If your estimates are off, you either will have a lot of leftovers or some very unhappy guests who didn’t get a chance to eat.
The answer depends on several factors, including who’s coming and what other food you will serve.
As someone who has cooked for large crowds, I will provide you with the information you need to get the right answer every time. I have also provided a meat calculator to make things easier.
Meat Planning Guidelines
In addition to lots of fun, a typical barbecue consists of meat, sides,desserts, and drinks. In other words, we could be talking about pulled pork, baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw banana pudding and a cold glass of your favorite beverage. Yummy!
It is best to consider the entire meal when determining how much meat per person you need.
Also, it is safe to assume that an adult will eat about 1 pound of food. Children under 12 will eat half of that. And, teenageers usually eat a little bit more than adults.
Meat consumption will vary, but the general rule is to plan on serving 1/4 to 3/4 pound of cooked meat per person. The amount will depend on the guest.
You always want to have an adequate amount of food. It’s much better to have a little too much on hand rather than to skimp and come up short. If you don’t have enough, your name will be mud.
And good luck with getting them to come to the next one.
Meat is King
Let me set the record straight right now. You may plan to serve some delicious sides and desserts, but when it comes to barbecue, meat is the main attraction. It is not part of another dish like spaghetti with meatballs.
Now, let’s look at meat planning a little closer.
Consider the following questions. The answers will help you determine how much meat per person you need.
Will you be serving other food items besides meat? Will there be only one type of meat (ribs) or will you offer a couple (brisket and chicken) to choose from? The more of a variety, the less you will need of each type.
Try to have a little something for everyone. Three types of meat are considered ideal because you can offer some variety.
That way you could serve a white meat (chicken), a pork item (pulled pork or ribs), and include an item like hamburgers or hotdogs. Variety doesn’t necessarily mean that all your guests have to get each meat.
You can always come up with a 2-meat rule!
If you need inspiration, check out some of the most popular meats in the United States.
Don’t forget the sides
Consider the sides you plan to serve. Will they be light or heavy? Beans and potato salad are examples of heavy sides. They are more filling than lighter sides like grilled vegetables and green salads.
Heavy sides will certainly decrease the amount of meat your guests eat.
Plan on serving about 5-6 ounces of each side per person. One gallon (128 ounces) of sides is enough for 20-25 people. An adult side is enough for two children under 12.
Meat Yield
Meat yield is a big consideration. You will lose a percentage of the weight in trimming and cooking. What’s left is the yield, which is or the weight of the meat after cooking divided by the weight of the meat when you bought it.
How much meat you will need is always based on the weight of cooked meat. That means that when making plans for the barbecue, you have to account for the yield to determine how much raw meat you need to buy.
Otherwise, you won’t have enough meat on hand for your guests at serving time.
The USDA has done extensive research on this, and provides yields for several meat cuts.
Additional Factors to Consider
There are several additional factors that affect how much meat per person is needed.
Time of Barbecue
People generally don’t eat as much at lunch as they do at dinner. And, if your event lasts more than 3-4 hours, your guests will likely eat more than usual.
Guest Makeup
Your guest list affects how much meat per person you need. If we are talking about a high school football team, expect them to be big eaters. On the other hand, a youth group from church probably won’t eat quite as much.
You should also take into consideration whether some of your guests are health conscious, vegan or vegetarian, or come from cultures with different dietary customs.
Type of Gathering
Will the event be informal or formal? Expect guests to eat more when the event is informal and they are free to eat and drink at will. Formal gatherings are more structured. As a result, your guests will eat less.
Serving Style
You can either have a cafeteria style setup that ensures each guest gets the same amount of food or a buffet where they can take as much as they desire.
People will choose more of their favorites with a buffet style setup. Sides and appetizers should be placed first in a buffet style setup. Your guests will load up on them first and take less of the meat.
How Much Meat Per Person to Prepare
I have attended many barbecues, so I know first hand how much a person’s appetite grows at the event. All of a sudden everyone wants to eat more than they usually eat.
Will meat be the only thing on the menu or just one of several items your quests will indulge in?
You should plan on serving each adult ½ pound meat if you will also have a few extras like heavy sides, bread and dessert. This is a generous meat portion that will satisfy your guests’ appetites.
For a meat-only spread, you should increase your quantities by at least 50% to ensure you will have enough.
Plan for children under 12 to eat ¼ pound of meat. Teenagers are often the big eaters, so plan on ¾ pound for them.
To be on the safe side, I recommend adding 5 percent to your total amount. This will cover you if you have an uninvited guest or two pop up.
If you plan to serve meat with bones, it’s much easier to base the serving size on the number of pieces instead of weight. This is true for meats like bone-in chicken and ribs.
And, if you serve more than one type of meat, divide the portion size by the number of meats. For example, if you are serving two meats that both have a portion size of ½ pound, your guests should receive only ¼ pound of each. The total per person is still ½ pound.
Adult meat per person amounts are provided in the following sections for some barbecue favorites. Remember, children will eat less, while teenagers are likely to eat more. Use our meat per person calculator below to easily determine the amount you need for your next barbecue.
RELATED: Best Barbecue Sauce You Can Buy Online – A Review of the Top 11
How much brisket per person?
You will need about ½ pound of cooked meat per person if the meat is served on a plate. That is also enough for two sandwiches if you choose to go that route.
Brisket has a yield of about 60% after fat trimming and cooking. This means you will have to buy more than the total amount of cooked meat you need.
For example, to serve 10 pounds of cooked meat you need to buy 16.7 lbs of raw meat.
How much pulled pork per person?
Similar to brisket, a generous portion of pulled pork served on a plate is ½ pound. For sandwiches, plan on ¼ pound per person.
Pulled pork is made from pork butt or shoulder, which have a good distribution of fat inside and out. After trimming and cooking, expect a yield as low as 50%.
So, to serve 10 lbs of cooked meat you will need to purchase about 20 lbs of raw meat to be safe.
How many ribs per person?
The answer to this question depends on the type of ribs you plan to serve. Ribs are usually sold in racks. A rack of ribs contains about 12 individual ribs.
Beef ribs are larger than spare ribs and spare ribs are larger than baby back ribs. When planning, calculate the number of racks you need to buy. Plan on serving each person 2 beef ribs, 4 spare ribs, or 6 baby back ribs.
How much chicken per person?
For chicken you will need ¼ of a whole chicken (2 pieces) per person. Simply divide the number of guests by 4 to determine how many to buy.
The serving size for boneless chicken is ½ pound per person. It has a yield of about 70%. For 10 lbs of cooked chicken, you need to purchase about 14 pounds of raw meat.
If you plan to serve chicken wings, you will need 6 to 10 per person.
How many burgers and hot dogs per person?
I can’t think of the last time I attended a barbecue where burgers and hot dogs weren’t on the menu. You can use them to add some variety to your meat selections.
Plan on two hotdogs and two hamburgers per person. Ready made patties are convenient, but they will cost a little more than ground beef. If you make your own patties, each pound of ground beef is enough for four ¼ pound burgers.
BBQ Planning Tips
Food and timing are the main considerations for large BBQ parties. Success on barbecue day can be assured by adopting the following tips:
- Make a budget before you buy anything
- Calculate the amount of food you need
- Make sure you have adequate space for cooking, serving and eating
- Prep the meat (rubs, marinades, injections) and sides the day before and refrigerate
- Check the forecast. Be prepared to protect yourself and your guests from bad weather
RELATED: 19 Best Barbecue Rubs You Can Buy Online
Timing it Right
Your barbecue will be an all day affair filled with some moments of anxiety. It is important that you relax as best you can and stick to your schedule.
Choose a cooking temperature that you can cook all your food at (275°F can be used for almost any BBQ item). You can use a good dual purpose meat thermometer to monitor the cooking temperature and meat temperature at the same time.
Put slow grilled meat on at the start of the day. Burgers and hotdogs can wait until right before eating time. Your goal is to have all the food that has to be cooked on that day ready an hour before eating time.
The best way to ensure this happens is to create a timeline for the foods you need to cook.
Starting an hour before chow time, work backwards in time and plan in and out times. Include food plus actions like wrapping meat and spritzing. You can use a computer spreadsheet for this.
Get a cooler, cambro or hot box (holding cabinet) to place your meat in to take advantage of resting times for briskets, ribs, pork butts, etc.
You want to have time after you take these meats off the smoker before you have to serve them. Also, it will help you keep food above 145 degrees for food safety reasons.
The Bottom Line
I hope that the information above provides you with a clearer picture of how to determine how much meat per person you need to serve.
The meat per person calculator is a valuable tool and can be used to simplify this process.
If you want some ideas about what meats to serve at your next barbecue, check out our guide, 11 Best Meats to Smoke at Home.
