How much ground beef for 20-25 people?

ADD #2: You don't say how many in your family for your pound of ground beef. Do the math: 1 pound of beef for 4 people would be 5 pounds for 20 people. 1 pound for 6 people would be 3 1/2 (approx) pounds for 20 people. Sounds yummy, I'm sure it will be dee-lish.

ADD: When the meat is being served in pasta sauce no one expects to eat a quarter pound of meat. You are also serving the pasta, this is the meal. The meat cooks down a bit depending on fat content but if your sauce is completely full of meat it will no longer be "sauce". There will prob be bread as well, right? Maybe even a salad?

Think of it like this----the size of a quarter pound burger from a fast food place is enough beef for most people. If you cook too much meat it literally won"t "fit" into the sauce pot LoL. Five (5) pounds should be more than enough, six (6) if you want to get real fancy. If, like me, you always overdue it just freeze the excess cooked meat for another time. You can freeze it cooked or raw even if it was already frozen.

It would be useful to know what your recipe is and how meaty you want it all ready but 1 pound of beef for every 4 cups of sauce is what I usually do. Mixing in 1/4 pound of pork to your beef will make your sauce a little more meaty and add a little smoothness but its optional.

The average burger at a restaurant is 1/4 to 1/2 of a lb. So I would base it on 1/2 lb per person and get at least 10-12 lbs.

8 pounds would be adequate. You don't need any more because noone is going to eat a pound of beef when it's with pasta. 8 sounds enough.

I say at least 20 pounds..

Some people like a lot of meat in their pasta dishes.

5-7lbs will be plenty when used to make a sauce

Six pounds at the most.

lean/fat content. 80percent lean, ect,ect