How to Use the BBQ Meat Portion Calculator
Figuring out how much meat to buy for a backyard BBQ or cookout is never obvious, so this calculator does the math for you. Enter your headcount and meal length, and it calculates how much meat and sides to buy — whether you're grilling steak, burgers, hot dogs, chicken, or a mix of everything, since the result is based on total meat weight.
The baseline is 0.5 lb of meat and 0.3 lb of sides (salads, beans, chips, etc.) per adult. For a quick get-together, choose "Short" to cut it by 20%; for a long party with drinks, choose "Long" to add 30% more.
Bone-in cuts like ribs or fattier cuts like brisket lose edible weight during cooking, so it's smart to buy 10-20% more than the calculated amount for those. If your group is drinking heavily, shifting a bit more of the budget toward sides and snacks rather than pure meat is also a solid move.
Frequently Asked Questions
This calculator assumes adult portions. If kids are included, count each child as about 0.5 of an adult when entering headcount.
For bone-in cuts like ribs, the edible portion shrinks, so buy 10-20% more than the calculated amount. Fattier cuts also trim down during cooking.