How Much Macaroni and Cheese Per Person? [With Calculator!]

You have a party or a potluck coming up and have decided to make a classic dish of macaroni and cheese that everyone from children and elders will love and adore! A dish that is sumptuous and delicious and is sure to make you popular.

You have just one stumbling block though. How much macaroni and cheese should you make per person?

The amount of macaroni and cheese per person will depend on if you are going to serve macaroni cheese as a side dish or a main dish. In general, as the main dish, 8 oz of macaroni n cheese and 5 oz per person is recommended.

In this article we shall look into all the aspects that will cover in-depth, relating to macaroni and cheese as a side dish or a main dish. Also, what should be the portion sizes when making either?

How much is a serving of macaroni and cheese?

First things first let us understand how much is a serving of macaroni and cheese, as then you will be able to determine how many servings will be required. Also, the serving size will help you in understanding the amount of pasta that should go in the dish as well as the amount of cheese sauce that will be perfect for your dish.

You don’t want to end up with soggy pasta or overly dry pasta. Leading you to keep making adjustments to your recipe, until you feel that this is just about alright. A little insight before you start your preparations will go a long way in helping you understand the amounts of ingredients that will be required.

How much pasta per serving?

The range of serving varies from 2.5oz to 4oz per person for the serving of pasta. It depends on whether you are serving macaroni cheese as a side dish or a main dish. The range also takes into consideration that there are some big eaters as well as people who would like to take second servings.

Also, another great factor that varies would be the number of kids that are there, as well as their age group. Bigger kids from the age of 10 – 12 above should be counted as an adult. As some kids can match their portion sizes to adults.

How much sauce per serving?

The sauce per serving of macaroni and cheese will be 2.5oz to 4 oz, depending on whether it is the main dish or a side dish. The ideal pasta-to-sauce ratio is 1:1. Thus, the sauce will be the same amount as the pasta.

how much macaroni per person?

There are many factors that determine the serving size that should be per person for macaroni and cheese. Primarily, you will have to decide if your dish is the star of the show or just another side dish, that will be amongst others.

Factors that determine the portion sizes:

Macaroni and cheese is a side dish or the main dish.
How many number or side dishes are there?

The number of people that are coming.
The age group that you will be feeding
What will you be making the cheese sauce with? Richer and decadent cheese sauce made with heavy ingredients such as heavy cream or a combination of cheeses will tend to be heavier.

macaroni and cheese as a main dish

If macaroni and cheese are the stars and the only dish that you will be serving then a perfect amount of prepared dish would be 8 ounces per person which is 226 grams. The precise ratio of macaroni to sauce is 1:1. Thus, you will need 4 ounces of cooked macaroni in 4 ounces of cooked sauce.

Stouffer’s party pack comes in a 76-ounce (4lb 12oz or 2.15kg) box. That serves 10 people. Which works to about 7.6 ounces per person of cooked macaroni cheese.

The formula for calculating macaroni cheese as a main dish is 8 oz x No. of people.

macaroni and cheese as a side dish

Macaroni and Cheese as a side dish will really depend on how many sides you are having and what the main dish is. However, a rough estimate will be 5 ounces per person which is about 140 grams.

The formula for calculating macaroni cheese as a side dish is 5oz. x No.of people

Number of People	As a main dish	As a side dish
For 10 people	80 oz ( 5 lbs)	50 oz (3.1 lbs)
For 20 people	160 oz (10 lbs)	100 oz (6.25 lbs)
For 50 people	400 oz (25 lbs)	250 oz (15.65 lbs)
For 100 people	800 oz (50 lbs)	500 oz (31.25 lbs)
For 200 people	1600 oz (100 lbs)	1000 oz(62.5 lbs)

How many people does a pound of macaroni serve?

1 pound of dry macaroni, which is uncooked pasta can feed 10 people with decent portion sizes. If they are heavy eaters then around 8 people should be able to eat comfortably.

Typically dry pasta absorbs about 1.5 to 1.8 times as much water as the pasta. So, the macaroni will become 2.5 times its weight after it is cooked. Added with the cheese sauce in a 1:1 ratio. The total macaroni and cheese will be enough to feed 10 people, or if you go for a bigger portion then it will feed 8 people.

how many boxes of mac and cheese for 50?

Different brands have different sizes of boxes as party packs or family-sized packs. So, it really depends on the brand and the pack size that you are choosing. However, some popular brands have been listed below with the pack size and the number of boxes.

Brand	No. of boxes for 50 people
Kraft 18 box macaroni cheese	3 boxes
Velveeta 12 box macaroni shells and cheese	4 boxes
Stouffer’s Party size macaroni and cheese -serves 10 people	5 boxes

How Much Macaroni and Cheese Per Person? [With Calculator!]