How Much Meat Per Person
Plan on about ½ pound of raw boneless meat per person for a main dish with sides. That cooks down to about 6 ounces. For 10 people, buy 5¼ lb of ground beef or 6 lb of pork shoulder for pulled pork. Pick your meat and portion below for an exact amount.
Meat Per Person Calculator
The raw weight to buy for the cooked meat you want on each plate.
Buy about 5¼ pounds of raw ground beef.
- Cooks down to about 3.8 lb: 6 oz for each of 10 people.
- Cooking yield 73%: Beef, ground, 12-22% fat, patty, pan-broiled (USDA).
An estimate for boneless cuts, rounded up to the next quarter pound. Smoking a whole packer brisket or a bone-in pork butt, or trimming a lot of fat, loses more weight than these yields, so buy extra.
Pounds of Raw Meat by Group Size (6 oz Cooked Each)
Boneless weight to buy, rounded up to the next quarter pound.
| Meat | 5 people | 10 people | 15 people | 20 people | 25 people | 30 people | 40 people | 50 people |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ground beef | 2¾ lb | 5¼ lb | 7¾ lb | 10½ lb | 13 lb | 15½ lb | 20¾ lb | 25¾ lb |
| Beef brisket (flat) | 2¾ lb | 5½ lb | 8¼ lb | 11 lb | 13¾ lb | 16½ lb | 21¾ lb | 27¼ lb |
| Chuck pot roast, boneless | 3 lb | 5¾ lb | 8¾ lb | 11½ lb | 14¼ lb | 17¼ lb | 22¾ lb | 28½ lb |
| Boneless rib roast (prime rib) | 2½ lb | 5 lb | 7½ lb | 10 lb | 12½ lb | 15 lb | 19¾ lb | 24¾ lb |
| Pork shoulder (Boston butt), boneless | 3 lb | 6 lb | 9 lb | 11¾ lb | 14¾ lb | 17¾ lb | 23½ lb | 29½ lb |
| Pork loin roast, boneless | 2½ lb | 5 lb | 7½ lb | 10 lb | 12½ lb | 15 lb | 20 lb | 25 lb |
| Boneless ham (cured) | 2 lb | 4 lb | 6 lb | 8 lb | 10 lb | 12 lb | 16 lb | 20 lb |
| Chicken breast, boneless | 2¾ lb | 5¼ lb | 8 lb | 10½ lb | 13¼ lb | 15¾ lb | 21 lb | 26¼ lb |
Raw Meat Per Person by Portion
How much to buy for each guest at each portion size, from the meat's cooking yield.
| Meat | Cooking yield | 4 oz cooked | 6 oz cooked | 8 oz cooked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ground beef | 73% | 5.5 oz raw | 8.2 oz raw | 11.0 oz raw |
| Beef brisket (flat) | 69% | 5.8 oz raw | 8.7 oz raw | 11.6 oz raw |
| Chuck pot roast, boneless | 66% | 6.1 oz raw | 9.1 oz raw | 12.1 oz raw |
| Boneless rib roast (prime rib) | 76% | 5.3 oz raw | 7.9 oz raw | 10.5 oz raw |
| Pork shoulder (Boston butt), boneless | 64% | 6.3 oz raw | 9.4 oz raw | 12.5 oz raw |
| Pork loin roast, boneless | 75% | 5.3 oz raw | 8.0 oz raw | 10.7 oz raw |
| Boneless ham (cured) | 94% | 4.3 oz raw | 6.4 oz raw | 8.5 oz raw |
| Chicken breast, boneless | 72% | 5.6 oz raw | 8.3 oz raw | 11.1 oz raw |
Light (4 oz) suits tacos, sandwiches and buffets; standard (6 oz) one main dish with sides; hearty (8 oz) big eaters or leftovers. Nutrition labels use a 3 oz cooked serving.
How the Calculator Works
Two steps:
Cooked meat for the group
Cooked ounces = people × ounces per person
Raw weight to buy
Raw pounds = cooked ounces ÷ cooking yield ÷ 16
Example: 10 people × 6 oz = 60 oz cooked. Ground beef keeps 73% of its weight, so 60 ÷ 0.73 = 82.2 oz, or 5.14 lb. Rounded up: 5¼ lb.
Planning Tips
Two or More Meats
Serving brisket and pulled pork? Split the portion between them: two meats at 3 oz each make a 6 oz plate. Run the calculator once for each.
Bones and Big Trims Weigh Extra
The yields are for boneless, trimmed cuts. A bone-in ham, a whole packer brisket or a bone-in pork butt has bone and fat that never reach the plate, so buy more.
The Holiday Bird
For turkey, use the turkey per person calculator, which works from the whole bird and adds thawing and roasting times.
Cook It Safely
Ground beef is done at 160°F, pork and beef roasts at 145°F with a 3-minute rest, and chicken at 165°F. See the meat temperature guide.
Sources
- USDA Agricultural Research Service, Nutrient Data Laboratory, "USDA Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry" (December 2012): the cooking yield of each meat.
- USDA FSIS, Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart: the cooking temperatures above.
- 21 CFR 101.12, reference amounts customarily consumed: 85 g (3 oz) of cooked meat or poultry per serving.
- Ground beef: Beef, ground, 12-22% fat, patty, pan-broiled: 73%
- Beef brisket (flat): Beef, brisket, flat half, trimmed to 1/8" fat, braised: 69%
- Chuck pot roast, boneless: Beef, chuck, shoulder pot roast, boneless, braised: 66%
- Boneless rib roast (prime rib): Beef, rib eye roast, boneless, lip-on, trimmed to 1/8" fat, roasted: 76%
- Pork shoulder (Boston butt), boneless: Pork, shoulder (Boston butt), blade, lean only, braised: 64%
- Pork loin roast, boneless: Pork, loin, blade roast, boneless, roasted: 75%
- Boneless ham (cured): Pork, cured, ham with natural juices, whole, boneless, roasted: 94%
- Chicken breast, boneless: Chicken, broiler-fryer, breast, roasted: 72%
Checked . Portion sizes are planning choices, not nutrition advice. Yields vary with the cut, fat and cooking method, so treat the result as an estimate.
Questions
How much meat per person should I buy?
About ½ pound of raw boneless meat per person for a main dish with sides. Most meat loses a quarter to a third of its weight in cooking, so ½ pound raw gives roughly 5 to 6 ounces cooked. Buy ⅓ pound for tacos, sandwiches or a buffet with several mains, and ⅔ pound for big eaters.
How many pounds of meat for 10 people?
About 5 to 6 pounds of raw boneless meat for 10 people at 6 ounces cooked each: 5¼ lb of ground beef, 5½ lb of brisket flat or 6 lb of boneless pork shoulder. Use the calculator for other meats and group sizes.
How much taco meat per person?
About 4 ounces of cooked ground beef per person, which is ⅓ pound raw (5½ oz) at the 73% cooking yield USDA measured. For 20 people, buy about 7 pounds of ground beef.
How much brisket per person?
For 6 ounces of cooked brisket each, buy about ½ pound of trimmed brisket flat per person (USDA measured a 69% yield when braised). A whole packer brisket smoked low and slow loses much more to trimming and rendering, so buy well above that.
How much pulled pork per person?
About ⅓ pound of cooked pulled pork per person for sandwiches, which takes a little over ½ pound of boneless raw pork shoulder. A bone-in butt loses more weight, so buy more if the bone is in.
How big is a serving of meat?
US nutrition labels use a 3-ounce (85 g) serving of cooked meat, about the size of a deck of cards. Party and holiday portions are usually larger, which is why this calculator starts at 4 ounces.
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