Turkey Per Person Calculator

For a traditional holiday spread, plan 1–1.25 pounds per adult. For a sit-down dinner where turkey is the main focus, plan 1.25–1.5 pounds. Light eaters or buffet-style meals can drop to 0.75–1 pound per person.

The rate depends on three things: appetite level (light/average/heavy), whether children are at the table (roughly 40% of adult portion), and meal type — a buffet with many sides needs less turkey per person than a sit-down dinner.

Yes. A bone-in whole turkey yields less edible meat per pound than a boneless breast, so you need a higher raw weight per person for whole birds. This calculator accounts for that in the total.