vegetarian baked beans from scratch. how many people will 3 pounds of dried beans serve at a BBQ?

[snazerian]

I have some vegetarians coming to my BBQ and want to prepare baked beans that they can eat.
How many people will three pounds of dried beans serve

[mamachef]

30 Easily, w/ leftovers probably.

[porker]

my brother in law can eat 3lbs of beans...

[mcf]

Two cups of dried kidney beans will yield 5 cups cooked. That's one lb dried, about 2.5 lbs cooked. Three lbs would yield about 7.5 lbs of baked beans. Unless you're not serving anything else, that's a lot of beans.

[todao]

If those numbers are correct 7.5 pounds of baked beans provides a 4 ounce serving portion for each of thirty guests and, unless it's the main course, IMO it's enough to accompany the main attraction.

[biondanonima]

Well, it provides 4oz of BEANS, but since baked beans will undoubtedly have a significant quantity of onion and sauces added to them, I would think that if you do 7.5 lbs of beans you'll end up with at least 10 lbs of baked beans, which would provide a 4oz serving for 40 guests.

[sueatmo]

And no one will limit themselves to a 4 oz serving, either.

[mcf]

Do you really think so? I think there are a lot of folks who'll avoid the altogether, and a lot who will take one spoonful, depending on what else is present. 4 oz is a pretty big serving of that dish, IMO.

And as biondanonima says, the whole dish will be more than 4 oz, that's just the beans, no sauce components.

[porker]

I think so - maybe a 3rd grade girl might eat 4oz of beans, about 4 tablespoons.

30 to 40 four ounce servings should give the OP a good guideline.
Now snaze has to do some figurin - how many guests are vegetarian, how many are non. Of the vegetarian, are they eating other items besides beans. Are the non-vegetarians going to have a steak or a hot dog (or a...) as a main and beans as a side. Are there other sides competing with the beans? Are these other sides vegetarian as well or non, or a mix?
etc etc etc
a bit off-topic... cut some romaine hearts in half, drizzle with olive oil, S&P, and grill, getting a nice char - the vegetarians will love it. Maybe some 'maters, cut thick as well....

[mcf]

8 TBS makes a half cup, but that's volume, not weight.

[porker]

A tablespoon of water is about 15 grams, about a half oz. Beans aren't as dense as water, and its difficult to get a level tablespoon, but haphazardly, 4 heaping tablespoons of beans would be about 3 ounces.
I stand corrected.
Maybe a 6th grader will eat 4 ounces {;-/)

[sueatmo]

Yes based on my experience, most will not limit themselves to a 4 oz serving.

[512window]

Based on my experience, about half will not want any baked beans at all. It is the one item that is always left over.

[mcf]

That's been my observation as well.

[Gio]

About 30 servings...