agree that a slaw would be a nice change up for the pasta salad especially with the pulled pork. I use Linda's recipe all the time and it's delish!

If you do the pasta salad then perhaps an oil and vinegar based dressing would be a nice offset to the mayo based potato salad.

Woodie has a great pasta salad recipe that is oil and vinegar based. Can post if you want.

As far as quantities...whatever Linda says!

Sounds like a lovely meal!
lindac
13 years ago
LOL! Chase....only once have I been short.....and that scared me!!
Served about 135 lunch, pasta veggie salad, chicken salad sandwiches, ham sandwiches and 2 huge punch bowls of fruit salad!
The first 100 people ate all the fruit! Charged $5 for lunch....next time I will charge $7.50 and have twice the amount of fruit!!

Remember....fruit is expensive and has to be peeled and cut up...it also quickly gets soft and icky.
Cabbage slaw is cheap and keeps for easily a week.
If you have lots of help and a big budget....go for the fruit, people love it....but if you are doing it yourself and money matters....do slaw!
arandygail
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks so much for the suggestions. I like the idea of slaw in place of the pasta.
Cndy223
11 years ago
I need help in figuring out how much I need:
Menu
Goulash: made with hamburger, elbow pasta, tomatoe soup, onions and green peppers
Salad: simple garden bag lettuce, with cucumbers and tomatoes
Cold cut meat/ cheese platter
Rolls
Chips
Fresh fruit tray
Assorted desserts: cookies, brownies, cupcakes

Can you advise me how many pounds of hamburger, potatoes.
How many bags of salad:lettuce ?
How many cucumbers and tomatoes
Is there anything else you would add to the menu?
jimster
11 years ago
The amount of hamburger needed will depend on the goulash recipe. Also, the number of sandwiches consumed will affect the amount of goulash needed. Let's plan for one sandwich and one portion of goulash per person. At 4 servings of goulash per pound of meat (each serving having the amount of meat in a quarterpounder) you will need 25 pounds of hamburger. At 6 servings of goulash per pound of meat you would need about 16 pounds of hamburger.

Are the potatoes for potato salad? About 25 pounds of potatoes should do it.

Bags of lettuce are various sizes. At 6 servings per bag it will take about 16 bags. But this is not an economical way to buy lettuce. You should consider buying bulk lettuce and chopping it up yourself. Figure on about 25 tomatoes and 8 to 12 cucumbers, depending on what kind of cucumbers.

Jim

This post was edited by jimster on Sun, Feb 10, 13 at 18:40
debbyga
11 years ago
I can't even imagine 5 pounds of potatoes being enough to serve 30 people in a potato salad.
jimster
11 years ago
I can't either. That's why I said 25 lbs. for 100 people.

5/30 = 1/6 lb. per serving

25/100 = 1/4 lb. per serving. And even that may be skimpy. I love potato salad!

Some will eat more and some may eat none of any particular item. That makes estimating tricky.

Jim

This post was edited by jimster on Sun, Feb 10, 13 at 19:11
coconut_nj
11 years ago
Did I miss where Cndy said how many people this is for? Plus, is it for all adults? How many kids, teens, etc.?
jimster
11 years ago
It's in the header of her post:

RE: serving 100 ppl for Jack N Jill party

It took a while for me to notice it.

You raise some good questions.

Jim
coconut_nj
11 years ago
Sorry Jim, the original post was back in 2011. This is easy to have happen when old posts are brought up with a new question/poster. Unless this new poster is having same number of people and type of party..lol.. Just thought I'd try to make sure.

potato salad for a crowd

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Teresa_MN

lindac

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potato salad for a crowd

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