Main bird, raw weight with bone
- Input
- 16 + 4
- Expected output
- BR 4.7 kg | US 12.5 lb
Turkey split with the ham.
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christmas dinner for 20 people how much food
Sixteen adults and four children make 18 adult equivalents. See what changes when the group doubles and why the list does not simply double, item by item.
Turkey split with the ham.
Bone-in ham.
Double the 2.5 lb of the dinner for 10.
One slice per guest, 7 guests per pie.
One 5 fl oz glass per adult.
Plan 1¼ lb of raw turkey per adult (1 to 1½ lb in the sources), ½ to ¾ cup of stuffing, ½ lb of raw potatoes to mash, ⅓ to ½ cup of gravy, 1 to 2 rolls and a slice of pie, with half of each portion for a child. For 8 adults and 2 children (9 adult equivalents) that is 11.25 lb of turkey with no leftovers. The calculator shows every dish with its range and rounds up to what you can actually buy.
Often yes. With ham at the table, turkey comes to 12.5 lb, which is one bird, but as the only main dish the same group needs 24.75 lb. A bird over 14 lb can take more than four hours in the oven, so two birds of about 12.5 lb each is a practical split.
Nearly: the turkey goes from 6.25 lb to 12.5 lb and the potatoes from 2.5 lb to 5 lb for each dish, but the pies go from 2 to 3 and the sparkling wine from 2 bottles to 4. That is because rounding up weighs less on a larger total.
With 16 adults drinking, the toast takes 4 bottles of 750 ml at the default settings, with 10% margin and one 5 fl oz glass per adult. Children are not counted. If only 10 of the adults will toast, set that under More options.
For 20 people it is very worth it: each household brings a dish and nobody needs a restaurant oven. Under Who brings what the calculator hands out the heaviest dishes first and shows the quantity each household should prepare.
Added to food and drinks. 10% covers seconds; 50% is the leftovers factor in turkey guides.
Beer, wine and sparkling wine count only for them.
US-menu drinks are counted per hour of the party.
Weights are raw and bone-in, as you buy them. The cooked meat on the plate is noticeably less.
When to thaw and how long to roast: turkey calculator
Each rule comes from the sources below, checked on 2026-11-10. Where they disagree, normal appetite uses the middle value and the range shows both ends. There is no official standard for this.
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