How Much Turkey Breast Per Person?

Figuring out how much turkey breast to serve per person can be tricky, so we’ve done the math and made it easy for you! Whether you’re cooking for a large crowd, small group, or meal prepping ahead of a busy week – with very simple math, you’ll be able to figure out exactly how much turkey breast to make.

Figure Out Who You’re Feeding

• Adults will consume much more than, say, a 40-pound child will. Therefore, focus on how many full-grown humans you’ll have at your dinner table to then figure out how much turkey breast to prepare.
• Remember, not all appetites are created equal. This guide outlines amounts for the average adult. But if you have a particularly hungry person coming over for Thanksgiving dinner, keep that in mind as well. For the people in your life with larger appetites, I recommend adding an extra quarter or half pound of uncooked turkey breast for just them.

Bone-In or Boneless?

Bone-In – Any bones in your meat will increase its weight. This probably goes without saying, but bones are not edible, and therefore should not contribute to how much turkey each person will eat. If you’re working with bone-in turkey breast, double the weight outlined below. To preface, if you’re cooking for 10 people, you’d aim for 5 pounds of boneless turkey breast, which would therefore equate to 10 pounds of bone-in turkey breast.

Boneless – The amounts in this post are for boneless turkey breast. The reason for this is because I highly recommend cooking boneless breast, over bone-in. Turkey bones don’t do much in terms of flavor, and in my opinion, just get in the way when it comes to eating. I’ve also noticed that boneless turkey breast is pretty easy to come by these days. Therefore, preparing boneless turkey breasts is a no-brainer.

So, How Much Turkey Breast Per Person?

• I recommend half a pound of uncooked turkey breast per person. The reason we measure by uncooked is so that you can have a precise number in mind when shopping for turkey.
• So, in order to do the math for how much turkey breast to purchase per person, start with your number of guests. For this example, we’ll say you have 12 guests (don’t forget to include yourself!) attending dinner. Then, take that number of guests (12) and multiply it by 0.5, which will cut the number you started with in half. In this example, we multiply 12 by 0.5 and get 6. That means we’ll head to the store and purchase 6 pounds of uncooked turkey breast – easy!
• To save you some time, I’ll also outline a few common guest amounts with the exact amount of how much turkey breast to purchase per person:

4 People = 2 Pounds Uncooked Turkey Breast

8 People = 4 Pounds Uncooked Turkey Breast

16 People = 8 Pounds Uncooked Turkey Breast

24 People = 12 Pounds Uncooked Turkey Breast

Things to Note

• For little ones, I recommend reducing the amount of turkey breast for them by quarters or halves. Therefore, for one child, I’d add just a quarter (0.25) pound of turkey breast for them.
• It’s always better to overestimate than underestimate! Let’s face it, turkey leftovers are great, there are so many delicious ways to use them. Therefore, if you overestimate your turkey breast amount by a couple pounds and end up with leftovers, no problem! After all, that’s better than not having enough food to feed everyone – yikes.
• Add an extra half pound for particularly hungry people. Again, you’ll want enough turkey to leave everyone feeling super satisfied! And to maybe even send some people home with leftovers.

For Leftover Turkey, Try These Recipes

• Smoked Turkey Soup
• Keto White Chicken Chili
• Cranberry Chicken Salad
• Turkey Noodle Soup
• Leftover Turkey Tortilla Soup