Cooking for a crowd
Classic Tuna Salad Sandwich for 24
These are estimates. They come from rules of thumb, not a recipe we tested at this size. Go by the recipe's own doneness cues and a thermometer, and taste as you go.
The plan
Make it 6 times over: about 24 servings.
The recipe serves 4. How it cooks: no cooking.
Pans, pots and the oven
- About 4 quarts: your biggest mixing bowl.
Timing
- Prep: about 48 minutes of hands-on work (the recipe's 10 minutes, times 6, a little faster once you're set up).
Good to know
- Keep it cold until serving (40°F or colder), and set out a smaller bowl at a time, or set the bowl over ice.
Ingredients for about 24
Every amount × 6.
- 12 cans tuna, 5 oz each, packed in water, well drained
- 2 cups mayonnaise
- 6 celery stalk, finely diced
- ¾ cup red onion, finely diced
- ⅜ cup pickle relish, or chopped dill pickle
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp dijon mustard
- kosher salt, and black pepper, to taste
- 48 slices bread, or 4 rolls
- 24 romaine lettuce leaves (optional)
- 6 medium tomatoes, sliced (optional)
The recipe's own step: “Taste and add salt and pepper.”
Rounded to kitchen measures. Eggs are rounded up to whole eggs.
Keeping a big batch safe
- Keep hot food at 140°F or hotter and cold food at 40°F or colder; nothing sits out more than 2 hours (1 hour above 90°F). (USDA FSIS: "Danger Zone" (40°F to 140°F))
- Split big batches into shallow containers so they cool quickly. Hot food can go straight into the fridge. (USDA FSIS: Leftovers and Food Safety)
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How we work it out
- How it cooks decides how it grows. Baked dishes and casseroles are made as separate batches of the recipe as written, one pan's worth at a time. Soups, stews and chili go in one bigger pot, or several. Slow cooker and pressure cooker recipes get one batch per cooker or per round. Roasts become more roasts, not a bigger one. Skillet, griddle, grill and fried recipes cook in rounds.
- Pans and the oven. We assume a home oven with two racks, two baking dishes or cake pans per rack, or one sheet pan per rack. More pans than that means another round in the oven.
- Pots. The volume comes from the weight of the ingredients (about a liter for each kilogram; dry pasta, rice and grains count 2½ times, since they soak up water), in a pot no more than 3/4 full.
- What we don't simply multiply. Salt: add 3/4, taste, then the rest. Cayenne, chiles and hot sauce: start with 2/3. Ground spices and dried herbs: start with 3/4 once it's 3 batches or more. Bay leaves and other whole spices: about half the extra. Baking soda, baking powder and yeast: batch by batch. Frying oil and the water for boiling: by the pot, not the recipe. A big pot of soup or stew: hold back a tenth of the liquid.
- Timing. Each extra batch adds about 3/4 of the recipe's prep time. A big pot takes about 3 more minutes per extra quart to come to a simmer on one burner. Meat browns in batches no bigger than the recipe's. A full oven bakes a little slower: swap and turn the pans halfway, and allow 5 to 10 minutes more.
These are our rules of thumb, not tests of each recipe at each size. The recipe's own doneness cues and a thermometer come first.