Roasting Turkey? How Many Pounds of Stuffing for Thanksgiving?

Turkey and stuffing – what a better combination for Thanksgiving or Christmas? There is something magical about a roast turkey, cranberry sauce, sides, and stuffing. Whether you prefer the American-style stuffing – essentially a carb-rich convenient mix or the English versions, which are designed to add moisture and variety to the turkey, stuffing is just the best. But how many pounds of stuffing should one make?

If making American stuffing, a serving is a 1/2 cup of stuffing per person. As a rule, store-bought stuffing consists of 6 servings, meaning that you will need one box for every six people at lunch or dinner. For 12 guests, you will need two boxes; for a family of 20, you will need three boxes, and so on.

While virtually anything can serve as a stuffing, modern American stuffing originates in the 1970s, when food convenience was becoming more prominent. Ruth Siems, a home economist, developed a formula for rehydrating breadcrumbs in a pot or a microwave, making it possible for millions of busy home cooks to make tasty stuffing in minutes. Based on a traditional family of 4, with perhaps parents visiting, the boxes contained enough stuffing for 6 servings. These days, 60 million boxes of instant stuffing are bought and prepared each Thanksgiving.

The introduction of instant stuffing forever changed the Thanksgiving turkey tradition, and stuffing was no longer prepared in the turkey’s cavity, where it would add moisture and flavor, but would be prepared as a side dish. At the same time, it also became much easier to make stuffing with different flavor profiles to suit larger crowds. The table below provides a quick snapshot of how many portions of stuffing one should make, and how many boxes of stuffing should be bought, and has a small guideline as to the number of different stuffing one should make. To make it easier, the shaded rows occur whenever a full box of stuffing is used up.

Number of people	Cups of Stuffing	Types of Stuffing	Boxes of Stuffing
1	1/2	1	1
6	3	1	1
10	5	2	2
12	6	2	2
16	8	2-3	3
18	9	2-3	3
20	10	3	4
24	12	3	4
28	12	3	4
30	15	3	5
32	16	3-4	5
36	18	3-4	6
40	20	3-4	6
42	21	3-4	7
48	24	5	7
50	25	5	8
54	27	5	8

What types of instant stuffing are there?

Instant stuffing comes in a variety of flavors, which includes Chicken, Lower Sodium Chicken, Cornbread, Pork, Beef, Savory Herbs, Traditional Sage, Tomato and onion, San Francisco Sourdough, Mushroom and onion, Long Grain and wild Rice and Roasted Garlic, Turkey, Apple and Cranberry.

In addition, it is possible to add various ingredients to any of these options to change the texture and flavor of the stuffing.

What other stuffing options are there?

Almost anything can serve as stuffing. While in the US, stuffing is made from a starchy base such as breadcrumbs or cereal, different regions have their own traditions. In some areas, oysters make their way into Thanksgiving stuffing!

English stuffing is often made from sausage meat or minced pork shoulder, seasoned with herbs such as sage, or sweetened with chestnuts, dried apricots or cranberries, or simply onions. In the Middle East, stuffing is typically made with vegetables, seasoned rice, or even minced meat.

Vegetarians may opt for stuffing made of tofu, while more health-conscious chefs may opt for vegetables such as onions, tomatoes, capsicums (peppers, either sweet or hot), baby marrow or zucchini, or even stuffed cabbage leaves.

Why is stuffing prepared on the side these days and no longer inserted inside the turkey?

Roasting a turkey can be very tricky – undercook it, and you do not kill all of the bacteria. Overcook it, and the meat goes dry. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has identified stuffing as a health risk as there is a high probability that while the turkey is properly roasted, the stuffing will be undercooked, thus allowing bacteria to survive the cooking process. This is more likely to occur when a cook attempts to maintain a moist turkey breast.

By preparing the stuffing on the side, the risk of undercooked stuffing or bacteria finding refuge in the stuffing is greatly reduced. In addition, it becomes easier to control the turkey’s cooking, increasing the odds of making the perfect Roast Turkey.

How to determine exactly how much stuffing to make?

While the average person will eat 1/2 cup of stuffing, the exact amount you will need depends on the group coming over for dinner. Most chefs will err on the side of caution and prepare 3/4 cups of stuffing per person, which changes the portion sizes somewhat.

So, why not pick up an extra box or two and simply have a few leftovers? Not only will you have plenty, but you will also be able to cater to any unexpected guests or have some great leftovers to use the next day!

Naturally, if you are catering to a bunch of teenage boys, err on the side of caution and make an extra box of stuffing for every 12 guests.

Number of people	Cups of Stuffing	Types of Stuffing	Boxes of Stuffing
1	3/4	1	1
4	3	1	1
6	4 1/2	2	2
8	6	2	2
10	7 1/2	2-3	3
12	9	2-3	3
14	10 1/2	3	4
16	12	3	4
18	13 1/2	3	4
20	15	3	5
22	16 1/2	3-4	5
24	18	3-4	6
26	19 1/2	3-4	6
28	21	3-4	7
30	22 1/2	5	8
36	27	5	9
40	30	6	10
50	37 1/2	7	13

What’s the recommended ratio of stuffing to turkey for Thanksgiving dinner?

When planning for Thanksgiving dinner, aim for 1 ½ pounds of turkey per person. This allows for generous servings and the possibility of leftovers. Keep in mind that the recommended ratio of stuffing to turkey is about ¾ cup of stuffing per pound of turkey – a delicious combination for a perfect holiday meal.

How do I feed a younger crowd, teenagers or elderly people?

As with any catering rule, there is always the 2nd exception – people who eat less than usual…

If you know your guests, then it is always possible to end up with a crowd that eats less stuffing. This often happens with young families or when a large part of the guests are elderly. In such a case, it is often best to simply halve the amount of stuffing and just add 1 extra box of stuffing for every 12 guests.

Number of people	Cups of Stuffing	Types of Stuffing	Boxes of Stuffing
1	1/4	1	1
4	1	1	1
6	1 1/2	1	1
8	2	1	1
10	2 1/2	1	1
12	3	1	1
14	3 1/2	1	2
16	4	1	2
18	4 1/2	1	2
20	5	2	2
22	5 1/2	2	2
24	6	2	3
26	6 1/2	2	3
28	7	2	3
30	7 1/2	2	3
36	9	2	3
40	10	3	4
50	12 1/2	4	6

Why Would People Eat Less Stuffing?

Stuffing is often made from breadcrumbs. As such, when planning the meal, consider the number of starch-heavy dishes. Are you making cornbread? How about breadsauce? Will you be serving a pie with the turkey? How about fries, potatoes or rice? Maybe a pasta salad?

These days, many people are conscious of their carb intake or their gluten intake and will deliberately eat less stuffing to avoid issues the next day.