How Much Ground Beef Do You Need for Spaghetti Sauce for 100 People?

Cooking for a crowd always takes some extra planning, especially when it comes to scaling up recipes Spaghetti with meat sauce is a classic dish that feeds a lot of people But how much ground beef do you really need to make enough meaty sauce for 100 hearty portions? Let’s break it down.

An Overview of Spaghetti for Crowds

Spaghetti with meat sauce makes a great meal for large gatherings like family reunions, church functions, school banquets, or nonprofit fundraisers. It’s budget-friendly appeals to most eaters and is easy to scale up.

The components are simple – just a tomato-based sauce loaded with browned ground beef and served over a mountain of hot cooked spaghetti. Add some garlic bread and a crisp green salad, and you’ve got a complete meal.

Determining the right quantity of each element is key when cooking for 100. Understandably, most home cooks don’t maintain a commercial kitchen stocked for mass meal prep!

How Much Ground Beef for 100 Servings of Spaghetti

Let’s focus first on that meat sauce. How much ground beef do you need to make enough sauce for 100 people?

According to recipe developers and large scale cooks, here are some general guidelines:

• For a traditional meat-based sauce, plan on 1/3 to 1/2 pound finished, cooked ground beef per person.

• For 100 people, at 1/3 pound per serving, you will need about 33 pounds of ground beef.

• At 1/2 pound per serving, you will need 50 pounds of meat.

• I recommend purchasing 35-40 pounds of ground beef to allow for some extra. Opt for an 80/20 or 85/15 lean-to-fat ratio for best flavor and juiciness.

• Cook the beef in manageable batches, draining excess grease before adding to the sauce.

More Tips for Making Spaghetti for 100

Here are some more tips to pull off this pasta feast for a crowd:

• Sauté some diced onions and garlic along with the beef for added aroma and flavor.

• Use a combination of canned crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste for the sauce. Make it in huge stockpots on the stove or in roasting pans in the oven.

• Figure at least 1 pound of dry spaghetti per person, so have 100 pounds cooked al dente and ready before the event. Keep it hot in chafing dishes.

• Offer shredded or grated parmesan cheese tableside. Also provide red pepper flakes for those who like some heat.

• Garlic bread is a must – an easy way is to simply brush crusty baguette slices with garlic-butter and broil. Make platterfuls.

• A big tossed salad of romaine, tomatoes, cucumbers, and vinaigrette dressing rounds out the meal.

Sample Spaghetti Recipe for 100 People

To give you an idea of what a recipe for spaghetti for 100 might look like, here is an example:

Ingredients:

• 40 lbs ground beef
• 4 onions, chopped
• 1 cup olive oil
• 10 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 (156 oz) cans crushed tomatoes
• 5 (6 oz) cans tomato paste
• 2 Tbsp dried basil
• 2 Tbsp dried oregano
• 1⁄4 cup salt
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 1⁄4 cup sugar
• 100 lbs spaghetti, cooked
• Grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. In batches, cook ground beef with the onions and garlic until no longer pink. Drain fat.
2. Combine cooked beef mixture with tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, oregano, salt, pepper and sugar in a very large stockpot or roasting pans. Simmer sauce for 2-3 hours.
3. Cook, drain, and keep spaghetti hot until service.
4. Serve spaghetti topped generously with meat sauce. Pass parmesan cheese tableside.

With around 40 pounds of ground beef, you’ll have plenty of meaty sauce to feed even the hungriest crowd. Just be ready with lots of pasta, bread and salad to soak up all that savory goodness.