Stuffing Per Person Calculator

How much stuffing per person

There is no single official serving size for stuffing, so cooks fall back on a few working ranges. Here is what most recipes and holiday guides assume per person:

• Light portion, with plenty of other sides: about 3/4 cup per person.
• Standard Thanksgiving portion: 1 cup per person.
• Hearty portion, or stuffing is the main event: 1 1/2 cups per person.

A 9 by 13 inch baking dish holds roughly 12 cups, so one dish covers 10 to 12 people at a standard portion. That is the number to hold on to when you are standing in the store deciding between two boxes of mix and four.

Two things push the amount up. First, people take seconds of stuffing more than of almost any other side, so a small buffer pays off. Second, stuffing is one of the cheapest dishes on the table, so running short is the annoying outcome and running long is not. Adding 10 to 25 percent is normal.

The USDA does not publish a serving size for stuffing, but it does publish a safety rule: stuffing has to reach 165°F, whether it cooks inside the bird or in its own dish. That rule comes from the USDA's turkey roasting guide. The amount is your call. The temperature is not.

Two groups throw the math off. Children and light eaters often take half a standard portion, so if half the table is under ten years old, drop to 3/4 cup per head and you will still have plenty. Self-serve buffets run the other way: without a server portioning the dish, people take more than they would at a plated dinner, so add 15 percent. If you are feeding a potluck crowd of mixed ages and you truly do not know the count, 1 cup per person is the safest single number to use.

Worked example: stuffing for 10 people

Ten adults, standard portions, no extra planned:

• 10 people x 1 cup = 10 cups of stuffing
• 10 cups = 2.5 quarts
• Boxed mix: 10 cups / 3 cups per 6 ounce box = 3.3, so buy 4 boxes
• From scratch: 10 cups of dry bread cubes, which is about 20 slices of sandwich bread, or one 1 pound loaf

Bake it in one 9 by 13 inch dish, or two smaller dishes if you want more crispy edges. If you know the group runs to big eaters, go to 12 cups, and 4 boxes of mix still covers it.

Worked example: stuffing for 25 people

A 25 person holiday dinner, standard portions:

• 25 people x 1 cup = 25 cups of stuffing
• 25 cups = 6.25 quarts
• Boxed mix: 25 / 3 = 8.3, so 9 boxes
• From scratch: 25 cups of cubes, about 50 slices of bread, or 2.5 loaves

That is three 9 by 13 inch dishes, or two 9 by 13 inch dishes plus an 8 by 8 inch dish. If the crowd skews to teenagers, or the stuffing is the star of the meal, plan 1 1/2 cups each instead: 25 x 1.5 = 37.5 cups, which is 13 boxes of mix. That is a big jump, so settle the portion size before you shop.

Stuffing amounts at a glance

Standard portions of 1 cup per person, using a 6 ounce box of stuffing mix that makes about 3 cups, and about 2 slices of bread per cup of dry cubes:

Read the table by rounding up. Mix comes in fixed boxes, so 16 people means 6 boxes even though 16 cups only needs 5.3. One spare box costs a couple of dollars and saves a second trip to the store.

One more conversion worth keeping: 1 cup of stuffing is 8 fluid ounces, so a quart is 4 cups and a half sheet pan holds about 20 cups. That is why the 20 person row lands on 5 quarts, or one deep half sheet pan, while 30 people needs two dishes. And a 14 ounce bag of seasoned bread cubes holds about 7 cups, so 25 people takes roughly 3.5 bags if you are not baking your own.

Stuffing safety: the 165°F rule

Stuffing acts like a sponge for raw turkey juices when it cooks inside the bird, and it heats more slowly than the meat packed around it. That is why the USDA recommends cooking stuffing in a separate dish and checking that the center reaches 165°F. If you do stuff the bird, fill the cavities loosely, mix the wet and dry ingredients just before they go in, and check the stuffing temperature separately from the turkey.

The same 165°F applies to any casserole or dish that contains meat or poultry, according to the federal safe minimum internal temperature chart. Keep hot food above 140°F and cold food below 40°F, and get leftovers into the fridge within two hours of coming off the heat. Leftover stuffing keeps 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator and about 2 months in the freezer. Reheat it to 165°F, not just until it feels warm.

One habit worth breaking: do not taste the stuffing while it is still inside a partly cooked bird. It has not reached a safe temperature yet, and a spoonful is enough to make you sick.

Boxed mix, bread cubes and homemade

Boxed stuffing is the fast path. A standard 6 ounce box makes about 3 cups of prepared stuffing, which the label counts as 6 servings of 1/2 cup each. Two boxes make a 9 by 13 inch dish, so a big holiday table of 12 people takes 4 boxes. Flavors vary, so if you mix brands, taste as you go.

From scratch, one 1 pound loaf of sandwich bread makes 10 to 12 cups of dry cubes, and a 14 ounce bag of seasoned cubes holds about 7 cups. The liquid matters as much as the bread: plan on about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of broth or stock per 12 cups of cubes, plus 1/2 cup of melted butter or oil for richness. Add the liquid a little at a time. Stuffing that looks wet before baking turns to mush, and stuffing that looks dry turns out fine once it steams in the oven.

Whichever route you take, buy or bake about 10 percent more than the chart says. Stuffing freezes well, and a container of leftovers is a better outcome than a guest watching the dish scrape empty.