For us the magic ratio was approximately half a pound of potatoes per average-sized appetite. Or about 1 medium russet per person. This worked for a meal with a lot of other sides and left us with abundant leftovers.
Mashed potato math: An in-depth investigation
Mashed potatoes are one of my absolute favorite parts of Thanksgiving. So, when it comes to deciding exactly how many potatoes to use, I’m inherently biased. I definitely want leftovers! So many leftovers!
But how many potatoes should one buy if one wants to make enough mashed potatoes to feed, let’s say, 10 people and have significant leftovers?
Let’s start with what the internet says:
- Southern Living advises half a pound of potatoes per person you’ll be serving. Up that to three-quarters of a pound if you want leftovers, they say (solemnly, I assume).
- The Food Network is more measured (har!), suggesting one-third to a half a pound per person.
- Parade is in the Southern Living camp, advising three-quarters of a pound per person.
- The Guest-imator, a tool from the Natural Resources Defense Council designed to help people right-size meal planning, suggests two potatoes per person, if you want a serving of leftover per each person. But this is less helpful than I’d like because potatoes, like dogs, can vary quite a bit in size.
- And, of course, there’s mhackett7 over on Reddit, who minces no words in sharing their advice: 17 potatoes per person.
- In that same Reddit thread FoxRedYellaJack notes that 1.5 pounds of potatoes total works for his two-person household of heavy eaters—and I’m pretty sure he’s talking about a meal where the potatoes have less competition than they do on Thanksgiving. On the other end of the spectrum, CatteNappe says that a pound of potatoes tends to amount to 2.5 servings in her house.
So, HMMMMM!
For a reality check, let’s think about how many pounds of food we normally eat in a meal. Some folks estimate about one pound, and let’s say that when we’re really hungry/overeating, we might get up to two pounds. And, once you add butter and milk, a pound of potatoes might yield more than a pound of mashed potatoes (though I’m not sure how to calculate the weight lost from peeling potatoes–this remains an ongoing investigation). Anyway, on Thanksgiving, are we really going to fill nearly half our plates with mashed potatoes? Now, I LOVE mashed potatoes. But no, I’m not going to make my meal mashed potatoes half of my meal because there are so many OTHER delicious things to eat. So on Thanksgiving we’ll probably be spooning fewer spuds than if, say, we were at a dinner party serving chicken, a salad, maybe a veg and a big bowl of mashed potatoes.
How many potatoes do you really need for 10 people, with leftovers?
For a case study, let’s examine the Thanksgiving we recently hosted at my home. My husband, designated mashed potato maker, got it just right.
We were serving 10 people, including one small child, one baby and one person who doesn’t eat dairy. So, actually seven somewhat average appetites and and two light eaters.
For this group, he prepared about four pounds of potatoes. The potatoes we bought were medium-sized russets; he prepped about 10 of them. (And they turned out absolutely heavenly — he’s a pro!)
The potatoes were served alongside a host of other Thanksgiving dishes: salad, green bean casserole, stuffing, tamale pie, roasted cauliflower and a quinoa dish. Oh, and chicken because we don’t mess with turkey.
We had plenty left over! Enough for each guest to have had at least one more meal. I’m really estimating here, but my best guess is that each person ate about a quarter pound of mashed potatoes, if that.
So, for us the magic ratio for a meal with many sides and for ample leftovers was approximately half a pound of potato per average-sized appetite. Or about 1 medium-sized russet per person.
Ultimately, you know the eating habits of your group best. And a particularly rich recipe might skew things further. Still, I hope this helps–and please report back on your own mashed potato volume research. For more guidance on prepping the right amount of food and low-waste gatherings, check out our collection of articles about parties and entertaining.
