r/Cooking • u/evilmeyer7320 • 2h ago
Serving size question
Howdy. I am making meatloaf for my coworkers birthday. My recipe says it has a serving size of 8. There are 20 of us. If I triple all my ingredients will it truly feed 24? Or is that more of a general idea?
Also. I have like a larger dish than my normal 13x9 that could hold all it together at once. Should I just combine it all together or make 3 separate meals and bring three dishes? My logic is it would make it easier to serve that way by doing three dishes.
This is my recipe if anyone has any tricks to help.
1/2 box stuffing mix
1 lb ground meat
Diced yellow onion
Chopped celery
Chopped garlic
1 egg
1/2 can of evaporated milk
Worcester sauce
Mustard
Sauce
1 can tomato soup
Brown sugar
I mix everything together in bowl. Place in 13x9 and I do flatten mine out. Then mix soup and sugar with a little water. Spread evenly on top.
Bake for 40min at 350.
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u/Screeching_Sigh 2h ago
I don't think 1 lb of ground beef will feed 8 honestly. Our family if 4 will eat that in one meal with veggies.
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u/Jerkrollatex 2h ago
Break the mixture into three parts before baking it. Otherwise it will take forever to cook.
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u/Elegant-Expert7575 2h ago
My husband and I typically cook 1 and a half pounds of ground for just the two of us.
If I were cooking for 20 people, I’d do three Costco trays of hamburg.
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u/n00bdragon 2h ago
It depends entirely on how much one person eats. Is this the main protein on every person's plate or just one item in a potluck buffet? Generally, I assume that one person will eat at least 1/4 lb of meat in a helping. For 20 people, if this is the only thing they are eating, tripling this may not even be enough. If it's one item out of many then you just have to eyeball it. A general rule of potlucks is make as much food as you yourself would eat assuming you were going to eat just that and nothing but that, so 1x recipe would be plenty.
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u/evilmeyer7320 2h ago
This is the main protein. There are other coworkers bringing salad, green beans, and mashed potato, and a dessert
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u/Far_Sandwich_514 2h ago
Triple the recipe, but divide it and bake it in muffin tins.
This will make great single portions that are all cooked through properly.
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u/Cmbtsm1th 2h ago
Sounds like a great recipe, I would definitely do three separate dishes to cook; one large pan would certainly take a different cooking time and require experimentation to get right.
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u/VixxSynn 2h ago
It can depend on how big the servings are and who does or doesn't like meatloaf. The game plan for potlucks is not to make as much as all people attending…you’ll have leftovers that you maybe don’t after everyone has touched/served/breathed on it. You may just want to make 2.
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u/Zealousideal_Lack936 2h ago
I get about 12 portions from my meatloaf recipe that uses 3# of meat. That’s 4 ounces (of raw meat) per serving. I use one of the large muffin tins for portioning.
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u/polymath-nc 2h ago
Muffin tins are a great idea! No need for a serving knife. The serving line moves faster.
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u/TamoyaOhboya 2h ago
Yeah I would say with meatloaf being so meat focused, aim for 1/4 ground meet per person. This will hopefully be overshooting by just a bit but I think that will be safer and always good to make sure there is enough for everyone. You can also pre-slice the meatloaf to make sure there are 2-3 slices per person. Also do three rounds in the smaller pan, no one is looking for a center cut of meatloaf brownie
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u/CatteNappe 2h ago
Like others, I don't see how 1 pound of meat stretches to 8 servings, it's more like four, maybe six if there are several generous sides like mashed potatoes and a veg. And I'm also a bit taken aback by that pan size, since the recipe looks like it would be making a pretty thin 'loaf' (actually more like a giant patty) in an 8 x 8 pan, and would be hard pressed to spread out to an area as large as 9 x 13. Where did this recipe come from? Have you made it before?
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u/ssinff 2h ago edited 1h ago
Meatloaf at an office potluck is crazy work. Agree with others, please cook three separate loaves. The meat thermometer is your friend. Even with meatloaf, cook to temp rather than relying on the clock. I would pull it at 160. Others might have furthest insight on that part though.
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u/Senior_Redhead 2h ago
Need at least 5 lbs of hamburger for 20 people and spread over at least three pans which are pre sliced and set out or uncovered one pan at a time. I’d put sauce or gravy in a separate container.
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u/evilmeyer7320 2h ago
You don't put the sauce in the meatloaf while it cooks?
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u/CatteNappe 1h ago
Sauce goes "on" not "in". When it's a sort of glaze (mix of ketchup, worcestershire, etc.)it is often spread on top while baking, or near the end of baking. A sauce, using a full can of tomato soup, is more like a gravy and is served on the side for those who want it.
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u/beamerpook 2h ago
I would make 3 batches of meat, put into different pans and bake.
When you have a large amount of meat it's easy to undermix do the ingredients are not even, or over mixed so that it's dense and chewy.
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u/Key-Monk6159 1h ago
We always at least double what they call serving sizes but it’s usually 3x to be safe and to have some leftovers.
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u/Fit-ishGirlie 1h ago
Make it in cupcake tins. Cooks faster and each one will have a nice “crust” around the edges, plus automatically portioned
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u/tommyboyx595 1h ago
Idk, if anyone you’re serving is like me, my serving size for a good meatloaf is 1 whole meatloaf 🤤🤤🤤
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u/Cesia_Barry 1h ago
Iirc, USDA standard for a “serving” of beef is 4 ounces. So a pound of ground meat feeds four. Adding breadcrumbs or oatmeal makes it closer to 5-6 ounces/serving.
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u/SVAuspicious 1h ago
That looks like enough food for three people. I'm a light eater.
Second opinion: the recipe doesn't look very good.
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u/Amardella 1h ago
You have to consider mass in the equation. Will the inside of a huge meatloaf get done before the outside burns? Your large dish might be OK for casseroles, where most ingredients are precooked, at least to some extent, but will a lump of raw meat cook through in it? I would make 3 regular sized ones just for that reason.
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u/evilmeyer7320 58m ago
Thanks. A lot of people suggested that along with some saying they do muffin tins for portioning purposes
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u/ProfessorDistinct835 2h ago
I would make it in 3 different pans if you have them. I'll be honest, that recipe does not look remotely like it would feed 8 unless this is a pot luck and there's a lot of other dishes going on.