Here are a few tips to help you understand how big of a ham you need as you prep your Christmas or Easter dinner.
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Pineapple-glazed ham and grilled ham are dishes that I make for nearly every holiday. My family looks forward to them every year. The number of guests I’m having determines how large of a ham I need to buy.
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Average ham size
When cooking up a Christmas ham or Easter ham, I recommend starting with a pre-cooked spiral-cut ham versus a raw ham.
Pre-cooked hams yield the wonderful slices that Americans are used to. If you smoke a raw ham, the consistency will be more similar to pulled pork.
Many companies sell pre-cooked hams at the grocery store or online and they vary in size.
At the store, each ham will have a label on it that will show it’s actual weight, along with the price per pound, total price and sell by date.
If you buy a ham online, you may not know the exact weight that you’ll get, but the website should identify the average weight. Some offer hams in sizes ranging from small to large.
The weight will also very, depending on if it’s a bone-in ham or boneless ham.
Boneless half hams, like those available at Snake River Farms, have an average weight of three to six pounds.
Bone-in half hams often weigh six to 10 lbs.
Small whole bone-in whole hams weigh about 15 pounds, while large bone-in hams can weigh 20 pounds or more. And boneless whole hams can weight six to 16 pounds.
As you can see, there is a lot of variation.
How much ham do I need?
The official USDA serving size of ham is 1/4 to 1/3 pound (4-5.3 ounces) per person for boneless ham and 1/3 to 1/2 pound (5.3-8 ounces) of meat per person for bone-in ham.
Based on these suggested amounts, you would need a 5-pound bone-in ham size for 10 people or a 10-pound bone-in size ham for 20 adults.
However, you’re most likely making this ham for the holidays, so there are other things you’ll want to consider.
If you’re serving a lot of sides and other proteins, people may eat a smaller portion of ham. If ham is the star, than they may eat more.
But I always cook extra so I have leftovers for future meals and for people to take home. Ham is great in fried rice, omelets and on sandwiches or salads.
Ham size chart
Based on the USDA recommendations and assuming that your holiday meal will include some side dishes and an extra meat and that you’ll want leftovers, here are my preferences.
I suggest using a calculation of a 1/2 pound of boneless ham per person and 3/4 pound of bone-in ham per person.
| Number of People | Size of Boneless Ham | Size of Bone-In Ham |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | 3 pounds | 4.5 pounds |
| 8 | 4 pounds | 6 pounds |
| 10 | 5 pounds | 7.5 pounds |
| 12 | 6 pounds | 9 pounds |
| 14 | 7 pounds | 10.5 pounds |
| 16 | 8 pounds | 12 pounds |
| 18 | 9 pounds | 13.5 pounds |
| 20 | 10 pounds | 15 pounds |
