How much pasta to cook for 20 guests?

It's hard to give an exact amount of pasta without knowing more about your guests and the meal! Here's a breakdown to help you figure it out:

Factors to Consider:

* Appetite: Are your guests big eaters?

* Other Food: Is the pasta the main course, or part of a larger meal?

* Pasta Type: Some pastas are more filling than others (e.g., heavier noodles like rigatoni or penne will fill people up faster than delicate angel hair).

* Sauce: A heavy sauce (like a creamy carbonara) will be more filling than a light tomato sauce.

General Guidelines:

* Light Appetizer or Side Dish: Plan on about 1/2 cup cooked pasta per person.

* Main Course: Plan on about 1 cup cooked pasta per person.

Example:

Let's say you're serving pasta as a main course with a light sauce, and your guests are average eaters. You could plan on 1 cup cooked pasta per person. That means you'd need 20 cups of cooked pasta for 20 guests.

Here's a rough estimate for how much dry pasta to cook:

* 1 cup dry pasta = approximately 3 cups cooked pasta

Therefore, you would need about 6.5 cups of dry pasta for 20 guests.

Important Tip: It's always better to err on the side of having too much pasta than not enough! You can always store leftover pasta in the fridge for later.