120 guests including children - Amounts needed please for party catering

Together with our families, my fiance and I are doing the food for our post wedding party. We have 117 guests including around 15 children.

We are serving the following Beef Chilli - GF (100 people) Veggie Chilli - V/VG (17 veggies) Creme Fraiche Jalapenos Bread - French Sticks etc GF Bread Butter Cheese We are also having Coleslaw & Potato Salad (friend who is a caterer is doing this for us so I don't need info on this)

My question for you all is, how much chilli should I try to make? How much bread should I buy? Thiking french sticks, in a basket with a bread board/knife so they can chop this up themselves.

Chilli etc will be cooked on the hob in the kitchen and kept warm in slow cookers where guests can help themselves.

This will be a buffet of sorts, nothing being served as such.

Any information/advice would be greatly appreicated!

Thank you

chili-peppers bulk-cooking

Best Answer

I know that people frown upon recipes on here, but in the book "Quantity Recipes: From Meals for Many" by the New York State College for Home Economics, 1945, they recommend a serving size of 3/4 cup, which for 50 to 55 people is:

9 lbs ground beef
2 lbs ground pork
1 1/2 cups onions, chopped
1 cup beef dripping or other fat
5 qts kidney beans (#10 can) or 1 3/4 lb dried
5 qts tomatoes (1 1/2 #10 cans)
2 1/2 TB chili powder
5 TB salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 TB sugar
1/2 lb crackers, broken

I personally wouldn't use that recipe (1.5 cups of onions and 2.5TB chili for 11 lbs of meat?), but it should give you an idea of quantity.

You might be better off making a 'normal' batch of your chili recipe and measuring to see how much it makes, but possibly adjusting if it's significantly less than 3oz of meat per serving.

It's also worth noting that chili freezes really well. If you have the freezer space, you might want to make some in advance and freeze it. (I use 1qt deli containers, which would be 5 1/3 servings by their estimate). Of course, I'd also freeze it without beans and add them back when reheating (or serve it separately as an option).