How Much Pizza Do You Need? A Simple Way to Order for a Group

"How many pizzas do we need?" usually gets answered by counting slices. That falls apart quickly, because restaurants cut sizes differently, and a slice from a big pizza can be twice the size of a slice from a small one.

Start with area

Size	Area	If cut into 8, each slice is
10-inch	79 sq in	10 sq in
12-inch	113 sq in	14 sq in
14-inch	154 sq in	19 sq in
16-inch	201 sq in	25 sq in

A rule of thumb

Allow about 55 square inches per person for a normal appetite, and about 75 for a hungry group. This is roughly a 10-inch pizza each for hungry adults, or a 12-inch shared between two for a lighter meal. Adjust it for your group:

• With sides like garlic bread or wings, you can reduce it by about a quarter.
• Children typically eat about half an adult's portion.
• Thick bases are far more filling per square inch than thin ones. A pan pizza goes further than a Neapolitan of the same size.

A worked example

Six adults, normal appetites, no sides: 6 × 55 = 330 square inches. Two 14-inch pizzas give 308, which is a little short, and adding one more 10-inch brings it to 387. Two 16-inch pizzas give 402 square inches, with some to spare.

Bigger is usually cheaper per bite

Larger pizzas often cost less per square inch, so one big pizza may beat two small ones. Our guide to comparing prices shows how to check. The trade-off is variety: two smaller pizzas mean two sets of toppings.

What to do with leftovers

Over-ordering isn't a disaster, as long as you store the extra properly. See how to store and reheat leftover pizza.