How much sauce per serving

Across every recipe with a declared yield, the median comes out to 270 milliliters, a bit over a cup. The full range runs wide: the smallest recipe yields just 15 milliliters, about a tablespoon, and the largest yields 12 liters, clearly a restaurant scale batch rather than a home one. Most home cooking falls somewhere in the middle of that range, closer to the median than either extreme.

A yield printed on a recipe is a starting point, not a promise. How far it actually goes depends on how the sauce is used: poured generously over a plate, dabbed on as a garnish, or tossed through a bowl of greens where a small amount coats a large surface.

Vinaigrette and dressing recipes have a median yield of 200 milliliters, about three quarters of a cup. That is enough to dress two to four salads depending on how heavily you pour, since a dressing is meant to coat rather than pool. A little goes further than it looks like it should once it is tossed through instead of poured on top.

Dip recipes carry a median yield of 350 milliliters, about a cup and a half, and mayo based sauces sit close behind at a median of 280 milliliters, about a cup and a quarter. Both categories are meant to be scooped or spread rather than poured thin, so the useful yield per serving is smaller than the total volume suggests. A cup and a half of dip comfortably serves a group snacking over time, not four individual portions.

Barbecue sauce, a glaze style sauce more than a table condiment, has a median yield of 720 milliliters, about three cups, reflecting that it is often made in batch for basting, storing, and reusing across several meals rather than portioned per plate. Gastrique, a more concentrated sweet and sour reduction, has a smaller median yield of 280 milliliters, since only a spoonful is used per serving.

General guidance, not specific to any one recipe: a fresh, dairy free dressing or vinaigrette generally keeps in the refrigerator for about a week to ten days. Anything built on egg, like mayonnaise, aioli, or hollandaise, is more perishable and is best used within a few days and kept cold the whole time. Raw garlic held in oil at room temperature carries a real food safety risk and should always be refrigerated and used quickly rather than left on the counter. When in doubt, trust your nose and eyes over a fixed number of days, and when a recipe includes egg or dairy, lean toward using it sooner rather than later.