How Much Chicken To Serve Per Person (2024)

By Laura Fuentes on Updated

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Whether you’re buying chicken to plan meals for the week or to cook for a crowd, this post will explain how much chicken per person to purchase or serve.

And while the amount will depend on the cut of chicken and the occasion you’re cooking for, this post takes it all into consideration to help you figure out how much.

How Much Chicken To Serve Per Person (1)

How Much Chicken Is a Serving?

According to the USDA My Plate program, the recommended daily intake of lean cooked poultry is 5 ½ to 6 ounces for adults and teens and 2 to 4 ounces for smaller children.

If you’re eating chicken twice a day, this is roughly two 3.5-ounce portions or one 6-ounce serving.

I like to treat the USDA recommendations as a guideline while being flexible to different factors such as recipe type and the people being served.

How Much Chicken to Cook Per Person

The amount of chicken to cook per person depends on whether it’s the main dish or a part of the meal.

If chicken is the main entree, like these pan-seared chicken breasts, you can plan on 4 to 6 ounces per person.

It can also vary based on the number of side dishes you plan to serve.

If chicken is being added to pasta or stew, then you might not need a generous amount. In these cases 3 to 4 ounces per person is plenty.

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*The following serving amounts are based on the average cut of chicken but keep in mind the sizes can drastically vary. Some cuts will be much larger and yield more than the suggested 4 to 6 ounces of cooked meat. You can check the weight of the package and go from there, or if you need specific amounts get chicken from behind the meat counter.

How Many Chicken Thighs Per Person

The average 4.5-ounce chicken thigh has about 3 ounces worth of meat, so two thighs per person is a good number. If you are serving smaller children or appetites, one thigh should be enough.

2 chicken thighs per adult | 1 chicken thigh per child

Need a no-fail chicken thigh recipe? Try my juicy Oven-Baked Chicken Thighs are the bomb!

How Many Chicken Breasts Per Person

Anywhere from 4 to 6 ounces of boneless, skinless chicken breasts is enough for one adult and half that amount for kids.

Most people are used to being served a single chicken breast on a plate; and while some pieces are cut into a 6-ounce portion, others can be up to 10 ounces in weight!

One thing to try with the larger chicken breast pieces when you want to serve a breast-shaped piece of chicken is to butterfly the chicken breast. This creates two equally sized portions out of one large breast.

If you’re making my juicy baked chicken breasts you’re definitely going to want a little more than a 4-ounce serving, and that’s perfectly okay.

Boneless Skinless Chicken breasts:
4 to 6 ounces per adult | 4 ounces per child

If you plan on cooking split chicken breasts, which come with the bone in and skin on, these have about 12 ounces worth of meat since they include the underside of the breast and part of the rib meat.

Bone-In Split breasts:
8 ounces per adult | 6 ounces per child
(includes bone-weight)

Split breasts are larger and are great for cooking chicken in bulk to make a batch of shredded chicken for soups, tacos, and pasta.

How Many Chicken Legs Per Person

There are two types of chicken legs: drumsticks and leg quarters. Drumsticks are about 4 ounces with skin on and bone-in, with 1 ½ ounces of meat, so two per person is a good amount or up to three for larger appetites.

2 drumsticks per adults | 1 drumstick per child

Chicken leg quarters include both the drumstick and thigh, and have about 6 ounces worth of meat. So one leg quarter per person is perfect.

1 chicken leg quarter per person

How Many Chicken Wings Per Person

If chicken wings are the main dish for dinner or tailgating, plan on 6 per adult and 2 per child. If they are an appetizer, 3 wings are sufficient. Need a good sauce to coat those wings? My easy homemade buffalo sauce is just the recipe!

Main Dish:
6 chicken wings per adult | 3 chicken wings per child

Appetizer:
3-4 chicken wings per adult | 1-2 chicken wing per child

Chicken Serving Size Chart

Not sure which chicken piece you’ll need to buy? Here is a great chart to reference for all cuts of chicken.

Chicken CutAdultChild
Boneless Breasts4-6oz4oz
Bone-In Breasts8oz6oz
Drumsticks2pcs1pc
Thighs2pcs1pc
Leg Quarters1 pc½-1pc
Wings6pcs3pcs

by Laura Fuentes

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How Much Chicken To Serve Per Person (2024)

FAQs

How Much Chicken To Serve Per Person? ›

A general guideline is to plan on about 1/3 to 1/2 pound of boneless chicken per person, or about 10 to 15 pounds for 30 people. If you're serving chicken with bones, you may want to increase the amount to account for the weight of the bones.

How much chicken to serve per person? ›

Chicken Breasts

Lean protein is nutritious, but how much protein you need depends on several factors unique to you, including body size and composition, activity level, age, and more. The recommended single serving size of chicken is 3 to 4 ounces, about the size of a deck of playing cards.

How much chicken is enough for a person? ›

Anywhere from 4 to 6 ounces of boneless, skinless chicken breasts is enough for one adult and half that amount for kids. Most people are used to being served a single chicken breast on a plate; and while some pieces are cut into a 6-ounce portion, others can be up to 10 ounces in weight!

How many lbs of chicken for 20 people? ›

5lbs of meat per person at a party. So for 3lbs maybe 6. It also depends on how it's being served. If it's in a dish where the chicken is the main component maybe you'd need a little more chicken.

How many pounds of boneless chicken do I need for 10 people? ›

A question we often get is “How much meat do I need?” The starting rule of thumb is: Boneless Meat: 1/2 lb. per person for adults and 1/4 lb. per person for children.

How much is a serving size of chicken? ›

According to the American Heart Association, a serving size of meat or poultry is 3 to 4 ounces for adults—or a portion that is about the size of a computer mouse or deck of cards.

How much chicken is required for 20 persons? ›

In a sane world you will have to keep the head count to about 4 pieces of chicken per person. In one kg of chicken you can get about 12 good medium pieces. So, for 20 people I would look at about 6 to 7 kgs.

What is a reasonable portion of chicken? ›

The recommended single portion of chicken is 85g to 113g, about the size of a deck of playing cards. Some people use the palm of their hand as a guide. Depending on the vendor, some chicken breasts are twice or even three times the size of a recommended serving.

What is the ratio of chicken per person? ›

With more than 19 billion on the planet at any given time, chickens outnumber humans by almost 3-to-1. Our feathered friends provide eggs, companionship and, admittedly, we eat our fair share.

What is a serving size of chicken breast? ›

A 3.5-oz. (100-g) serving of chicken breast provides 165 calories, 31 g of protein, and 3.6 g of fat. That means that approximately 80% of the calories in chicken breast come from protein, and 20% come from fat. Remember that these amounts refer to a plain chicken breast with no added ingredients.

How many pounds of chicken feed 25 people? ›

How Much Food to Serve at a Party
FOODSERVE 25SERVE 50
Meats
Chicken or turkey breast8–9 pounds16–18 pounds
Fish (fillets or steaks)7-1/2 pounds15 pounds
Hamburgers6-1/2–9-1/2 pounds13–15 pounds
35 more rows
May 23, 2024

How many servings is 2.5 lbs of chicken? ›

Whole Chicken, 2.5 lb (Serves 4)

How to calculate how much meat per person? ›

As a general rule of thumb, plan for the following portion sizes: For buffet-style events: Estimate about 1/2 to 3/4 pound of meat per person. For plated dinners: Plan for approximately 6 to 8 ounces of meat per person.

How many servings is 10 lbs of chicken? ›

It's easier, when thinking about servings is to take the 10 pounds and break it down into 8 oz servings (protein does shrink when cooked) - which would be 20 servings.

How much chicken is enough per person? ›

The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) Healthy U.S.-Style Eating Pattern recommends the average person eat 26 ounces of poultry (including chicken) per week. Per day, this would be roughly the same as eating 3.5 ounces of chicken breast.

How much chicken is needed for 8 adults? ›

Herb Fed Free Range Chicken
Size of birdPortions
1.8kg (3.9lb)3-4 people
2kg (4.5lb)4-6 people
2.5kg (5.5lb)6-8 people

How many pieces of chicken for 25 people? ›

Instead of focusing on how many pounds of chicken to buy, McCrory says to think about how many pieces of chicken you need. Some people will be fine with one chicken breast, while others might prefer three legs. In her experience, it almost always averages out to two pieces per person.

How many whole chickens to feed 12 people? ›

Kind of depends on the appetites of the people eating. If you are having lots of sides with it and the people aren't big eaters, 3 birds, or a quarter chicken a piece might be fine. Bigger eaters, smaller sized birds and maybe 6 would be better, half a chicken a piece.

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