Plan Christmas dinner from two numbers: how many people are eating, and what time you want to sit down. The first sets your shopping list (about 500 g of turkey per person is a sensible planning figure, plus 250 g of potatoes and 100 g of each vegetable), and the second sets your timetable, worked backwards from the moment the food reaches the table. A frozen turkey also needs days of fridge time, so the first job comes well before Christmas Day.
Note: these are planning rules of thumb, not recipes or food safety advice. Follow the cooking instructions on your turkey’s label and the guidance on food.gov.uk for defrosting, cooking and storing food.
Start with the guest count, not the turkey
Quantities go wrong when people plan for a “normal” number and then add guests late. Write down who is actually coming and sort them into groups, because appetites differ and so do diets:
- Adults who eat everything. These set the baseline.
- Children. Plan on roughly half a portion each for young children, but check what they will really eat.
- Vegetarians, vegans and anyone with allergies. Give them a proper main dish rather than a plate of sides.
- People arriving only for pudding or drinks. They affect the dessert and drinks count but not the roast.
Then add a small margin. Our Party and Wedding Catering Calculator uses a 10% safety margin by default, so 10 seated guests becomes 11 starters, 11 mains and 11 desserts. That small buffer covers a surprise guest or a second helping without producing a mountain of leftovers. If you want the wider event-planning method, Party catering: how much food per person covers parties and buffets.
How much turkey per person
The figure below is a planning assumption, not an official rule. For an oven-ready bird with the bone in, 500 g per person is a common starting point. It covers a generous main portion and a little for sandwiches. If you want proper leftovers for Boxing Day, add a further 100 to 150 g per head. For a boneless crown or joint, you can plan on less, because you are not paying for bone.
| Guests | Turkey at 500 g each | With leftovers (650 g each) |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | 2 kg | 2.6 kg |
| 6 | 3 kg | 3.9 kg |
| 8 | 4 kg | 5.2 kg |
| 10 | 5 kg | 6.5 kg |
| 12 | 6 kg | 7.8 kg |
| 16 | 8 kg | 10.4 kg |
Bigger birds need bigger ovens, so check that the tin fits before you buy. A turkey above about 6 to 7 kg is hard to cook evenly in many domestic ovens, and for 16 people you may be better off with a turkey crown plus a ham, or two smaller birds. Check the weight and the cooking time printed on the label for the exact bird you buy, because they differ between breeds and between fresh and frozen.
Sides and trimmings per person
Safefood, the cross-border food safety body for the island of Ireland, suggests planning for about 250 g (two medium potatoes) per person, around 100 g per vegetable serving and about 100 g of stuffing per person. Those are useful anchors. Here is what they give for a table of 10, before the safety margin:
| Item | Per person | For 10 people |
|---|---|---|
| Potatoes | 250 g | 2.5 kg |
| Each vegetable (carrots, sprouts, parsnips) | 100 g | 1 kg per vegetable |
| Stuffing | 100 g | 1 kg |
| Pigs in blankets | 2 to 3 | 20 to 30 |
| Gravy | about 100 ml | about 1 litre |
The last two lines are our own planning assumptions. The number of vegetables matters more than the weight of each: four vegetables at 100 g each is 400 g of veg per head, which is already a lot of plate. Most households do better with two or three well-cooked vegetables than five.
Gravy and basics: working in grams
Many recipes still use cups and spoons, particularly if they come from American sites. The Cooking Conversions Calculator converts them. A few conversions that matter at Christmas, from the tool:
- 2 tablespoons of plain flour is about 16 g.
- 4 tablespoons of butter is about 57 g.
- 1 US cup of sugar is about 200 g.
- 2 tablespoons of honey (for glazing a ham or parsnips) is about 43 g.
- 500 ml of water or stock is about 501 g, so volume and weight match.
Volume to weight depends on how an ingredient is packed, so weigh for baking and use cups only as a guide. For oven settings, a standard 200°C is gas mark 6, 180°C is gas mark 4 and 220°C is gas mark 7. A fan oven usually runs about 20°C lower than a conventional one, so a recipe asking for 200°C might be 180°C on fan. Cooking conversions and oven temperatures has the full table.
Defrosting: the part that starts days earlier
If your turkey is frozen, the fridge is the safest place to thaw it, and it takes longer than people expect. The Food Standards Agency says to allow around 10 to 12 hours per kilogram in the fridge, and that a 6 to 7 kg bird can take as much as four days. Work out your own start time from the weight:
| Turkey weight | Fridge defrost time (10 to 12 h per kg) | Start by, for Christmas Day lunch |
|---|---|---|
| 3 kg | 30 to 36 hours | 23 December morning |
| 5 kg | 50 to 60 hours | 22 December morning |
| 7 kg | 70 to 84 hours | 21 December morning |
Add a safety day to these. Put the bird in a deep tray at the bottom of the fridge so any liquid cannot drip onto other food, and do not wash it afterwards, because the FSA advises against washing raw turkey, as it spreads germs onto hands, clothes and worktops. A fridge full of Christmas food is another problem, so make room before you start: decide what can go in a cold box in a garage or porch and what must stay in the fridge.
Cooking and timing: work backwards from the table
The easiest way to time Christmas dinner is a backwards plan. Choose the time you want to eat, then subtract each job. The example below is for sitting down at 2:00 pm. The oven time is an assumption, so replace it with the time on your bird’s label, and replace the resting time with what your recipe says:
| Time | Job |
|---|---|
| 8:00 am | Turkey out of the fridge to prepare, oven on |
| 9:00 am | Turkey in the oven (assuming a cook time of about 3 hours 30 minutes) |
| 10:30 am | Peel and par-boil potatoes and parsnips; prepare vegetables |
| 12:15 pm | Check the turkey is cooked through |
| 12:30 pm | Turkey out, covered to rest; oven up to roast potatoes and parsnips |
| 1:00 pm | Pigs in blankets and stuffing in the oven; sprouts and carrots on |
| 1:30 pm | Gravy made with the tray juices; warm the plates |
| 1:50 pm | Carve, drain vegetables, plate up |
| 2:00 pm | Serve |
The turkey rests while the potatoes and parsnips use the oven. That is the main trick: the bird needs time out of the oven to rest, and that is exactly when the oven is free for everything else. If your oven is small, cook parsnips and pigs in blankets on a second shelf or in an air fryer, and keep carved meat warm under foil with some stock.
To check it is cooked, the FSA says to cut into the thickest part and check that none of the meat is pink and that any juices run clear, with the meat steaming hot. A core temperature of 70°C for two minutes is one way to confirm that it is safe, and a meat thermometer is a cheap way to do this.
Drinks for a Christmas meal
A long meal needs more drinks than a short one. For ten people over six hours, with 80% of guests drinking alcohol, the catering calculator suggests about 77 servings in total:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Wine | 25 glasses, about 5 bottles of 75 cl |
| Beer and cider | 15 bottles or cans |
| Spirits and other | about 10 servings |
| Soft drinks and water | 28 servings, about 7 litres |
| Sparkling toast | 2 bottles of 75 cl |
| Ice | 5 kg |
These rest on assumptions: two drinks per drinker in the first hour, one drink per later hour, half of alcoholic servings as wine, and a 10% safety margin. Swap the shares to match your table. Christmas often means more soft drinks, since there are drivers, children and early starters. Ice is optional for a sit-down meal, so remove it if you have a drinks fridge.
Leftovers and food safety
Two rules from the FSA are worth remembering: cool cooked food quickly and refrigerate or freeze it within one to two hours, and reheat defrosted food until it is steaming hot. Do not leave the turkey on the counter all afternoon because the family is watching a film. Carve what is left, cool it, cover it and put it in the fridge.
For how long leftovers keep, check the current guidance on food.gov.uk or the NHS pages, because it depends on the food and your fridge. If you want to freeze portions, label them with the date, and defrost them in the fridge rather than on a worktop.
A checklist for the week before
- Count guests and diets, and confirm any allergies in writing.
- Order or buy the turkey, and check its weight and the cooking time on the label.
- Put the turkey in the fridge at the right time if it is frozen.
- Buy the drinks, with spare soft drinks and a few ready-to-chill bottles.
- Clear fridge and freezer space for the bird and for leftovers.
- Write the backwards timetable and stick it on the fridge.
- Check you have a roasting tin, thermometer, foil and enough serving dishes.
- Set a budget. How to plan and save for a Christmas budget helps with the overall spend.
Try the calculator
Use the Party and Wedding Catering Calculator to scale drinks and courses to your guest list, and the Cooking Conversions Calculator to convert cups, spoons and ounces into grams for your gravy and sides.
Frequently asked questions
How much turkey do I need per person?
A common planning figure is about 500 g of oven-ready turkey on the bone per person, or around 650 g if you want leftovers. Boneless joints need less.
How long does a turkey take to defrost in the fridge?
The Food Standards Agency says to allow around 10 to 12 hours per kilogram, so a 5 kg bird needs about 50 to 60 hours, and a very large one can take around four days.
How many potatoes per person for Christmas dinner?
Plan for about 250 g, or two medium potatoes, per person. Add a little extra if you love roast potatoes, because they are usually the first thing to run out.
How do I know when the turkey is cooked?
Cut into the thickest part: the meat should be steaming hot, with no pink and clear juices. A core temperature of 70°C for two minutes is one way to confirm it, and a thermometer makes it easy.
Should I wash the turkey before cooking?
No. The Food Standards Agency advises against washing raw turkey because it spreads germs onto hands, utensils and worktops. Cooking thoroughly kills the bacteria.