How Many Pounds Of Shrimp Per Person For A Big Group

How Many Shrimp Per Person For A Party in 2024

When you’re hosting guests, one of the most important things to plan is how many shrimp your guests will eat in 2024.  We all know that shrimp can be expensive, so you want to be sure you have enough for everyone without wasting any.

See how much rice you need to serve for 20 people as a side dish to shrimp.

Dinner Party Question: How Many Shrimp For Each Guest?

Take the mystery out of how much to buy for a big group and when you are unsure add one extra pound.  But if you don’t want to have lots of leftover cooked shrimp then use our handy table to answer exactly how many pounds of shrimp to buy for 10,20,25,50, 75, and 100 people.

What is a Large Size Prawn and Why They Are the Best

When it comes to small, medium, large or jumbo shrimp, size is everything. So let’s look into that question and why it is important. Fish counters will typically have a minimum of two sizes of shrimp.

Can you eat the shell of shrimp?

I usually leave the smaller shrimp because they do not have the flavor of the large (size 31/35) to extra large (size 26/30). That is my choice and equally, I leave alone the larger than large shrimp (e.g jumbo or colossal).

Large prawns are best for flavor and presentation. Large shrimp (31/35 size) are the best as their taste is the best.

The numbers beside the prawns you see in the fish market or counter at your local store refer to the approximate number of prawns per pound. So an extra-large 26/30 size means there are 26-30 raw shrimp per lb. This size is good for scampis, sautees, a shrimp cocktail, and mixed prawn dishes like pasta or even a prawn slider!

Shrimp Serving Size Per Person

One-quarter pound or 4 oz is a reasonable serving size of shrimp for each guest at a large event. 

How do you calculate the number of Shrimp per person?

depending on what grade of your shrimp the number will vary – here is a good guide for a per person number if you do not want to weigh them

• Jumbo (21/25 -size) 5-6 shrimp per guest
• Large ( Size 31/35 count per pound) serve 8-9 shrimp per person
• Medium (41/50 count per lb): Give each person between 10-11 shrimps.

How many pounds of shrimp per person?

HOW MANY POUNDS OF Shrimp PER PERSON SHOULD I BUY? – You should buy a quarter (1/4) pound of shrimp for each guest at a normal event.

See below for how much extra shrimp you should add or subtract for special events like Thanksgiving or the Superbowl Sunday.

How many oz/gr shrimp per person  – this equates to 4 oz or 250g per person.

How many Shrimp for Different Events and Occasions

How much is a serving of shrimp for these special catering events

• Buffet Style Requires Bigger Portions – I would increase by 10-20 percent the amount served.
• Independence day – July 4th BBQ with Beer – also increase the serving size by 10-20%
• Side dishes at Christmas, New Year, Picnic, or a Tailgate – when catering for a large group  and there are at least 2-3 other side dishes then I would decrease the amount of shrimp by 30%

 How To Make Shrimp Boil Like A Pro

Doing a seafood boil using frozen shrimp, shellfish or fresh shrimp makes a great dish, and many people like it better than just doing a fried shrimp dish.

The boiled shrimp recipe is one of the easiest ways to cook shrimp.

Other great ways to have it are

• Shrimp pasta
• Risotto and stir fry with olive oil.

Also, see our related post on how many crawfish to serve to a big group.

Best sauces for any shrimp size

• Cocktail sauce
• hot sauce – peri peri
• meat sauce with garlic
• white wine sauce
• melted butter and lemon
• lemon juice, kosher salt, ground pepper appetizer sauce.

Handy Table for How Much Shrimp Per Person and How Much Shrimp Do I Need To Buy?