Churrasco kg por Pessoa

How many kilos of meat per person at a Brazilian churrasco

Butcheries across Brazil work off a simple rule of thumb: 400–500 g of raw meat per adult man, 300–400 g per adult woman, 150–200 g per child. So a gathering of 6 men, 4 women, and 2 children comes out to roughly 6×450 + 4×350 + 2×175 = 4.45 kg of meat. Order by raw weight, always. The grill takes away 25–30% of the weight as fat renders and water cooks off, which means 1 kg of picanha leaves you about 700 g once it's done.

Put out three to five cuts so people can pick as they go. For beef (picanha, alcatra, maminha), figure 150–200 g of the noble cut per adult. For chicken, about one thigh-and-drumstick per person. For linguiça, one link of calabresa each, around 100 g. The trick to keeping the bill sane is pairing the noble cuts (picanha runs about R$80–100/kg) with the cheaper ones (fraldinha, R$30–45/kg). Round it out with pão de alho, queijo coalho, farofa, and vinagrete.

Common applications

• Family gatherings: Sunday lunch at home with the relatives, usually 8 to 20 people.
• End-of-year barbecue: the December get-together with neighbors or co-workers, where a long event means you tack on that extra 20%.
• Corporate events: team-building or the year-end party, where getting the quantity right keeps you from wasting food or fielding complaints.
• Birthdays and weddings: a churrasco-style reception for 30–80 guests with several meat stations.

FAQ

Is 400 g per adult really enough? It is, as long as the sides are generous and the event wraps up within five hours or so. If the party runs longer or the sides are thin, bump it to 500–600 g per adult.

Do bones count? No. The 400 / 300 / 200 rule is about boneless, raw meat. With bone-in cuts like beef rib, throw in roughly 20% more to make up for the bone and trim.

How do I balance noble and cheaper cuts? People often go with 60% beef, 25% pork or chicken, and 15% sausage, with picanha covering about a third of the beef.

Should I buy by cooked weight? No, buy raw. The grill takes off 25–30% of the weight, but butchers price and weigh the meat raw anyway.