Adjust for your crowd
Enter how many of your guests are kids; each counts as half an adult.
Pulled pork for other crowd sizes
tap a row for its own list ↓| Guests | Cooked | Raw to buy | Pork butts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 people | 4 lb | 8 lb | 1 |
| 20 people | 7 lb | 15 lb | 2 |
| 25 people | 9 lb | 19 lb | 3 |
| 30 people | 11 lb | 22 lb | 3 |
| 40 people | 15 lb | 30 lb | 4 |
| 50 people · you're here | 18 lb | 37 lb | 5 |
| 75 people | 28 lb | 55 lb | 7 |
| 100 people | 37 lb | 74 lb | 9 |
| 150 people | 55 lb | 110 lb | 13 |
| 200 people | 73 lb | 147 lb | 17 |
5 pork butts for 50 people. Pulled pork reheats well, so you can smoke a day or two ahead and warm it in covered pans with a splash of its juices.
How many people does a 9-lb pork butt feed?
Feeds about 13 people with sides, or 9 if pulled pork is the main event.
Everything else for 50 people
How we got this number
- 150 guests × 1/3 lb cooked = 16.7 lb
- 2× 1.10 cushion = 18.3 lb cooked
- 3÷ 0.50 cooked yield = 36.7 lb raw → 5 pork butts
a bone-in butt pulls cleanly. Count the bone in the raw weight!
We count pork butts at 9 lb each, the top of the usual 7–9 lb range. If the ones at your store run smaller, buy by weight: about 37 lb in all.
Food safety: cook pork shoulder to at least 145°F and let it rest 3 minutes; for meat that pulls apart, most cooks go to about 195–205°F (USDA safe temperature chart), and don't leave it out more than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F (USDA).
Sources for this rule: Smoking-Meat.com (Jeff Phillips); Old Farmer's Almanac party chart; USDA Food Buying Guide; Giant; Food Lion; Smoking-Meat.com.
Pulled pork questions
How much pulled pork for 50 people?
Buy about 37 lb of raw pork butt: 5 bone-in pork butts. It cooks down to about 18 lb pulled: 1/3 lb per guest with sides, plus a 10% cushion. Range: 29–46 lb depending on appetite.
What if 10 of the 50 guests are kids?
Kids count as half an adult, so it's 45 adult portions: buy about 33 lb of raw pork butt: 4 bone-in pork butts.
How much pulled pork for 50 people as the main event?
Buy about 55 lb of raw pork butt: 7 bone-in pork butts.
How many people does a 9-lb pork butt feed?
Feeds about 13 people with sides, or 9 if pulled pork is the main event.
Different headcount? The pulled pork calculator works for any number of guests, and the menu planner builds one shopping list for the whole party.