Holidays and special events are also celebrations of food. People remember the tastes, smells, and feelings of the day far more than the actual event, which is why spiced wine or spicy cookies will evoke Christmas instantly, while sandalwood reminds us of pencils and school. But, while preparing for a celebration can be exciting, there is always the anxiety that you have over or under-catered. How much of each item you will need depends on many factors, such as what else is being served, who is attending, and of course, how much each recipe yields.
According to dieticians, an adult will consume 1/2 pound of turkey, 1/2 cup of stuffing, 1/3 cup of gravy, 1/3 cup of cranberry sauce, 1/2 cup of potatoes, 1/2 cup of vegetables, and 1 1/2 pieces of pie or portions of dessert. When catering to a hungrier group or composed of more men, it is better to increase the quantities slightly to 3/4 pound of turkey, 3/4 cup of stuffing, 1/3 cup of gravy (2 1/2 ounces), 1/2 cup of cranberry sauce (4 ounces), 3/4 cup of potatoes, 3/4 cup of vegetables, and 1 1/2 pieces of pie or portions of dessert. Of course, children tend to eat less, and quantities should be halved.
So, how best to estimate portions for larger groups?
How much to cater for set group sizes?
Thanksgiving dinner always involves friends and family around the dinner table, so how best to cater to a larger group? In the 1960s, an average-sized turkey weighed about 17 pounds. Nowadays, turkeys easily reach 30 pounds, while some reach 45 pounds. At the same time, portion sizes have grown as well, and folks tend to eat about 50% more than before, so where a 1/2 pound of turkey and 1/2 cup of potatoes used to be sufficient, these days, one should provide 3/4 pounds of turkey and 3/4 cups of potatoes.
| Number of people | Pounds of turkey meat needed | Cups of Stuffing | Cups of Gravy | Cups of Cranberry Sauce | Cups of Potatoes | Cups of Vegetables | Portions of Pie/Dessert |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1/2 pound | 1/2 cup | 1/3 cup | 1/3 cup | 1/2 cup | 1/2 cup | 1 piece |
| 4 | 2 pounds | 2 cups | 4 1/3 cups | 4 1/3 cups | 2 cups | 2 cups | 4 pieces |
| 6 | 3 pounds | 3 cups | 2 cups | 2 cups | 3 cups | 3 cups | 6 pieces |
| 8 | 4 pounds | 4 cups | 2 2/3 cups | 2 2/3 cups | 4 cups | 4 cups | 8 pieces |
| 10 | 5 pounds | 5 cups | 3 1/3 cups | 3 1/3 cups | 5 cups | 5 cups | 10 pieces |
| 12 | 6 pounds | 6 cups | 4 cups | 4 cups | 6 cups | 6 cups | 12 pieces |
| 14 | 7 pounds | 7 cups | 4 2/3 cups | 4 2/3 cups | 7 cups | 7 cups | 14 pieces |
| 16 | 8 pounds | 8 cups | 5 1/3 cups | 5 1/3 cups | 8 cups | 8 cups | 16 pieces |
| 18 | 9 pounds | 9 cups | 6 cups | 6 cups | 9 cups | 9 cups | 18 pieces |
| 20 | 10 pounds | 10 cups | 6 2/3 cups | 6 2/3 cups | 10 cups | 10 cups | 20 pieces |
| 25 | 12 1/2 pounds | 12 1/2 cups | 8 1/3 cups | 8 1/3 cups | 12 1/2 cups | 12 1/2 cups | 25 pieces |
| 30 | 15 pounds | 15 cups | 10 cups | 10 cups | 15 cups | 15 cups | 30 pieces |
| 40 | 20 pounds | 40 cups | 13 1/3 cups | 13 1/3 cups | 20 cups | 20 cups | 40 pieces |
| 50 | 25 pounds | 25 cups | 16 2/3 cups | 16 2/3 cups | 25 cups | 25 cups | 50 pieces |
While the above table is a general guideline on portion sizes, we have a handy guide on just how much meat can come off a turkey and therefore how many turkeys will be needed to cater to a crowd.
Similarly, there is no reason why you should limit yourself to a single type of vegetable or stuffing. Stuffing is an art in itself, and a larger crowd can easily be fed a variety of stuffing to suit every taste – best of all, with a larger variety of stuffing, you can actually reduce the turkey portion sizes, saving you money.
Of course, you can always stretch out the food by including some easy, fast, and cheap biscuits that no-one will say no to.
Understanding Thanksgiving portion sizes
Most pre-made or ready-made foods have a handy serving guide on the box, detailing how big a serving size should be and how many servings can be made from a single box. In contrast, traditional or scratch-made recipes do not give you a serving size but indicate the number of people a batch will serve, typically 4 to 12.
In the end, the underlying nutritional advice still remains the same – about 1/2 cup of food per person, and it is simply a matter of dividing the recipe yield (total number of people) by 2 to determine the number of cups that the recipe will make. In other words, while the batch size of most recipes is double that of a packaged equivalent, the portion size remains the same.
If blending traditional recipes and commercial mixes in the final meal, it simply becomes a question of keeping track of how many people can be fed from each approach and matching the total output to the number of guests.
Can I Use the Same Crowd Size Planning Method for Vegetables as I Do for Thanksgiving Dinner?
When it comes to crowd size planning, the method for vegetables may differ from that of Thanksgiving dinner. While the same principles apply, like estimating servings per person, the variety and quantity of vegetables needed to plan a vegetable platter could be different than for a traditional dinner menu.
Things to consider when feeding a crowd
Feeding a larger group of people is not an exact science as the amount of food folks will eat tends to change depending on circumstances. I recommend adding 10% (rounded up) to the total number of guests to allow for hungrier crowds, up to an extra 10 people. So, if feeding 8 people, cater for 9; if feeding 20 people, cater for 22.
Take two different Thanksgiving scenarios… in the first, your guests pop in for the meal and leave shortly after the meal… they will eat a smaller amount of food.
In contrast, if you have a family dinner followed by an afternoon at leisure in your house… now the lunch or dinner event will take much longer as no-one is in a hurry and folks will nibble all afternoon.
Similarly, children and elderly people tend to eat less, while teenage boys can often eat enough food for 2 adults. Similarly, more food tends to be eaten at a buffet than at a sit-down plated dinner. In such cases, it would be best to increase the quantity of food prepared by 20 percent and risk having more leftovers.
If your guests are gluten intolerant, they will eat less stuffing and more potatoes. Children may want less cranberry sauce, while ladies may prefer to eat more salads and vegetables and less stuffing. In the end, understanding your guests will allow you to cater more accurately.
