How much pasta salad should I have for 50 people?

It's as easy to host a party for 60 people as it is to serve burgers on a grill.It takes a lot of time and planning to make side dishes for this large group of people.Don't worry about how much salt and pepper to add.calculating how much to make is the first order of business.

If you're confident that 60 people will show up, you can make food calculations based on the number of people.It's wise to plan for the unexpected.

Someone might knock over a bowl of coleslaw, or a bunch of potato salad might have to be thrown out.Some people may want to take home leftovers.Some people will take bigger serving than you anticipate, because your idea of an appropriate serving size may not match up with everyone else's.

When your salads turn limp or greasy, you should not prepare too far in advance.The day before, separate the individual components.Make your dressings, cook the pasta, shred the cabbage, chop the veggies and so on.Just before the party starts, combine individual components cold.

Most people won't eat more than a quarter of a cup of pasta salad when you serve it as a side dish.One serving of pasta salad is likely to include at least 1/2 cup of noodles.

A 1-pound box of pasta will usually yield about 8 cups of cooked pasta, so you can expect to feed about 16 people from one box.If you're bulking up the salad with lots of extras, 4 or 5 pounds of dry pasta should suffice.If you're planning a salad with a lot of vegetables, you may want to use less pasta.