I was always always taught at LEAST 2 lb per person. I'm cooking for 6 this year and getting about a 14 lb bird.

Agreed, the rule is definitely 2 lbs per person! Last year 16 lbs of turkey was not enough for 12 people. Granted I have more than a few guys over 6' tall, in their mid 20s on my guest list, but I also have a few vegetarians (like myself). I'd rather have leftovers for guests to take home than not enough food!

I totally agree with 2 lbs per person, too. I had 10 people over last year and got a 20 lb bird. It was the perfect amount. We got a good amount of leftover ourselves, and who ever wanted to take some with them could. Nothing went to waste.

Is the Kitchn fact checker out of town or something? I feel like a lot of the tips lately have been instantly refuted by the (very knowledgeable!) readers/commenters.

I hope Fido is an unfortunately named person and not a suggestion that people are feeding their dogs the tops of the turkey breasts.

I'm cooking a 10 - 12 lb turkey this year, the day after thxgvn, as a small dinner for possibly just two people, to have leftovers for a larger brunch that weekend. And for all the sandwiches.

My partner and I were just discussing this the other day (we volunteered to do Thanksgiving for a group of friends)...the two pound rule makes a bit more sense to me, simply because the turkey isn't a solid hunk of meat -- there's bones and other bits to think about when they calculate the weight.

1 pound per person really doesn't sound like enough. I have some inlaws that break the laws of physics with how much they can put away, so it would't hold a candle to them.

Well it obviously depends on how much leftovers you want, but I've always heard 1 pound per person as the rule of thumb.

The Joy of Cooking says for turkeys less than 12 pounds, allow 3/4 to 1 pound per serving. For turkeys over 12 pounds, it's 1/2 to 3/4 pound per serving.

There's no such thing as a 'too big' turkey.

If eating turkey till your head falls off doesn't sound appealing, (do such people really exist?) there's this new-fangled invention called a FREEZER. And if you're herbivorous, you've always got a treat on hand for your carnivorous friends:)

In our neck o' the woods, turkeys are always deeply discounted the week prior to thanksgiving. I usually buy an extra small one (or two) to toss in the freezer for a later date. It's cost effectrive & healthy too.

Don't give Fido the turkey! Too much can give the dog pancreatitis, which can kill the poor pooch. Sadly, I knew a dog that happened to!

I think it depends on how much your family likes sides. We have a family of very big eaters who are never shy about packing it in, and we usually go with around a pound per person. We have abundant side dishes though, and people generally eat more of those than turkey.

It really depends on your crowd. Up here in Canada, we had Thanksgiving last month and the 2 pounds per person rule yielded WAY too much turkey for the casual buffet-style meal I attended. A whole extra turkey's worth.

Here in the UK where I now live, the amount of turkey I buy has less to do with amount per person as amount that will fit in my oven! An 11-lb bird touches both sides of the oven!

Turkey itself is not harmful to dogs. Too much fat in a dog's diet can lead to pancreatitis which is the risk around the holidays, turkey is no more risky than chicken but some dogs get massive quantities around Thanksgiving. Giving your dog some leftover turkey meat (not the skin which is mostly fat) is fine as long as you are careful not to overfeed your dog.

How about 1 pound for person for boneless turkey, 2 pounds for whole turkey? That's how I normally judge. I still don't know if I'm having 2 or 4 for Thanksgiving, so I have 2-3 lb boneless breasts.

2lbs. per person especially if it's a fresh bird where there tends to be more shrinkage or net loss. At least that's what an old country inn chef told me years ago....Seems to be spot on advice
and I have followed it forever.

ARRRGH! Where were you guys weeks ago when I had to confirm my heritage turkey order?! I've got a 7-10 lb bird coming for 6 adults and the Internets assured me of the 1 lb/person rule. Yet just this morning my husband was confessing that he is hoping for turkey sandwiches all next week. ARRRGH! It gets delivered tomorrow, so I'm assuming mine has already been plucked.

Little late here, but I've heard that it's really difficult to cook a bird over 14 lbs without drying out the breast. If you need more than 14 lbs (using whatever rule of thumb you like), then it's best to cook a second breast or some turkey wings or a small chicken or something to make up the difference.

I imagine it also depends on the kind of bird you're buying. Most commercially grown birds are carrying a lot of water/broth/filler weight, so you have to get a bigger bird to counteract that. A "fancier" turkey will have more of his weight made up of actual meat, I would think.

I read the 1 lb. rule too in Joy of Cooking but I wonder if that rules assumes there will be people who like dark meat? Everyone I know wants white meat so I will follow the 2 lb. rule to be safe.

FiberNazi, we should hang out. My family on the whole prefers dark meat, but turkeys these days are bred to have giant breasts so there's usually not enough dark meat to go around! The white meat does tend to make better sandwiches, though, so it's okay if that doesn't get eaten during the main meal. We usually budget about 1.5 lbs/person with lots of sides, and we have plenty of leftovers.

I like @discerning's comment from last year: can't have too much turkey! Especially now that I have finally discovered a local purveyor of Durkee's, a sort of mayonnaise-honey-mustard (but not quite!) spread I loved on turkey sandwiches as a kid (but which I almost never see in Northern Califorrnia).

And yes, there's the freezer when you get sick of turkey -- because later, eventually, who knows when, but some fine day, you will be craving turkey once again ... for more turkey sandwiches ... or turkey in homemade pot pies ... or soup ... or better yet, homemade gumbo. Mmm mmm mmm ....

I wish someone had sent this to my Mom. This year is our first foray back into turkey after several years of lamb and she picked up a 20 pound bird....for 6 people. Blergh.

We always wait too late to get a small enough bird, but we've also found that we were very unhappy the one year we DID manage to find a 12 lb turkey (for 3 people). Not enough leftovers, ironically! So we now budget for frozen turkey to do January & February pot pies, enough for the holiday & about 2 weeks of leftovers.
Overkill, I know.

There must be some algorithm having to do with adjusting the lb.-per-person rule as the number of guests gets bigger. If I went with 2 lbs. per person, I'd have needed a 30-lb. turkey this year. Almost no one needs a 30-lb. turkey! I cooked a 17-lb. turkey and had tons of leftovers.