Catering for 20 people: the small-group order that still needs planning

Catering for 20 people is the order that gets underestimated. Twenty is a team lunch, a birthday dinner for the extended family, a book club that grew, a Sunday after a baptism. It feels small enough to wing, and it is exactly the size where winging it means someone spends the whole party in the kitchen. Here is how I plan it.

The short answer: For 20 people, order 40 big tamales (about 4 dozen) for a lunch with sides, or 60 tamales (5 dozen) when tamales are the whole meal. At $60 a dozen that is $240 for lunch and $300 for dinner, roughly $10–$15 a head. Add rice, beans, chips and salsa, and the whole thing is on the table in ten minutes.

That number is the same per-person rule I use for fifty or five hundred, and it comes from the size of the tamales, not the size of the party. But twenty is its own animal in a few ways, so let me walk through the count, the cost, how to serve twenty at a table or at their desks, and the easiest way to order.

Why 20 is the trickiest small number

Ten people fit around one table and eat what you put in front of them. Forty is clearly a party, and a party gets catered. Twenty sits in the middle. Hosts think “I can make a pot of something,” then discover that a pot of something for twenty is three pots, two trips to the store, and a stack of dishes that outlasts the guests.

Twenty is also small enough that every guest is a real fraction of the food. Two extra people at a hundred-guest party disappear into the rounding. Two extra people at a twenty-guest lunch are ten percent of the order. So the rounding up I build into the chart below matters more here than anywhere else, and I always suggest whole dozens rather than trying to hit the count to the tamal.

Catering for 20 people: the tamale math

Our tamales are big, made with gluten-free corn masa and packed with either slow-cooked pork in red salsa or chicken breast in green tomatillo salsa. One is a real portion. Two with rice and beans is a full lunch; three is a dinner. Here is what that produces for twenty guests.

The second lunch row is worth a look. Three dozen plus a half-dozen gets you to 42 tamales for exactly twenty people with two spare, and it saves the price of half a dozen compared with rounding all the way up to four. If your twenty is a firm twenty, that is the one I would choose. If your twenty is “twenty, maybe twenty-three,” take the four dozen.

The full per-person rule, including who eats more and who eats less, is in the tamales-per-person guide. If you are feeding twenty people and half of them are under ten, read how to estimate food when half the guests are kids before you order; small children usually share a tamal.

Pork, chicken, or a mix for a small group

With a small order the split is simple: half and half. Two dozen pork and two dozen chicken for a lunch, three pork and two chicken for a dinner. Pork in red salsa is the one people picture and the one with a little kick; chicken in green is milder and the first choice for kids and cautious eaters. Both are on the menu at the same price, so the split costs nothing extra.

For twenty people you know, you can be more precise than I can. An office where three people always order the spicy thing leans pork. A family dinner with grandparents and toddlers leans chicken. Keep the pork and the chicken in separate pans, and even a mixed order sorts itself out at the table.

Tamales at the table or at the desk for a team of 20?

This comes up for office orders more than home ones. In a team of twenty, some people sit down together and some grab lunch between calls. Tamales handle both. They serve buffet-style and look like a meal at a table, and a tamal in its husk on a small plate goes back to a desk without a mess. Whoever was stuck on a call can reheat theirs later in the break-room microwave.

My honest answer for twenty: if people are sitting down together, set up one table and let everyone serve themselves. If people are eating at their desks, put small plates, forks and napkins next to the trays and let them take two each. The tamales-or-burritos article has a fuller comparison of the two lunch foods, including the gluten note: our tamales are gluten-free corn masa.

Sides and setup for a group of 20

Twenty people need one serving table, not a buffet line. Put the tamales in the middle, rice and beans on either side, salsas and crema at the end, and plates and forks at the beginning. Here is the shopping list that turns four dozen tamales into a full lunch:

• Rice and beans: one half-size hotel pan of each, or two large pots from home. Half a cup of each per plate.
• Chips and salsa: one large bag and a quart of salsa, out before the tamales arrive.
• Extra salsa and crema from the store. For twenty, buy both a red and a green; the swap between red and green is half the fun.
• Something fresh: a bowl of lime-dressed cabbage slaw or sliced cucumber and radish with salt and chile.
• Drinks: two per person, so about forty servings. One dispenser of lemonade or iced tea and a case of water covers it.

Keep the second tray closed until the first is nearly gone; a covered tray of tamales holds its heat for well over an hour. Leftovers go in the fridge in their husks and reheat in a steamer in about fifteen minutes; the reheating guide covers steamer, oven, microwave and air fryer.

How to order for 20, and how much notice I need

Twenty people is an easy order: four or five dozen in our online store. You choose chicken or pork, a half dozen or a dozen, delivery or pickup and today or a date ahead, and you pay online; delivery fees are shown at checkout. The order page explains each step, and it takes about two minutes.

Our kitchen is in Plano and we deliver across Allen, McKinney, Fairview, Frisco, The Colony, Plano, Murphy, Carrollton, Addison, Richardson and Far North Dallas, or you pick up at the kitchen, with the address and pickup time in your order confirmation; there is no dine-in. A few days of notice is plenty for a twenty-person order most of the year; the weeks before Thanksgiving and Christmas fill first, so order early then. Next day orders must be received and confirmed by us before noon the previous day. Only confirmed orders will be delivered as requested. For a same-week lunch, the last-minute catering article explains what is realistic on short notice.

If this is your first time ordering catering at all, the first-time walkthrough covers what to decide before you order. For an office, the office catering page explains Tamale Day too; plenty of teams of twenty start with one lunch and end up with a monthly Tamale Day.

Ready to order for 20?

Four dozen for lunch, five for dinner, half pork and half chicken. That is the whole plan for twenty people. Choose your dozens, delivery or pickup and the date in our online store, and pay online. Questions? Call or text (469) 888-8398. A team lunch, a family birthday, a small Sunday gathering: twenty people, one order, and you get to sit down with them.

Frequently asked questions

How much food do I need when catering for 20 people?

Plan two big tamales per person for a lunch with sides, which is 40 tamales ordered as 4 dozen or as 3 dozen plus a half-dozen, or three per person for a dinner, which is 60 tamales or 5 dozen. Add rice, beans, chips and salsa for the lunch version. Our tamales are large, so these counts are lower than a recipe blog would tell you.

What does catering for 20 people cost with tamales?

At $60 a dozen, 4 dozen tamales for a lunch order comes to $240 and 5 dozen for a dinner comes to $300, or about $10–$15 per person for the main dish. Three dozen plus a half-dozen is $180 plus $30 for a firm headcount of twenty. You pay online when you order, and delivery fees are shown at checkout.

How do I order tamales for 20 people?

In our online store: choose chicken or pork, a half dozen or a dozen, delivery or pickup, and today or a date ahead, then pay online. Four dozen covers a lunch for twenty with sides, five dozen a dinner. Next day orders must be received and confirmed by us before noon the previous day. Questions? Call or text (469) 888-8398.

Do tamales work for a team of 20 eating at their desks?

Yes. If everyone is sitting down together, tamales serve buffet-style and look like a meal. If people are eating at their desks between meetings, a tamal in its husk on a small plate travels back to a desk without a mess, and anyone who was late can reheat theirs in the microwave. Our tamales are gluten-free corn masa, so one order works for the whole team.

How much notice do you need for a 20-person order?

A few days is comfortable for a twenty-person order most of the year, and a week is relaxed. Everything is made from scratch the morning it goes out. Next day orders must be received and confirmed by us before noon the previous day. The weeks before Thanksgiving and Christmas fill first; for those, order as soon as you know the date.

What if a few extra people show up to a party of 20?

Order four dozen instead of three and a half, and you have eight spare tamales, enough for three or four surprise guests. If the count grows past twenty-five before the event, place a second order in the online store for the extra dozens, keeping the next-day rule in mind. Leftovers are never wasted: they keep in the fridge for a few days in their husks and freeze well for weeks.