How Much Boneless Chicken is Needed for 100 People

The amount of boneless chicken needed for a catering event can vary based on the type of dish you choose and the serving size you prefer. Whether you're serving chicken as a main course or in a salad, it's important to plan accordingly to ensure you have enough food for all your guests.

General Guidelines for Serving Size

When planning a menu, a common guideline for boneless chicken is to provide between 4 and 6 ounces of cooked chicken per person. This can be further broken down as follows:

4 ounces per person: 400 ounces ÷ 16 ounces per pound 25 pounds 6 ounces per person: 600 ounces ÷ 16 ounces per pound 37.5 pounds

Based on these calculations, for 100 people, you would need to plan for:

Between 25 to 37.5 pounds of boneless chicken, depending on the serving size. Safe to lean towards the higher end for larger events, around 30 to 35 pounds would be a good estimate.

Ordering Chicken for Catering

If chicken is the main dish or your only serving of meat, you should follow the catering rules that suggest 1/2 a pound of meat per person. This is a balanced approach, allowing for lighter eaters and heavier ones by default. Therefore, for 100 people, you would need 50 pounds of chicken.

Evaluating Menu Preferences and Serving Size

The amount of chicken needed also depends on how you plan to serve it. If serving chicken as a main dish with sides, a common serving size per person is around 150g to 200g, which totals to 15 to 20 kilograms or approximately 33 to 44 pounds. However, this calculation is based on ordering portions in pieces rather than by weight, as is common in catering.

For a typical catering event, if chicken is the main course but not the only meat, you would need around 6 to 8 ounces of chicken per person, totaling 37.5 to 50 pounds for 100 guests.

Adjusting For Cooked Weight Loss

It's important to factor in that chicken loses weight during cooking. A typical serving size of 2 ounces should account for this loss. Therefore, for 100 servings, you would need about 16 pounds of chicken breasts.

In conclusion, the amount of boneless chicken needed for 100 people can range from 25 to 50 pounds, depending on the serving size and how you plan to serve the chicken. Accurate planning will ensure that you have enough food to satisfy your guests without wasting ingredients.