How much catering for 50 guests? A tamale caterer’s numbers

Catering for 50 guests is the order I price more than any other, because fifty is the size of a real party: a retirement send-off, a big birthday, a department lunch, a baptism with both sides of the family. It is also the size where a host stops being able to eyeball the food. At fifty, you need a number, and I am going to give you mine.

The short answer: For 50 guests, order 100 big tamales (9 dozen) when you are serving rice, beans or other sides, and 150 tamales (13 dozen) when tamales are the whole meal. At $60 a dozen that is $540 for a lunch and $780 for a dinner, or roughly $10–$15 per person, delivered hot with salsa and crema.

That is the whole answer, but the reasons behind it matter, because a party of 50 is never exactly 50, and the sides, the time of day and the kind of guests all move the count a little. Below is how I work through it at the kitchen table when a quote request comes in.

Why 50 guests is harder than it looks

With ten people you can put out a couple of plates and watch. With fifty, the food goes out on a table, the line forms, and the first twenty people decide how much the last thirty get. If the first twenty take three tamales each because they look good (they do), the tail of the line finds an empty tray. Fifty is where a host learns that the serving spoon is a policy decision.

Fifty is also where the guest list stops being honest. Somebody brings a plus-one. A cousin brings two kids. A coworker who said “maybe” turns up hungry. My rule for catering for 50 guests is to plan for the number you were told and then round the dozens up, not down. That rounding is built into the chart below, so you do not need to add a cushion on top of it.

Catering for 50 guests: the tamale math

Our tamales are big. Reviewers on Google use words like “huge” and “packed with meat,” and one is a serious portion. So the numbers are lower than what you will read on recipe blogs that count the small holiday-market kind. The per-person rule I use is two tamales for a lunch with sides, three for a dinner where tamales are the main course, and one to two when they sit next to other food.

Notice that 9 dozen is 108 tamales, not 100. Those eight extra are your plus-ones and your second helpings. Thirteen dozen gives you six spare at dinner. That is on purpose. Leftover tamales freeze and reheat beautifully; a short tray is a memory nobody wants.

If you want a deeper look at the per-person rule and the cases where it bends, the tamales-per-person guide walks through every kind of crowd, from teenage athletes to a quiet book club.

Pork or chicken, and how to split the order

My two fillings are pork in red salsa and chicken breast in green tomatillo salsa. For 50 guests I almost always suggest splitting close to even, with a slight lean toward pork: 5 dozen pork and 4 dozen chicken for a lunch order, 7 and 6 for a dinner order. Pork is the tamal most people picture when they hear the word, and it has a little kick that gets talked about. Chicken is milder, made with breast meat, and it is the one the kids and the cautious eaters reach for first.

If you know your crowd, adjust. A church group with lots of families leans chicken. A construction crew or a Cowboys watch party leans pork. When you send the quote request, tell me who is coming and I will suggest a split; both fillings are on the menu page with prices, and every tray is labeled so nobody has to guess at the table.

Sides, salsa and drinks for a party of 50

Tamales carry a party on their own, but a few sides make fifty plates look generous and let you order the lower count. Here is what I tell hosts to put on the table with a lunch-size tamale order:

• Rice and beans. The classic pairing, and the reason you can hold at two tamales per person. Plan on a large hotel pan of each for 50; a half cup of each per plate is plenty.
• Chips and salsa. Put them out before the tamales arrive so early guests have something to do. Two large bags of chips and two quarts of salsa cover 50 people for the first half hour.
• Extra red and green salsa, plus crema. We send salsa and crema with catering orders on request. For fifty, ask for both colors; people like to try the other one.
• Something cold and crunchy. A cabbage slaw with lime, a cucumber and jicama salad, or sliced radishes and pickled onions. It cuts the richness and costs almost nothing.
• Drinks. A rough count is two drinks per guest for a two-hour party. Agua fresca in a dispenser is easier than cans and looks better in photos.

For a full look at what belongs next to the tamales, and what does not, my sides and salsas guide has the whole spread. For the budget side of the question, what catering really costs per person in DFW shows how a tamale order compares to the other options at this headcount.

How to serve 50 people without a line that stalls

Fifty guests through one buffet table takes about fifteen minutes if it is set up well and forty if it is not. The setup is the difference. Put plates at one end, tamales next, then sides, then salsas and crema, then napkins and forks at the far end so people stop reaching back. Open the trays so guests can see the fillings; the labels we put on each tray help here.

Two more small things that matter at this size. First, have one person, not the host, stand near the tamales for the first ten minutes and gently say “two each, there is plenty for seconds.” That sentence alone keeps the count honest. Second, keep the second tray closed and warm until the first is nearly empty; opened trays cool faster, and a tamal that sat open for an hour is not the tamal I sent you.

Ask for serving spoons when you order if you are going buffet-style. Our team delivers hot in an agreed window, so the food arrives about fifteen minutes before you want to eat, not an hour before, and it goes straight from the box to the table.

When to order, and what to tell me

A 50-guest order is a real batch in our kitchen; everything is made from scratch the morning it goes out. Give me as much notice as you can, and more than that in the weeks before Thanksgiving and Christmas, when the calendar fills first. My lead-time guide breaks this down by event type, but for a weekend party of fifty, a week or two of notice is comfortable and a month is relaxed.

When you send the request, five things let me price it the same business day:

1. The date and the hour you want to eat, so I can set the delivery window.
2. The address, and whether it is a house, an office, a church hall or a park pavilion. We deliver across Richardson, Plano, Frisco, Allen, McKinney and Dallas; the delivery-area page lists each city.
3. Lunch or dinner, and whether there will be sides.
4. How you want the pork and chicken split, or “you choose.”
5. Whether you want salsa, crema, utensils and serving spoons for buffet service.

Everything is delivered; we are a catering kitchen in Richardson, not a restaurant, so there is no dine-in and no walk-in counter. Delivery details, any minimum and the fee are confirmed with the quote, and I read and price every request myself.

Ready to order for 50?

If you are hosting fifty, you now know the number: 9 dozen for lunch, 13 for dinner, split between pork in red salsa and chicken in green. Send me the date, the headcount and the address through the quote form and Maggie’s Tamales & Catering will have a menu and a price back to you the same business day. Birthdays, showers and family gatherings of this size are our bread and butter; the party catering page shows how the delivery works. Fifty people, one order, and you get to enjoy your own party.

Frequently asked questions

How much food do I need when catering for 50 guests?

For 50 guests, plan two big tamales per person with sides (100 tamales, ordered as 9 dozen) or three per person when tamales are the whole meal (150, ordered as 13 dozen). Add rice, beans, chips and salsa for a lunch-size order. Our tamales are large, so these counts are lower than a recipe blog’s, and the rounded dozens already include a cushion for plus-ones.

What does catering for 50 people cost with tamales?

At $60 a dozen, 9 dozen tamales for a lunch with sides comes to $540 and 13 dozen for a dinner comes to $780. That works out to about $10–$15 per guest for the main dish. Salsa and crema come with the order on request; delivery details and any minimum are confirmed on the quote, which I send the same business day.

How many dozen tamales should I order for 50 people?

Nine dozen for a lunch or a party with other food on the table, thirteen dozen for a dinner where tamales are the main course, and five dozen if they are an appetizer or a late-night snack. Round up rather than down; leftover tamales freeze well and reheat in a steamer in about fifteen minutes, but a tray that runs short cannot be fixed.

Should I order pork or chicken tamales for a party of 50?

Order both. For fifty guests I suggest a near-even split leaning slightly toward pork: 5 dozen pork in red salsa and 4 dozen chicken in green tomatillo salsa for a lunch order. Pork has a gentle kick and is the classic; chicken breast in green salsa is milder and popular with kids. Every tray arrives labeled so guests can pick.

How far ahead should I book catering for 50 guests?

A week or two of notice is comfortable for a party of fifty, and a month is relaxed. The weeks before Thanksgiving and Christmas fill first, so book those as early as you can. Every order is made fresh the morning it goes out, and I price every request personally, usually the same business day, so a quick email with the date and headcount gets things moving.

Do the tamales come hot, and how do I keep them hot for 50 people?

Yes. Our own team delivers hot in an agreed window, usually timed to arrive shortly before you want to eat. Keep the trays closed until you serve, open one at a time, and keep the rest in a warm oven or an insulated carrier. Served that way, tamales hold well for an hour or more, long enough for fifty guests to go through the line and come back for seconds.