Once you’ve decided to make Thanksgiving turkey, the next question is: how big of a turkey do you actually need? This guide breaks down exactly how much turkey per person to buy, whether you want zero leftovers or you’re planning turkey sandwiches for days.
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Calculating how much turkey you’ll need is fairly simple.
Start with the standard range (1 to 1½ pounds raw, bone-in turkey per adult), then adjust up or down based on your sides.
If you’re serving a big Well Plated Thanksgiving menu with mashed potatoes, cornbread sausage stuffing, homemade dinner rolls, and bourbon pecan pie, you can stay at the lower end.
If turkey is the star and you want lots of Thanksgiving leftovers, go higher.
Here’s a handy chart!
How Much Turkey Per Person
- No Leftovers: 1 to 1 1/2 pounds turkey per guest (closer to 1 pound if you have light eaters/a lot of kids; increase to 1 1/2 pounds for big eaters/mostly adults).
- With Leftovers: 2 pounds turkey per guest.
Yes, that amount may seem a little higher than you’d expect, since the total weight of the turkey includes inedible parts (like bones), we need to build a buffer into the recommended amount per person.
Once you know how many people are coming and your pounds per guest, use this easy equation:
- Number of guests x recommended pounds of turkey per person = weight of the turkey you should purchase
- Here are a couple of examples:
- Lower end of recommended amount: 10 guests x 1 pound of turkey = 10-pound turkey
- Higher end of recommended amount: 10 guests x 1.5 pounds of turkey = 15-pound turkey
Tip!
If serving turkey breast only: plan on 8 ounces boneless turkey per person (about ½ pound). If you want leftovers, bump to 10- to 12- ounces per person.
Using Your Planned Leftovers
If you’re a fan of leftovers (me too!), then you’ll want to increase the amount of turkey per person to about 2 pounds.
Here are some of my favorite ways to repurpose turkey leftovers:
- Sandwiches. Try my Apple Grilled Cheese with Turkey and Turkey Salad.
- Soups. Creamy Turkey Noodle Soup (swap turkey for the chicken in the recipe) is a delicious way to use leftovers.
- Casseroles. Turkey Tetrazzini will be a hit with everyone.
- Pot Pies. Use leftover turkey to make a cozy Turkey Pot Pie.
Thank you for sharing this! I would never have thought that much poundage per guest.
You really lose a lot of bulk when the bones come out (also better more than not enough!!).