Let's settle it once for all: How many adults can big chicken feed?

[LondonFox]

I am talking about chicken as main protein in a dish in normal 1 to 2 course eating. Not 8 course meal.

My guess when cooking would be 1/4 chicken per adult so four people.
2 x breast and wing
2 x leg quarters

Person in my family suggests 10 easily:
2 x wings
4 x white
2 x drumsticks
2 x tighs.

AIBU chicken can easily feed 10.
AINBU ten people will be very polite and say nothing but stay hungry. Share among 4.

I think that chickens have actually shrunk, what is called a large is the size of a medium, a medium is the size of a small, and a small is the size of a budgie 🤣. We like lots of chicken, no single thighs here ! Also, what are these bits that no one eats ! We scoff the lot then make stock. Mmm I need chicken now

So one breast from a roast = entire protein allowance for the day?? What about the other two meals most people eat everyday + snacks? I must get 50g of protein every day just from my cheese intake, let alone meat!

Good grief - most people would be starving! If I'm using thighs in a recipe, I allow 3 or 4 per person, depending on their size.

I saw in a recipe recently that a 1.5 kg chicken would give about 800g of meat. I'd say that's 4 portions. 5 at a stretch.

@theduchessofspork

A chicken has 2 breasts, a breast is a portion. How are you getting 4 out of the breast meat?

Slice up the breast, don't serve as a whole massive portion. A whole breast is a lot when you've got all the veg and stuffing as well.

1 large chicken 3 people. 1 breast to dh. Most of the bits (legs, wings, thighs, etc) + 1/2 breast to ds(20) who really just has chicken and veg (no potatoes), 1/2 breast + couple of bits to me.

Two adults and a golden retriever.

The wings get eaten when DH is carving it up.

That's a good point... in our house whoever is cooking gets the wings, skin and at least one drumstick as cooks treat!

It's the parsons nose and the 2 little "oysters" from underneath for me as chief cook and carver !

Yes thanks, exactly point I was going to make! You surely aren’t trying to meet your daily allowance of anything from one meal on a regular basis. Plus even in a roast dinner alone you might have eg cauliflower cheese, some green beans, maybe even chipolatas or sausage stuffing that will add some protein.

Also - not sure how saying ‘people eat too much meat’ is being any more of a ‘diet moraliser’ than ‘you don’t feed your family enough meat’ but there we go…

This is MN. The correct answer is 104 plus leftovers for a curry.

That's the point - three square meals a day isn't really the norm any more. I get nearly all my protein from a single main meal, and am far from alone in this.

50g daily protein requirement is 50g, whether you nibble at it through the day or get it all at once.

I'm the same @Garlicked . Now I am older I find I can't actually eat 3 meals. (I'm not making claims to eating like a sparrow though considering I am 13 stone and clearly overweight!). I probably only eat meat-based protein once.

As a roast dinner type meals I would say a large chicken does 4 adults - any more people than that and I would get a second one and use it’s leftovers in another meal.

Chicken could be said to feed 6 adults if it’s more of a ‘strip off the carcass and use in pasta/ stew/ curry’ type meal.

I can and do also eat half a chicken on my own if avoiding carbs so only eating chicken and green veg/ salad

Hmm, just because that's how you eat, I'm not sure it's a powerful argument that people should consider 50g of protein from just one component of one meal to be a normal amount!

Let's face it, most people (including me) think the meat is the best bit of the meal. And lots of people (including me) are pretty greedy with our favourite bits. But too much protein regularly if you're not working out loads can give you kidney, liver, and cardiovascular issues long-term.

Make your own choices, but like I said upthread, I had no idea that butchered breasts were essentially half a chicken breast, and by extension if I had a whole breast from a roast, I would be having twice as much protein as I thought I was. And for my own long-term health, I'm glad I'm aware of that now. You don't need to sneer at other posters and call them names.

Bought a whole chicken yday, asked the butcher to cut it into 8 pieces.

Fed 4 adults and a toddler last night, with one drumstick left over.

That drumstick will surely feed another 4 adults @Starbugg

Depends on the size of the massive salad you are of course serving with it

not sure why people are still buying chickens and chicken eggs? we get by perfectly fine on 1 quail between 4 adults and 1/2 a quail egg each for breakfast

Four with maybe a bit leftover for a chicken sandwich after. We are a family of 4 (2a, 2 primary school kids) and eat a whole chicken for dinner (not a big one just a regular from the 3x£10 at supermarkets)

@therealcookiemonster are you always so greedy? We dine on a sparrow for at least two days.

must be why I didn't get onto the property ladder until mid 30s...
that and that one avocado I ate in 1997

I bet you've bought a latte or two as well. It's your own fault.

guilty as charged 😂