How Much Turkey per Person? Cooked Yield of a Whole Turkey
A whole turkey bought with its neck and giblets gives about 0.48 lb of cooked meat with skin per pound, or 0.42 lb without the skin, according to the USDA Food Buying Guide. That is about 3/4 lb of raw turkey per person for 6 oz of cooked meat. In USDA cooking tests a whole turkey kept 71% of its weight when roasted, and USDA’s nutrient database counts 29% of a raw turkey as bone and connective tissue.
USDA yields for whole turkey
From the USDA Food Buying Guide: how much ready-to-use or cooked product one pound as purchased gives. The figures work the same in metric: 0.53 lb per pound is 0.53 kg per kilogram.
| As purchased (USDA description) | Result, as USDA states it | Yield | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turkey, Whole, fresh or frozen; Without Neck and Giblets, (Similar to Wild Turkey, Grouse, and Pheasant) | 1 lb AP = 0.53 lb cooked turkey with skin (cooked) | 53% | FBG table |
| Turkey, Whole, fresh or frozen; Without Neck and Giblets, (Similar to Wild Turkey, Grouse, and Pheasant) | 1 lb AP = 0.47 lb cooked turkey without skin (cooked) | 47% | FBG table |
| Turkey, Whole, fresh or frozen; With Neck and Giblets, (Similar to Wild Turkey, Grouse and Pheasant) | 1 lb AP = 0.48 lb cooked turkey with skin without meat from neck and giblets (cooked) | 48% | FBG table |
| Turkey, Whole, fresh or frozen; With Neck and Giblets, (Similar to Wild Turkey, Grouse and Pheasant) | 1 lb AP = 0.42 lb cooked turkey without skin, giblets and meat from neck (cooked) | 42% | FBG table |
Cooking yield by method
USDA cooking tests: cooked weight as a share of the raw weight of the cut as described.
| Cut | Method | Yield | Samples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turkey, whole, non-enhanced, meat and skin | Roasted | 71% | 1 |
| Turkey, whole, enhanced, meat and skin | Roasted | 71% | 1 |
How much is waste
USDA’s nutrient database (SR28, NDB 05165) lists 29% of “Turkey, whole, meat and skin, raw” as refuse: bone and connective tissue.
How much to buy
At 48% (cooked turkey with skin), for 6 oz (170 g) portions:
| Portions | Cooked | Buy as purchased |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 3.75 lb (1.70 kg) | 7.81 lb (3.54 kg) |
| 25 | 9.38 lb (4.25 kg) | 19.5 lb (8.86 kg) |
| 50 | 18.8 lb (8.50 kg) | 39.1 lb (17.7 kg) |
| 100 | 37.5 lb (17.0 kg) | 78.1 lb (35.4 kg) |
Cost per usable pound
At 48%, the price as purchased becomes, per pound and per kilogram:
| Price as purchased | Cost per usable pound |
|---|---|
| $1.50/lb ($3.31/kg) | $3.13/lb ($6.89/kg) |
| $2.00/lb ($4.41/kg) | $4.17/lb ($9.19/kg) |
| $2.50/lb ($5.51/kg) | $5.21/lb ($11.48/kg) |
Example prices. Put yours in the food yield calculator.
The MiseKit app
This test is one case. MiseKit remembers all of them.
Yields drift with every supplier, every cutter and every week. Save each test in MiseKit and it holds the result against your standard, flags the case that came in short with what the shortfall cost, and passes the real cost of each cut into your recipes.
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- Cut costs flow straight into recipe costs
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Run your own numbers
Good to know
- Food Buying Guide figures run from the raw bird as purchased to cooked meat off the bone, so bone, cooking loss and the neck and giblets are all counted.
- A turkey sold without the neck and giblets yields a little more per pound: 0.53 lb of cooked meat with skin.
FAQ
How much turkey do I need per person?
About 3/4 lb of whole turkey, bought with neck and giblets, for 6 oz of cooked meat with skin per person, at the USDA Food Buying Guide’s 0.48 lb of cooked meat per pound. Without the skin, plan about 0.9 lb.
What size turkey do I need for 10 people?
About 8 lb for 6 oz of cooked meat each (10 × 0.375 lb ÷ 0.48), more if you want leftovers.
How much meat do you get from a 20 lb turkey?
About 9.6 lb of cooked meat with skin, or 8.4 lb without it, at the Food Buying Guide’s 0.48 and 0.42 lb per pound for a bird with neck and giblets.
How much does a turkey shrink when roasted?
A whole turkey kept 71% of its raw weight when roasted in USDA cooking tests, enhanced or not, so it loses about 29% in the oven.
Sources
- USDA Food and Nutrition Service, Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs (yield tables; public domain)
- USDA Agricultural Research Service, Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry, Release 2 (2014)
- USDA Agricultural Research Service, National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 28 (refuse)
USDA figures are averages; size, grade, trim, ripeness and cooking change them. Weigh your own main items before you cost a menu on them.
Last reviewed October 11, 2026.