Calculate how much meat you should buy for the BBQ, based on number of guests, type of meat, and how hungry the crowd is.
The calculator multiplies the number of guests by the portion weight for the selected meat type and an appetite factor:
This is raw weight for grilling — not including sides like salads, bread, or sauces. Round up for long parties or when the meat is the main attraction of the event.
Yes, children typically eat less than adults. You can count children as a half to two-thirds portion, or manually adjust the guest count to account for this.
A common rule of thumb is to plan roughly as much sides (salads, bread, potatoes) as meat by weight, but this varies with how big a role the sides play in the meal.
Run the calculator once per type of meat with a split of the guests (or a share of the portions) for each type, and add the results together.