How much Thanksgiving food per person: turkey, sides and pie for 4 to 20 guests

Every published rule of thumb for Thanksgiving amounts comes down to five numbers. We put them together in one table, then show where the rules disagree and which end to pick.

The five numbers

• Turkey: 1 pound per person (USDA). Butterball uses 1½ pounds per person when you want leftovers. For a frozen pre-stuffed bird, USDA says 1¼ pounds per person.
• Stuffing or dressing: about ¾ cup per person.
• Potatoes: about ½ pound of raw potatoes per person, or ¾ to 1 cup mashed.
• Cranberry sauce: ¼ to ½ cup per person.
• Pie: one slice per person. A 9-inch pie yields about 8 slices.

The turkey figures are the main safety-and-food-cost levers. The side and pie figures come from retailer guides, so treat them as planning numbers, not rules.

The table

Guests	Turkey (1 to 1½ lb each)	Stuffing (¾ cup)	Raw potatoes (½ lb)	Cranberry (¼ to ½ cup)	Pie (8 slices each)
4	4 to 6 lb	3 cups	2 lb	1 to 2 cups	1 pie, or 2 for choice
8	8 to 12 lb	6 cups	4 lb	2 to 4 cups	1 to 2 pies
12	12 to 18 lb	9 cups	6 lb	3 to 6 cups	2 pies, or 3 for choice
16	16 to 24 lb	12 cups	8 lb	4 to 8 cups	2 pies, or 3 for choice
20	20 to 30 lb (two birds)	15 cups	10 lb	5 to 10 cups	3 pies, or 4 for choice

We added one more column in our own planning: gravy. Plan about ½ cup per person, which is 2 cups for four guests, 6 cups for twelve. This one is our rule of thumb, not a published standard; gravy is cheap, and running out of it is the single most noticed failure.

Which end of the range to pick

Use 1 pound per person when the table is full of side dishes, guests are mostly children, or you have no interest in leftovers. Use 1½ pounds when you want turkey sandwiches on Friday, when guests are big eaters, or when you are sending food home. A bone-in bird loses a lot of its weight to bones and skin, so the extra half pound is what turns a raw weight into enough sliced meat for seconds and sandwiches.

Adjust for the crowd. Count teens and adults as one guest, young children as about half. Count any guest who will take a plate home as an extra one-half.

Adjust for the sides. Ten dishes means smaller portions of each. If the menu is a smaller one, with just turkey, potatoes, stuffing, a vegetable and rolls, use the high end of the table.

When the bird is too big

USDA's roasting table stops at 24 pounds, and a bird that size is a tight fit in many home ovens and pans. Above about 20 guests, cook two smaller turkeys, or one turkey and one breast. The second bird also makes thawing easier: two 12 pound turkeys thaw in 3 to 4 days in the fridge, but a 24 pound bird needs 5 to 6. See the thaw chart for the dates.

Two birds means two roasting pans and, for most kitchens, a second heat source. Our one-oven schedule shows how to sequence turkey, sides and rolls, and where a roaster oven helps.

If you are a guest

Do not buy for the table. Bring one dish that serves 8 to 10, and keep it in a portion size you can multiply: a pie is 8 slices, a casserole dish is 8 to 12 servings. The what to bring guide has ideas that travel well.

Related

Planning a larger table? The menu for 12 with a potluck split puts these amounts into a dish list, and the prep timeline covers the days before. Cooking for two? Use the Thanksgiving for two guide, because these tables overshoot at small sizes.