There are times — most times, in fact — when leftover pasta salad is a good thing. Cookouts, however, are seldom one of these times. After hanging out in the sun with friends all day, the last thing foodies want is to tote home a half-full bowl of pasta salad. Considering pasta salad has a food-safety window of just a few hours at room temperature anyway, any leftovers will likely need to be thrown out (forget about it if that cookout was held on a sweltering August afternoon). To rock the cookout, be sure to keep portion sizes in mind when you bust out your go-to pasta salad recipes.
As a general rule, plan on ½ cup to ¾ cup of pasta salad per person as a side dish. This shakes out to four to six ounces of finished, assembled pasta salad per person. If you’re serving pasta salad as an entree-sized dish, double that (one to 1 ½ cups per person, eight to 12 ounces). While the exact measurements can vary depending on your selected pasta shape, roughly two ounces of dry pasta hydrates to one cup cooked. As a helpful gauge, to serve smaller crowds or larger gatherings at family barbecues and neighborhood potlucks, multiply the number of anticipated guests by two ounces. So, to feed 60 guests, a foodie would want to boil 120 ounces (7.5 pounds) of dry pasta. This allows room for some folks to take a full cup serving and others to take ½ cup.
Aim for 6 ounces of pasta salad per person
As you plan for your cookout, keep in mind how many other side dishes will also be available. One cup of pasta salad per person should more than suffice for buffet-style gatherings with other dishes on the food table. Not feeling pasta salad? We have plenty of other side dish recipes for summer cookouts to fuel your brainstorm.
If there aren’t any meatless burgers or brats being thrown on the grill, any plant-based foodies attending the cookout (or picky eaters, or kiddos) might also turn to the pasta salad for an entree-sized helping. Although for an inclusive vegetarian barbecue, we’re digging this ultimate vegan smash burgers recipe and these store-bought Beyond Stack Burgers by Beyond Meat. Aiming for the ¾-cup-per-person zone accommodates wiggle room for some folks to take a smaller scoop of pasta salad, and for some folks to come back for seconds — and they’ll definitely want seconds, with these 14 tips for nailing the perfect bowl of pasta salad.
On the note of proportions, however much pasta salad you make, take care not to drown it, either. A quarter-cup of dressing per cup of pasta is a solid jumping-off point. Adjust to taste, then give that finished batch at least six hours in the fridge to marinate for the best flavor.
