🍖 BBQ for 150
How much BBQ for 150 people?
For 150 people, plan 50 lbs of cooked BBQ when it's served with two or three sides, or 75 lbs if the meat is the main event. Smoking burns off about half the raw weight, so that means buying roughly100 lbs of raw bone-in pork butt — about 13 butts.
Raw meat to buy for 150 people
Each row assumes that meat is the only one you serve. Serving several? Split the quantities between them — the total appetite in the room doesn't change.
| Meat | With sides | As the main | Roughly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐖 Pulled porkBone-in pork butt / shoulder | 100 lbs | 150 lbs | ≈ 13 pork butts |
| 🐄 BrisketWhole untrimmed packer | 100 lbs | 150 lbs | ≈ 8 packers |
| 🍖 Pork ribsSt. Louis–cut spare ribs | 100 lbs | 150 lbs | ≈ 34 racks |
| 🍗 ChickenBone-in thighs & quarters | 91 lbs | 136 lbs | ≈ 228 pieces |
| 🌭 Smoked sausageLinks, hot or mild | 57 lbs | 85 lbs | ≈ 228 links |
| 🦃 Smoked turkey breastBoneless or bone-in breast | 73 lbs | 110 lbs | ≈ 11 breasts |
Buns
225
1.5 sandwiches per adult
Sides
75 lbs
Two dishes, ~4 oz each per person
BBQ sauce
9
Pints, at ~1 oz per person
Meat cost
$200–$350
Pulled pork at US retail
Past the point of doing it yourself
A hundred and fifty guests need around 50 lbs of cooked meat — roughly 100 lbs of raw pork butt. That's twelve or thirteen butts, and it is more than a rented trailer smoker comfortably handles in a single day.
The clear-eyed recommendation at this size is to stop self-catering the protein. The meat alone runs $250–$600 before fuel, and the labour is two full days including an overnight. A BBQ restaurant selling cooked meat by the pound will typically quote in the same range once you account for everything you'd otherwise buy, and they absorb every yield risk.
If you do press on, the two decisions that matter are refrigeration and holding. A hundred pounds of raw meat needs dedicated cold space you almost certainly don't have, and fifty pounds of cooked meat needs somewhere to sit at temperature for two hours. Solve both on paper before you buy anything.
Different meat mix, kids in the count, or a hungrier crowd?Run your exact numbers in the BBQ calculator →
BBQ for 150 people: FAQ
How many pounds of BBQ for 150 people?
For 150 people you need about 50 lbs of cooked BBQ when it's served with two or three sides, or 75 lbs if the meat is the main event. Because smoking loses roughly half the raw weight, that means buying about 100 lbs of raw bone-in pork butt — around 13 butts.
How much pulled pork for 150 people?
Plan 50 lbs of cooked pulled pork for 150 guests as part of a spread. Pork butt yields about 50%, so buy roughly 100 lbs raw. Bone-in butts run around 8 lbs each, so that's 13 of them.
How much BBQ should I order for 150 people from a restaurant?
Order 50 lbs for 150 people with sides, or 75 lbs if BBQ is the whole meal. Restaurants sell by cooked weight, so don't double it — the pitmaster has already absorbed the smoking loss.
How many buns and sides for 150 people?
Figure 225 buns for 150 adults at 1.5 sandwiches each, about 75 lbs of sides across two dishes, and 9 pints of BBQ sauce at roughly 1 oz per person.
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