How many potatoes for mashed potatoes?

[Anonymous]

I made 3 pounds for 3 people and had only about a cup left over. We aren’t huge eaters but it was the only starchy side (and they were delicious).

[Anonymous]

6 pounds for 26 people was plenty.

But there were 10 sides, appetizers, 4 desserts...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm making notes in a spreadsheet to help me out for future Thanksgivings. One ratio I keep getting wrong is mashed potatoes. How many people per pound? The Barefoot Contessa recipe says two people per pound. That seemed crazy high, but I went with it.

We hosted 22 people so I cooked 10 pounds, which required two pots and was way too much. We still have leftovers. I don't remember what I did last year, but they ran out first.

What works for you?

Were you hosting carnivores? I used a 10 lb bag from Sam’s and had very few leftovers for our party of 6.

No, omnivores but with lots of sides. You went through about a pound of potatoes per person?!

Yes, but it’s true I was the only female and most were teenage boys. They demolished almost all the 20 lb turkey as well. But still some of these claims are insane…6 pounds is plenty for 20+ people? No possible way, especially considering you have to peel potatoes so part of that weight is gone before you start.

[Anonymous]

We buy the bag of Russet small to medium sized potatoes. We count out one potato per person and peel that amount.

[Anonymous]

It really depends not just on the appetites of those being served, but also on how many other sides are being served. For a meal of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans, the recommendation of one pound of potatoes serving two people is reasonable. But on Thanksgiving, when you have turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, vegetables, maybe macaroni and cheese, perhaps other potatoes (sweet potatoes), etc., and people anticipate having dessert, they can only take so much of each item. For 22 people, I’d fix 6 pounds of potatoes to mash.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used 5 pounds for 7 people and had lots of leftovers. However, 5/7 were women who don’t eat many refined carbs.

Mashed potatoes aren't refined carbs...

[Anonymous]

Are we really being miserly with our mashed potatoes? I usually do two potatoes per person plus an extra or two. Who cares if there are leftovers?

[Anonymous]

It might depend on how many side dishes you have and different carbs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It really depends not just on the appetites of those being served, but also on how many other sides are being served. For a meal of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans, the recommendation of one pound of potatoes serving two people is reasonable. But on Thanksgiving, when you have turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, vegetables, maybe macaroni and cheese, perhaps other potatoes (sweet potatoes), etc., and people anticipate having dessert, they can only take so much of each item. For 22 people, I’d fix 6 pounds of potatoes to mash.

Op here. I think 5 pounds would have been good and still provided a leftovers. We had a lot of other sides.

[Anonymous]

I think you’re right OP, if there are sweet potatoes, bread, stuffing and other heavy side dishes, people will take less of each, especially if there’s also dessert to follow.

[Anonymous]

i usually make 5 lbs for 10ish people. there are always some left.

[Anonymous]

I use 1-1.5 potatoes per person depending on how many other carbs I am serving.

[Anonymous]

I also consider whatever other carbs will be on the take. But roughly, I aim for one small potato per person, or one *large* one for two people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It really depends not just on the appetites of those being served, but also on how many other sides are being served. For a meal of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans, the recommendation of one pound of potatoes serving two people is reasonable. But on Thanksgiving, when you have turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, vegetables, maybe macaroni and cheese, perhaps other potatoes (sweet potatoes), etc., and people anticipate having dessert, they can only take so much of each item. For 22 people, I’d fix 6 pounds of potatoes to mash.

Op here. I think 5 pounds would have been good and still provided a leftovers. We had a lot of other sides.

At 22 people you might get some that don't eat freshly whipped mashed potatoes and some that binge ignoring other sides. So for 22 people I'd do 6-7 large russets. Rate of eat is higher on fresh whipped pre serving to lower on any method of reheating. So for the 22 people I'd do 1/2 the day before and reheat and to please my known potato people first serve a fresh whipped.

[Anonymous]

FWIW, I find Barefoot Contessa / Ina Garten's recipes assume HUGE portion sizes.