Catering for 20 people: the small-group order that still needs planning

Catering for 20 people is the order that gets underestimated. Twenty is a team lunch, a birthday dinner for the extended family, a book club that grew, a Sunday after a baptism. It feels small enough to wing, and it is exactly the size where winging it means someone spends the whole party in the kitchen. Here is how I plan it.

The short answer: For 20 people, order 40 big tamales (about 4 dozen) for a lunch with sides, or 60 tamales (5 dozen) when tamales are the whole meal. At $60 a dozen that is $240 for lunch and $300 for dinner, roughly $10–$15 a head. Add rice, beans, chips and salsa, and the whole thing is on the table in ten minutes.

That number is the same per-person rule I use for fifty or five hundred, and it comes from the size of the tamales, not the size of the party. But twenty is its own animal in a few ways, so let me walk through the count, the cost, the choice between tamales and burritos, and the easiest way to get it delivered.

Why 20 is the trickiest small number

Ten people fit around one table and eat what you put in front of them. Forty is clearly a party, and a party gets catered. Twenty sits in the middle. Hosts think “I can make a pot of something,” then discover that a pot of something for twenty is three pots, two trips to the store, and a stack of dishes that outlasts the guests.

Twenty is also small enough that every guest is a real fraction of the food. Two extra people at a hundred-guest party disappear into the rounding. Two extra people at a twenty-guest lunch are ten percent of the order. So the rounding up I build into the chart below matters more here than anywhere else, and I always suggest whole dozens rather than trying to hit the count to the tamal.

Catering for 20 people: the tamale math

Our tamales are big, made with gluten-free corn masa and packed with either slow-cooked pork in red salsa or chicken breast in green tomatillo salsa. One is a real portion. Two with rice and beans is a full lunch; three is a dinner. Here is what that produces for twenty guests.

The second lunch row is worth a look. Three dozen plus a half-dozen gets you to 42 tamales for exactly twenty people with two spare, and it saves the price of half a dozen compared with rounding all the way up to four. If your twenty is a firm twenty, that is the one I would choose. If your twenty is “twenty, maybe twenty-three,” take the four dozen.

The full per-person rule, including who eats more and who eats less, is in the tamales-per-person guide. If you are feeding twenty people and half of them are under ten, read how to estimate food when half the guests are kids before you order; small children usually share a tamal.

Pork, chicken, or a mix for a small group

With a small order the split is simple: half and half. Two dozen pork and two dozen chicken for a lunch, three pork and two chicken for a dinner. Pork in red salsa is the one people picture and the one with a little kick; chicken in green is milder and the first choice for kids and cautious eaters. Both are on the menu at the same price, so the split costs nothing extra.

For twenty people you know, you can be more precise than I can. An office where three people always order the spicy thing leans pork. A family dinner with grandparents and toddlers leans chicken. Every tray is labeled by filling, so even a mixed order sorts itself out at the table.

Tamales or burritos for a team of 20?

This comes up for office orders more than home ones. Our lunch menu also has chicken and pork burritos, and for a meeting of twenty there are good arguments each way. Tamales serve buffet-style, look like a meal, and reheat perfectly for whoever was on a call. Burritos are foil-wrapped, one per person, and go back to a desk without a plate.

My honest answer for twenty: if people are sitting down together, tamales. If people are grabbing lunch between meetings and eating at their desks, burritos, or a mix with a few of each. Burritos are priced on the quote, and the tamales-or-burritos article has a fuller comparison, including the gluten note: our tamales are gluten-free corn masa, while the burritos use flour tortillas made in the same kitchen.

Sides and setup for a group of 20

Twenty people need one serving table, not a buffet line. Put the tamales in the middle, rice and beans on either side, salsas and crema at the end, and plates and forks at the beginning. Here is the shopping list that turns four dozen tamales into a full lunch:

• Rice and beans: one half-size hotel pan of each, or two large pots from home. Half a cup of each per plate.
• Chips and salsa: one large bag and a quart of salsa, out before the tamales arrive.
• Red and green salsa and crema from our kitchen, on request. For twenty, ask for both salsas; the swap between red and green is half the fun.
• Something fresh: a bowl of lime-dressed cabbage slaw or sliced cucumber and radish with salt and chile.
• Drinks: two per person, so about forty servings. One dispenser of agua fresca and a case of water covers it.

Keep the second tray closed until the first is nearly gone; a covered tray of tamales holds its heat for well over an hour. Leftovers go in the fridge in their husks and reheat in a steamer in about fifteen minutes; the reheating guide covers steamer, oven, microwave and air fryer.

How to order for 20, and how much notice I need

Twenty people is right at the line between our two ways of ordering. Small orders can go through DoorDash during kitchen hours, and a couple of dozen fits that. But for a set delivery time, labeled trays, salsas and crema, serving spoons, and one invoice for the office, the quote form is the better route, and it takes about two minutes. I read every request myself and usually price it the same business day.

Our kitchen is in Richardson and we deliver across Richardson, Plano, Frisco, Allen, McKinney and Dallas; everything is delivered by our own team in an agreed window, and there is no dine-in or walk-in counter. A few days of notice is plenty for a twenty-person order most of the year; the weeks before Thanksgiving and Christmas fill first, so book early then. For a same-week lunch, the last-minute catering article explains what is realistic on short notice.

If this is your first time ordering catering at all, the first-time walkthrough covers what to write in the request and what to expect back. For an office, the office catering page explains recurring delivery too; plenty of teams of twenty start with one lunch and end up with a monthly Tamale Day.

Ready to order for 20?

Four dozen for lunch, five for dinner, half pork and half chicken. That is the whole plan for twenty people, and it arrives hot, labeled and ready to serve. Send the date, the address and the headcount through the quote form and Maggie’s Tamales & Catering will have a menu and a price back to you the same business day. A team lunch, a family birthday, a small Sunday gathering: twenty people, one order, and you get to sit down with them.

Frequently asked questions

How much food do I need when catering for 20 people?

Plan two big tamales per person for a lunch with sides, which is 40 tamales ordered as 4 dozen or as 3 dozen plus a half-dozen, or three per person for a dinner, which is 60 tamales or 5 dozen. Add rice, beans, chips and salsa for the lunch version. Our tamales are large, so these counts are lower than a recipe blog would tell you.

What does catering for 20 people cost with tamales?

At $60 a dozen, 4 dozen tamales for a lunch order comes to $240 and 5 dozen for a dinner comes to $300 or about $10–$15 per person for the main dish. Three dozen plus a half-dozen is $180 plus $30 for a firm headcount of twenty. Salsa and crema come on request; delivery details and any minimum are confirmed on the quote.

Can I order tamales for 20 people through DoorDash?

You can order a couple of dozen through DoorDash during kitchen hours, and for a casual same-day lunch that works. For a set delivery window, trays labeled by filling, salsas and crema, serving spoons and a single invoice, use the quote form or call the kitchen. I read and price each request myself, usually the same business day, and our own team delivers hot.

Should a team of 20 order tamales or burritos?

If everyone is sitting down together, tamales: they serve buffet-style, look like a meal and reheat perfectly for anyone who is late. If people are eating at their desks between meetings, foil-wrapped chicken or pork burritos are easier to carry. Many offices of twenty order a mix. Tamales are gluten-free corn masa; burritos use flour tortillas from the same kitchen.

How much notice do you need for a 20-person order?

A few days is comfortable for a twenty-person order most of the year, and a week is relaxed. Everything is made from scratch the morning it goes out, so the earlier I have the date, the easier it is to hold your delivery window. The weeks before Thanksgiving and Christmas fill first; for those, book as soon as you know the date.

What if a few extra people show up to a party of 20?

Order four dozen instead of three and a half, and you have eight spare tamales, enough for three or four surprise guests. If the count grows past twenty-five before the event, send me a note and I will adjust the order. Leftovers are never wasted: they keep in the fridge for a few days in their husks and freeze well for weeks.