How Much Chicken Per Person for Tacos: Taco Chicken Calculator

When preparing chicken tacos for a group of people, you must calculate the amount of chicken and the number of tortillas required to feed the groups. Calculating the amount of chicken needed takes into consideration the fact that chicken tend to shrink when cooked. Additionally, the shrinkage of chicken varies depending on the type of chicken use in the recipe.

If you dont calculate the amount of chicken that is required, you may not have enough chicken for all of you guests. The type of chicken you use will affect the total weight of the cooked chicken. Raw chicken breasts will yield approximately 78 percent of the weight of the raw chicken breast when cook.

How Much Chicken and How Many Tortillas for Tacos

Therefore, you must purchase 28 percent more raw chicken breasts than the weight of the cooked chicken that you need. Raw chicken thighs will yield approximately 84 percent of the weight of the raw chicken thigh when cooked. Thus, using chicken thighs will result in less waste than use chicken breasts.

Rotisserie chicken will yield approximately 70 percent of the weight of the rotisserie chicken after the cook removes the skin and bones. Using rotisserie chicken will result in a lower yield than using raw chicken. It is also important to weigh the cooked chicken to ensure that the measurement of the ingredients are correct.

The size of the tortillas will impact the number of taco that each guest will eat. If you use small street style tortillas, the guests will eat more tacos because the small street-style tortillas require more shell to be served to each person. Using large flour tortillas, however, will result in the guests eating fewer tacos because each large tortilla will contain more filling for each taco.

Street-style tacos may contain 1.55 ounce of chicken per taco, but large tortillas can contain 2.45 ounces of chicken per taco. The age of the individual that will be serving the chicken tacos will impact the number of tacos that are required. Adults will eat more chicken and more tacos than children.

When planning for children, you must plan for them to eat 72 percent of the volume of tacos that an adult will eat. Additionally, because children tend to eat at a much more slow rate and often leave some of the food on their plates, you must take this into consideration when preparing the chicken tacos. The length and type of event will impact the amount of food that will be consumed.

For instance, if the event last for a short period of time, less food will be needed. However, if the event lasts for a more longer period of time, more food will be required to cater to the guests returning for second or thirds. For lunch events, 2.2 taco may be required per person.

For events such as weddings or game day parties, 3.4 to 3.6 tacos may be required per person. For events that last longer than 90 minutes, 8 percent more food should of prepared because the longer the event, the more food that the guests will consume. Finally, the number of toppings that will accompany the chicken tacos will affect the amount of time that will be required to prepare the food as well as the total amount of food that will be used.

If there are many toppings for the chicken tacos, the preparation will take more time to assemble the tacos. Additionally, if there are many toppings, there will also be an increased amount of food requirement for the tacos by 12 percent. If there are few toppings, such as only onions, cilantro, salsa, and lime, the preparation will take less time.

In either case, you will need to provide a buffer for any mistake in preparing the food or for the arrival of any additional guests. For small groups, a 5 percent buffer in the preparation of the food is sufficient. For large groups, however, a 12 percent buffer in the preparation of the food is recommended.