If you need to know how much pulled pork per person to cook, I’ve got an easy solution. Learn how to calculate how much pork you need to buy for your next cookout. Charts, formulas, and a calculator for boneless and bone-in pork shoulders are below.
Hot dogs and hamburgers are always a quick and easy option for hosting afternoon cookouts. But, pulled pork is easy, delicious, and an inexpensive way to feed a crowd. Plus, you can easily stretch the meat to serve more people.
It’s not as easy to figure out the portions as it is to count hot dogs and hamburgers, but there is a pretty easy formula that takes the guesswork out of having a big party.
For a great pulled pork recipe that’s easy and hands-off, I recommend an oven-roasted pork shoulder!
Pulled pork is a beloved staple at barbecues and potlucks When the tender, saucy meat is piled high on a bun, it’s pure comfort food bliss But determining how much pork to cook can be tricky. Most recipes list the quantity in volumes like cups rather than pounds. So how many cups fit in a pound of pulled pork? Does it differ for raw meat versus the cooked version?
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk through everything you need to know about converting between pounds and cups of delicious shredded pork. With this handy reference, you’ll be able to precisely calculate portions and buy just the right amount of pork for any event or meal.
Why Cups Can Be Confusing
Recipes listing pulled pork in cups make the ingredients easy to follow. But cups can be confusing in terms of:
- Figuring out how much raw pork to buy
- Estimating how much the pork will cook down
- Determining how many people the finished pork will serve
This is because the weight per cup of shredded pork depends on several factors
- Thickness of the shredded meat
- Moisture content after cooking
- How much fat is left on the pork
- If sauce was added
So while a general guideline is 3-4 cups per pound, the actual yield varies based on the recipe.
Converting Raw Pork to Cooked Cups
To determine the serving yield from a certain quantity of raw pork, it helps to break it down into two steps:
- Pounds of raw pork to pounds of cooked pork
- Pounds of cooked pork to cups
Let’s examine each of these steps:
Raw to Cooked Pork
The first step is accounting for moisture loss during cooking. Raw pork shrinks a lot when cooked:
- Grilling, smoking, roasting reduces pork’s weight by 25-40%
- Braising, slow cooking leads to 15-30% moisture loss
- The fattier the cut, the more it reduces
For easy math, estimate raw pork will lose about 1/3 of its weight after cooking.
So if you start with 3 lbs raw pork, after cooking it will be around 2 lbs.
Cooked Pork to Cups
Next, determine how many cups the cooked, shredded pork yields. As a general guideline:
- Fattier cuts like shoulder or butt yield 3-4 cups per pound
- Leaner cuts like loin yield 2-3 cups per pound
- Finer shredding results in more cups per pound
- Saucing adds moisture weight, increasing cups per pound
Putting this together with our 3 lb example:
- 3 lbs raw pork
- Cooks down to 2 lbs
- Shoulder cut yields 3 cups per pound
- So 2 lbs cooked pork makes 6 cups pulled pork
This shows that starting with 3 lbs raw yields about 6 cups cooked. Now let’s walk through the full conversion process.
Converting Pounds to Cups Step-by-Step
Follow these steps whenever you need to convert pounds of raw pork to cups of delicious pulled pork:
- Determine raw pork pounds needed:
- Estimate based on 1⁄3 lb per person, multiplied by number of servings required
- Account for cooking loss:
- Multiply raw pounds by 0.67 to calculate post-cooking weight
- Estimate cups per pound:
- Use 3-4 cups for fatty cuts, 2-3 for lean
- Add more for fine shreds and saucing
- Calculate total cups:
- Multiply cooked pounds by estimated cups per pound
Let’s run through an example:
- Having 12 people over
- Estimating 1⁄3 lb raw pork per person
- So need 12 * 1⁄3 = 4 lbs raw
- 4 lbs raw x 0.67 = 2.7 lbs cooked
- It’s a fatty butt, so estimate 3 cups per pound
- 2.7 lbs cooked x 3 cups/lb = 8 cups pulled pork
This shows that buying 4 lbs of raw pork should yield about 8 cups of delicious shredded pulled pork for 12 people.
You can tweak the ratios based on your specific pork cut, cooking method, shredding texture, etc. But this provides an excellent starting point.
Converting Cups Back to Pounds
What if you have a recipe that lists cups of pulled pork and you need to determine how much raw pork to buy? No problem, just reverse the process:
- Note cups of pulled pork required
- Estimate cups per pound (3-4 is reasonable)
- Calculate cooked pounds needed:
- Divide cups by estimated cups per pound
- Determine raw pounds required:
- Divide cooked pounds by 0.67
Let’s look at a quick example:
- Recipe calls for 12 cups pulled pork
- Estimate 3 cups per pound
- So 12 cups / 3 = 4 lbs cooked
- 4 lbs cooked / 0.67 = 6 lbs raw pork needed
So buying about 6 lbs of raw pork should yield the 12 cups in the recipe after cooking.
As you can see, the conversions are easy in either direction. Now you can precisely plan your pork portions.
Key Factors Affecting Cups Per Pound
Remember, while 3-4 cups per pound is a good estimate, the actual yield varies based on:
- Pork cut – fattier cuts yield more cups
- Shredding texture – finer is more cups
- Cooking method – more moisture loss means fewer cups
- Saucing – barbecue sauce adds weight
- Pork’s density – tighter packing means more weight per cup
- Accuracy of your scale
The best approach is to note your own yields over time and refine your estimates accordingly. Track what recipe specifics produce what cup amounts from given poundages.
Perfecting Your Pork Portions
When cooking pulled pork for a party, you want to nail your portion estimates. Here are some tips:
- Weigh cooked pork to get the exact starting point
- Portion with a scale for perfect control
- Have a little extra – leftovers are easy to use up
- Repurpose leftovers into casseroles, tacos, etc.
By following these steps and formulas, you’ll get the tender, juicy pulled pork your crowd craves in perfect proportions.
Determining cups per pound of raw or cooked pork can be tricky. But this guide provides easy formulas and factors to simplify the math.
The key takeaways are:
- Estimate 1⁄3 pound raw pork per person
- Cooked pork is about 2⁄3 of the raw weight
- Plan for a 3-4 cup yield per pound cooked
Armed with these guidelines, you can precisely calculate the pounds and cups of pulled pork needed for any occasion. Get ready to wow everyone with your pulled pork cooking expertise!
How Much Pulled Pork Per Person
As a general rule, each person should get about 1/3 pound of cooked pulled pork (or Boston butt). It’s what most BBQ experts say to do, and it will make sure you never run out of food.
The meat will lose about 40 to 50 percent of its weight in water and fat as it cooks. This applies to all cooking methods, including smoking, grilling, roasting the meat, and even in a slow cooker.
Of course, weights differ from boneless and bone-in pork shoulders.
For boneless cuts of pork shoulder, estimate 1/3 pound of cooked pulled pork per guest. Remember, the cooked pork will only weigh about half as much as the raw pork after cooking.
Here’s the basic formula:
[ Guests x 1/3 ] x 2 = Pounds of Raw Pork Needed
Example: Let’s say you’re roasting a pork shoulder for 24 people. When you divide the number of guests into thirds, you are left with 8. That is the amount of pork you will want to serve to your guests. It tells you how much raw pork you need to buy when you multiply that number by 2.
There is 8 pounds of meat to serve, which is 16 pounds of raw pork that needs to be made.
[ 24 x 1/3 ] x 2 = 16 pounds of raw pork needed
Using this formula, you should purchase 16 pounds of raw boneless pork shoulder to feed 24 guests.
The bone-in cuts need a small change to the formula because of the weight of the bone and the extra fat that comes with them.
Instead of 1/3 of a pound of cooked meat, estimate one-half pound of meat per person. The math is much easier for this version. To account for shrinking, the weight of the bone, and the extra fat, just buy one pound of raw pork shoulder per person.
Using the same example above, here is the formula in action:
[ Guests x 1/2 ] x 2 = Pounds of Raw Pork Needed
You might be able to serve less meat depending on the event, the menu, and the people who are coming.
What else is on the menu? Will the pulled pork be the main dish? Are there any side dishes?
If you are hosting a potluck, you will likely have enough food to fill out your menu. So, there won’t be any need to stress over the meat’s portion sizes. However, if you’re keeping it simple with only another side or two, consider increasing the portion size.
Using the one-third of a pound per person rule, you may have a lot of leftovers if there are a lot of kids on the guest list.
In this case, you could scale the portions back to 1/4 pound per child. But, that complicates the calculations a little too much for me. I’d much rather have too much food leftover than not enough pork.
If, on the other hand, most of your guests are big eaters, you could easily make the portions bigger.
Think about how you are serving the pulled pork. Pork sandwiches will make your guests full faster, so they won’t want to come back for more.
Hamburger buns hold about 5 ounces (one serving) of meat. But, pork sliders are great for smaller portions, holding about 2. 5 ounces per bun. Plus, they can play a little trick on the stomach and the eyes, helping guests feel fuller faster.
Usually, people eat more at a formal, sit-down even than at a more casual event.
If there is a set time for “dinner,” your guests are more likely to eat than if the food is available all night. When people are mingling and socializing, the focus is less on food.
This chart will quickly show you how much meat you need to serve 1/3 pound and 1/2 pound of cooked pulled pork. Consider this your BBQ per person calculator!.
| Pounds of Pork Butt (Raw Weight) | Number of Servings (1/3 pound serving) | Number of Servings (1/2 pound serving) |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | 12 | 8 |
| 16 | 24 | 16 |
| 24 | 36 | 24 |
| 32 | 48 | 32 |
How to Store Leftover Pulled Pork
For any leftover pork, place in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for about 3 days.
Don’t forget to add the juices to the leftovers to keep the meat as moist as possible.
How Many Cups are a Pound (Cups in a Pound)
FAQ
How much does 1 pound of pulled pork feed?
How many cups are in a pound of pork?
How many servings in 2 pounds of pulled pork?
How many servings are in a pound of pork shoulder?
How much cooked pulled pork per person?
If pulled pork is the main course, and you’re only serving 1-3 sides, then you want to have half a pound of COOKED pulled pork per person. To be on the safe side, allowing for second-serves and leftovers, you’ll want to go with 1 pound of raw pork per person to end up with at least half a pound of cooked pulled pork.
How much pulled pork do you need for a sandwich?
Plan on getting about ½ pound of pulled pork for every pound of raw pork butt you purchase. That’s a shrinkage factor of 50 percent. So if there are 10 people on your guest list and you want to serve 1/3 pound of pulled pork per person, you’ll need about 6-1/2 to 7 pounds of raw pork butt. How Much Pulled Pork Per Person Do I Need For Sandwiches?
How much smoked pulled pork is in a pork shoulder?
That’s because most of the moisture will evaporate away during cooking. So, if you buy a pork shoulder that weighs 6 pounds, you can expect it to yield about 3 pounds of smoked pulled pork. To make it simpler, here’s the principle broken down into a basic formula: (Guests x (1/3)) X 2 = Amount (in pounds) of Raw Pork Needed
How much pulled pork should a 40 person party eat?
This total comes from 30 people times 1/3 pound each. If you’re feeding 35 people, aim for around 11.7 pounds (or 5,250 grams) of pulled pork. The math here is 35 x 1/3 pounds per person. For a party of 40, you’ll need roughly 13.3 pounds (or 6,000 grams) of pulled pork. This quantity is arrived at by multiplying 40 people by 1/3 pound.