Hi. I’m hosting Marching Band Senior Night at my house. There will be swimming, a fire pit, badminton, and corn hole (think horse shoes with bean bags if you’re not from the Midwest). There will be 20 Seniors and assorted parents, I’ll get a headcount in a couple of days.
We will be having Chiptole-style taco bar, so beef (ground), chicken, cilantro rice, beans and toppings, and chips. Only burrito shells. I have no idea how much meat to make. I was thinking maybe 6-8 ounces of meat a person? And 1 1/2 shells per person because if they make them big most people will only eat one, right?
We also have to supply drinks and a cake. Oh and the budget is $325. Help!
If you’re talking about teens, yes, they will load up their tacos. Maybe a few parents can man the serving table and serve the meat. Serving more side dishes also helps.
Sounds delicious - can I come??! I’m not familiar with burrito “shells” - do you mean flour tortillas? Those you can buy in different sizes - so yeah, a large tortilla I can see just eating one. But a “shell” - not sure on that.
If you were making meat for a family of 5 how much would you use? (of one meat) If you would use 1 pound of meat for 5 then I would just multiply it out. So plan for at least 10% higher than # of people you expect. If your count is for 60 people, then multiply out meat for 66-70. And of course, if you are having 2 proteins (meat and chicken) divide up for that. Some people may choose to not add meat and just do rice, beans and toppings. Will lettuce be an option for those not wanting “shells” - so like a burrito bowl (no shell)???
@abasket you can come if you help! But I should warn you , the corn hole game–a loaner-- is from that rival school that we don’t discuss (LOL)
For 5 I’d probably make 3/4 of a pound for no leftovers. So the math makes sense. My husband call them burrito shells. No idea why. D16 is gluten free so there will be bowls, we do have a vegetarian or too thus the beans.
@lilmom with the limited budget I really don’t want to do a lot of sides that won’t sell if yo know what I mean? What were you thinking would be good? There will be chips, salsa and guac.
I’m here in CA and yes, chips and salsa for sure! If there are more girls, then, green salads would be good as would bbq’d corn on the cob (I can give you a quick Mexican recipe for that).
Or, OP, is one of the other band parents a Costco member?? It would be worth it for you to ask her to take you there to buy the supplies - you could buy her lunch for the trouble and still probably save $$$!
20 seniors + assorted parents + your family means about 35 people (whether you are from the Midwest or not). So, I’m thinking 20 lbs of chicken and 20 lbs of beef just to be safe. If that blows the budget go with 20 and 15.
You are on your own when it comes to chips and rice and beans. No idea. All I can do is estimate the beef and chicken. Actually, now that I am warming up, I’d say 6 cans of baked beans. That soundsa bout right.
Instead of giant burrito tortillas, I’d consider getting a mix of flour and corn tortillas in a smaller size. Tortillas are hard to keep hot and unheated tortillas are not easy to roll into giant burritos like they have at Chipotle. It is much easier to make soft tacos. And some people won’t want the giant burrito-sized tortilla.
I made a similar meal for theater kids during tech week. About 50-60 kids if I recall, a few adults, but more (large) boys than you’d think and some hungry girls too. What saved us was that they were just on a dinner break, not munching for hours, but there wasn’t much food left. I think I made 10 pounds of chicken and 10 pounds of beef, and it was all gone, sort of at an even rate of beef eaters and chicken eaters (a few vegetarians). I made spicy rice (Rotelo tomatoes mixed in) and plain white, cheese, lettuce, sour cream, salsa, beans. $325 would have been plenty, even for water bottles and cake. This was at a school in the south, so didn’t make it as spicy as I would have at a school in the west (they were lightweights on spice there)
If they are going to be there for 2-3 hours, I’d figure 2 burritos per person, plus chips and cake. Another thing you could add to the hot line is grilled peppers and onions. I tend to go veggie at Chipotle just because I like the guac better than meat, and I love those grilled veggies on my burritos. Corn would have been great too.
Costco does have great cakes, but I think Walmarts with bakeries do too, or Sam’s or BJ’s.
Whatever you do, make it the easiest on you. If something is available shredded or diced, get that. Spices in a packet? Get those. We were looking for squeeze bottles for the sour cream (like ketchup/mustard at a diner) because that is easier than using spoons but couldn’t find them, and those were the messiest part of the line. We had the single sheet tin foil just like at chipotle, and those really helped to make the assembly line keep moving. Plate, foil sheet, burrito, meat, … all lined up.
Oh and I should mention, those who mentioned parents serving, that these kids have eating together one or two night a week for 4 months a year for the last 4 years. They are good at serving themselves an appropriate amount and going back for more. Hopefully their parents are too. lol
8oz/person sounds about right, given people are also eating beans for protein.
Presumably burrito shells means flour tortillas. If they’re 12 inch flour tortillas (what you will typically find as “burrito size” tortillas at the grocery store) then you should do 2-3 per person. If they’re 16 inch then 1-1 and a half per person sounds fine.
Maybe a few parents can man the serving table and serve the meat. Serving more side dishes also helps.