# How much ground beef for 25 taco salads?



## granniero (Sep 1, 2010)

I need to cook ground beef for 25 taco salads. I use 80/20 hamburger meat, any idea how many pounds I should buy? Do you think 1/2 cup cooked meat will be enough for a serving for adults? Thanks!


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## forty_caliber (Sep 1, 2010)

8 oz (1/2 pound) per salad would be very generous. For 25 portions that works out to 12.5 pounds of cooked ground beef.  Assuming a 20% loss during cooking, you would need about 15 pounds before cooking.

If you went for 5 oz per salad you would need 7.8 pounds cooked.  At 20% loss that works out to about 9.3 pounds before cooking.

Stick with ounces and pounds to make your calculations to keep things simple.

.40


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## Alix (Sep 1, 2010)

.40, OP said half a CUP not half a pound. YIKES that WOULD be a very generous portion. 

Half a cup is roughly 4oz or 125mg of meat. That would be a decent serving for taco salad. 

Staying with that calculation, 4 servings/lb of beef you'd need 8.25 lbs of ground beef. Might I suggest you just buy the 5lb packages and do two of them? That way you will have a little bit extra to mess with so you can be a bit more generous with your servings or have seconds for some folks. Do you need to calculate second helpings? You might want to bump up to 12lbs if you do.


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## forty_caliber (Sep 1, 2010)

4 oz?  In Texas they would call it taco flavored salad! 

.40


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## bandonjan (Sep 1, 2010)

It also depends on who your feeding. At senior meals here, we use 4 oz., for hungrier people, you might want to up it to 5 or 6 oz. Are you also using beans in the salad? You could get by with 4 oz meat if you are also having beans.


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## 4meandthem (Sep 1, 2010)

forty_caliber said:


> 4 oz? In Texas they would call it taco flavored salad!
> 
> .40


 
I am with you on that one!

Sald is a prelude to MEAT!


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## CharlieD (Sep 1, 2010)

What is taco salad anyways?


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## Andy M. (Sep 1, 2010)

I'd guess Alix is right about the portions.  A restaurant taco salad would probably serve 4 Oz. in a salad.  

People who order a salad for a meal are not big eaters.


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## forty_caliber (Sep 1, 2010)

Andy M. said:


> I'd guess Alix is right about the portions.  A restaurant taco salad would probably serve 4 Oz. in a salad.
> 
> People who order a salad for a meal are not big eaters.



In truth you are probably right.  I've seen many of them served up with an "ice cream" scoop of taco meat. 

.40


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## PrincessFiona60 (Sep 1, 2010)

CharlieD said:


> What is taco salad anyways?


 
All the same ingredients you would use for a taco, but on a large bed of lettuce and corn tortilla chips.  Many have added black olives and guacamole to it, also!

I make smaller ones without the meat as a side salad when I make a mexican meal.


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## CharlieD (Sep 2, 2010)

Aha, thank you. Is it the one the serve some times in this hard shell taco, made into a serving bawl(sp?)?


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## TexasBirdGirl (Sep 2, 2010)

forty_caliber said:


> 4 oz?  In Texas they would call it taco flavored salad!
> 
> .40



Indeed!!!


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## PrincessFiona60 (Sep 2, 2010)

CharlieD said:


> Aha, thank you. Is it the one the serve some times in this hard shell taco, made into a serving bawl(sp?)?


 
Yes, that is how they serve in the restaurant and some home cooks do, too!  I don't like frying the bowls (**one of the worst restaurant injuries I ever had) so I just serve with chips.

**the oil ran down the tongs when I took a shell out of the fryer, hot oil ran all the way from my 2 little fingers to my elbow, frying the whole way.


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## DaveSoMD (Sep 2, 2010)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> Yes, that is how they serve in the restaurant and some home cooks do, too! I don't like frying the bowls (**one of the worst restaurant injuries I ever had) so I just serve with chips.
> 
> **the oil ran down the tongs when I took a shell out of the fryer, hot oil ran all the way from my 2 little fingers to my elbow, frying the whole way.


 
OUCH!!! I can see why you don't fry them.

I have not tried this but I saw on TV one time where they draped the tortilla (?) over an oven-safe bowl and baked it to from the bowl for the salad. If it works it would be much safer than frying it.


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## CharlieD (Sep 2, 2010)

Ouch, indeed. I've done the baking thing. Works fine. I bet deep fryied one tastes better.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Sep 2, 2010)

DaveSoMD said:


> OUCH!!! I can see why you don't fry them.
> 
> I have not tried this but I saw on TV one time where they draped the tortilla (?) over an oven-safe bowl and baked it to from the bowl for the salad. If it works it would be much safer than frying it.


 

We would lay the tortilla on top of the oil and then set a weighted coffee can on them to sink them.  I got the coffee can out and when I picked up the tortilla, tipped it towards me instead of away.  It was quite awhile ago, over 25 years, when everyone was trying to figure out the best way to make taco salad bowls.  There are nice baskets now, but they didn't exist then, and they don't fit in my fryer.


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## PrincessFiona60 (Sep 2, 2010)

CharlieD said:


> Ouch, indeed. I've done the baking thing. Works fine. I bet deep fryied one tastes better.


 
They taste much better, so I fry up my own tortilla chips to serve.


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