How much meat per person for a BBQ
Use this calculator to find out how much meat per person you need for a BBQ: enter the number of adults and children, choose the appetite, and you see how much meat, salad, bread and water to buy. The basis is the Swissmilk guideline of 150 to 250 grams (about 5 to 9 oz) of meat per adult.
Example: Adults 8 · Children 2 · Vegetarians among the adults 0 · Guests’ appetite: normal (200 g / 7 oz) · Weight per piece of grill food 150 g · Extra for seconds: add 10% → Meat and sausages: 2 kg (4.4 lb) purchase weight, raw. Source: Swissmilk (Swiss milk producers) – Grillparty: welche Mengen pro Person? (meat 150–250 g, children 80–150 g, salad 100–150 g, potato salad 100–150 g, baguette ¼, water at least 1 l), retrieved 30 Sep 2026. Updated: .
How it is calculated
How much meat per person for a BBQ
For a grill party, the Swissmilk editorial team (Swiss dairy producers) gives these guidelines per person:
| What | Amount per person |
|---|---|
| Meat or sausages, adults | 150–250 g (5–9 oz) |
| Meat or sausages, children | 80–150 g (3–5 oz) |
| Salad or grilled vegetables | 100–150 g |
| Potato or pasta salad | 100–150 g |
| Grilling cheese (vegetarians) | one to two pieces |
| Bread | a quarter of a baguette or flatbread |
| Water | at least 1 liter |
Depending on appetite the calculator takes the lower limit (“small”), the middle (“normal”) or the upper limit (“big”) of each range. Example: 8 adults and 2 children with a normal appetite need 8 × 200 g + 2 × 115 g = 1,830 g of meat (about 4 lb); with 10% extra that is a little over 2 kg (4.4 lb). At 150 g per bratwurst that is about 14 pieces.
Weight and number of pieces
All weights are purchase weights, that is raw: meat loses water and fat on the grill. So you do not have to convert grams at the butcher’s counter, there is a piece count: grams divided by the weight of one piece, rounded up. For mixed grill food, use an average piece weight.
What it depends on
- Sides: with salad, potato salad, bread and sauces, less meat fills people up; without sides choose “big”.
- Guests: count teenagers as adults; for especially hungry guests choose “big”.
- Vegetarians: grilling cheese is planned for them; vegetables, mushrooms and bread complete it.
Limits
There is no official standard for grill quantities; the values are experience figures from an editorial team. The water figure is a minimum – for hot days and for soft drinks, beer and wine the party drink calculator helps, and the cups to grams converter turns cups and spoons into grams.
Frequently asked questions
How much meat per person do you need for a BBQ?
As a guideline 150 to 250 g (5 to 9 oz) of meat or sausages per adult and 80 to 150 g per child (Swissmilk). With plenty of sides the lower half of the range is enough.
How do I convert meat per person into pieces?
Total amount in grams divided by the weight of one piece, rounded up. With 150 g bratwursts, 1,830 g is about 13 pieces, about 14 with extra.
How much meat do I need for 10 people?
For 8 adults and 2 children with a normal appetite about 1.8 kg (4 lb), with 10% extra about 2 kg purchase weight.
What can vegetarians eat from the grill?
Grilling cheese is one of the guideline items: one to two pieces per person. Vegetables, mushrooms and bread complete it.
How much salad and bread per person?
100 to 150 g each of salad or vegetables and of potato or pasta salad, plus a quarter of a baguette or flatbread per guest.
Is the weight raw or cooked?
The amounts are purchase weights, so raw. Meat loses part of its weight on the grill.
Sources and legal basis
As of: · Editorial policy
Related tools
- Propane usage calculatorPropane usage calculator: how long a 20 lb or 100 lb propane tank lasts on a grill, heater or stove, from the BTU rating – in hours and days.
- Party and Wedding Drink CalculatorEstimate how much beer, wine, sparkling wine, spirits for mixed drinks, soft drinks, water and ice to buy – in litres, bottles and cases per guest.
- Cups to grams converterConvert cups, tablespoons and teaspoons to grams for flour, sugar, butter, milk, rice and more – US cups, metric cups and USDA weights. Grams to cups too.
- Savings goal calculatorSavings goal calculator: find out how much to save each month to reach your target, or how long it takes at your monthly amount – with interest.
- Time duration calculator: between two dates and timesTime between two dates and times in years, months, days, hours, minutes and seconds – plus the weekdays Mon–Fri in between. Free duration calculator.
- kg to lbs converterConvert kg to lbs and back: 1 kg = 2.2046 lb. Shows pounds and ounces, stone and pounds, grams, tons and a kg to lbs chart – exact to the legal definition.
- Raw to cooked weight calculatorConvert raw to cooked weight and back for chicken, ground beef, pork and more, using USDA cooking yields with their minimum and maximum range.
- Turkey cooking time calculatorTurkey cooking time calculator: how long to roast a turkey at 325 °F by weight – stuffed or unstuffed, from frozen, plus thawing time, per the USDA timetable.
- Cubic feet to cubic yards converterCubic feet to cubic yards: divide by 27, so 100 ft³ = 3.7037 yd³. Convert ft³ to yd³ or back for concrete, soil, mulch and gravel, with cubic meters.