How many ounces is 8 chicken breasts?

dearestcrh
dearestcrh Posts: 9 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I am making a new recipe and it calls for 8 chicken breasts. I would prefer an ounces/pounds measurement! The recipe is for burritos and it makes 16 of an 8 inch burrito. My my guess was about 2 pounds. What is your take?

Replies

  • TheStephil
    TheStephil Posts: 858 Member
    I think the average chicken breast is 4 oz. So about 32 oz give or take.
  • coleybug73
    coleybug73 Posts: 23 Member
    In my experience, the average chicken breast is not 4 oz. More like 6 oz.

    Investing in a food scale has been eye opening for me. Just my two cents.
  • 1two3four
    1two3four Posts: 413 Member
    That depends entirely on your chicken.

    The chicken breasts you can get in some places (Sam's Club comes to mind) are MASSIVE. Then if you get a higher quality chicken (Miller Amish) they are going to be smaller breasts/more breasts per pound.

    What's the recipe? What else in the burrito? I would let that be my guide for how much chicken to use. Two to four ounces per serving depending on the rest of the recipe... but that's just me.
  • dearestcrh
    dearestcrh Posts: 9 Member
    I like to be precise in my measurements and I do own a food scale which is why I'm wondering how many ounces/pounds 8 chicken breasts would be... I mean, they vary in size and thickness so one breast could be 2 ounces while another could be a whole pound. I'm not sure how big the average is...
  • CristinaL1983
    CristinaL1983 Posts: 1,119 Member
    In my experience, the average chicken breast is not 4 oz. More like 6 oz.

    Investing in a food scale has been eye opening for me. Just my two cents.

    I agree with this! I have found that most chicken breasts are around 6-8 ounces. So two pounds would be 4-5 chicken breasts...
  • Derpinaaa
    Derpinaaa Posts: 70 Member
    In which case, why don't you take 8 breasts, weigh them, and add the weights together?
  • Linli_Anne
    Linli_Anne Posts: 1,360 Member
    I like to be precise in my measurements and I do own a food scale which is why I'm wondering how many ounces/pounds 8 chicken breasts would be... I mean, they vary in size and thickness so one breast could be 2 ounces while another could be a whole pound. I'm not sure how big the average is...

    If you own a food scale, why not just measure out the 8 chicken breasts and see?

    The chicken breasts I buy average around the 6oz mark.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    The chicken breasts I buy are usually 10-12 oz. Guess the chickens around here are juicing. :laugh:

    I'd just buy the 8 chicken breasts and then weigh them because they're not likely to all be the same.
  • YoungDoc2B
    YoungDoc2B Posts: 1,593 Member
    I have yet to find a chicken breast that weighs 4oz, honestly. Most of the ones I buy range anywhere from 6 - 7 oz each. The best way for you to know for sure would be to weigh them on a food scale.
  • Jorra
    Jorra Posts: 3,338 Member
    If the recipe isn't going to be exact, you don't need to follow it exactly. Just use 8 chicken breasts of whatever weight you have available. Don't overthink it.

    Also, my work internet filter almost didn't let me reply because of the word "breast" on the page!
  • Erin_goBrahScience
    Erin_goBrahScience Posts: 1,215 Member
    It really depends on what you are really asking.

    If you are asking what a suggested serving size for chicken is than; According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Pyramid, the serving size for meat, poultry and fish is about 3 ounces.

    You could then figure that your recipe calls for 32 oz of chicken. (and you can use a scale to figure out what that would be)

    If you are asking how much an average chicken breast weighs, that also depends. As someone already stated lower quality chicken is usually bigger (anywhere from 4 to 8 oz and up) this is because most of the weight is water.

    Your recipe is calling for just 8 chicken breasts, than it's pretty vague but apparently the writer doesn't think it's important either.
  • dearestcrh
    dearestcrh Posts: 9 Member
    It really depends on what you are really asking.

    If you are asking what a suggested serving size for chicken is than; According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Pyramid, the serving size for meat, poultry and fish is about 3 ounces.

    You could then figure that your recipe calls for 32 oz of chicken. (and you can use a scale to figure out what that would be)

    If you are asking how much an average chicken breast weighs, that also depends. As someone already stated lower quality chicken is usually bigger (anywhere from 4 to 8 oz and up) this is because most of the weight is water.

    Your recipe is calling for just 8 chicken breasts, than it's pretty vague but apparently the writer doesn't think it's important either.

    Hah! Some responses are making me laugh (not yours),

    I think that I need to be more precise as does the recipe. I KNOW that I can use a food scale to weigh my chicken and factor that into the recipe calculator... My question is actually how much chicken should I use since the recipe just calls for 8 chicken breasts. I don't cook much so I don't want to make way too much chicken because my breasts are 10 oz when the recipe writer meant an average 5-6 oz breast.

    I guess I'll do about three pounds which would average 3 oz of chicken per burrito and hope that's enough/not too much. Hah!
  • foot2wood
    foot2wood Posts: 149 Member
    [3 pounds of chicken breast]. most common size breast seems to be 6 oz.. 8 breasts at 6 oz = 48 oz there are 16 oz in a pound 48 divided by 16 is 3... 3 pounds makes sense to me, but im just guessing.
  • MxcnMrcnZrr
    MxcnMrcnZrr Posts: 18 Member
    Yeah, just weigh the chicken breasts you have. Are you trying to calculate the calories for your recipe? Are you using the MFP Recipe Calculator? Just add how many actual ounces or grams the breasts you have weigh. Man that's a big recipe hah? I love the Recipe Calculator. For my money I like weighing things in grams. The math is much easier. I used to not like the metric system till I started dealing with baking and kitchen scales and even more so now that I'm weighing my food with MFP. My scale weighs by individual grams not by 5 gram increments like my old scale.
  • melsmith612
    melsmith612 Posts: 727 Member
    Why not just change the recipe to reflect the amount of chicken you want to use instead of trying to guess at how much they intended? I'd figure on 2oz/burrito.
  • MxcnMrcnZrr
    MxcnMrcnZrr Posts: 18 Member
    Oh, the average chicken breast is definitely NOT, again Not 4 oz that would be the avg SUGGESSTED sized serving. Be careful with stuff like that. Be strong and carry on!

    MxcnMrcnZrr
  • foot2wood
    foot2wood Posts: 149 Member
    3 oz in each burrito
  • melsmith612
    melsmith612 Posts: 727 Member
    3 oz in each burrito

    My burritos need room for fixins :tongue:
  • foot2wood
    foot2wood Posts: 149 Member
    3 oz in each burrito

    My burritos need room for fixins :tongue:
    buy bigger torts:tongue:
  • dearestcrh
    dearestcrh Posts: 9 Member
    3 oz in each burrito

    My burritos need room for fixins :tongue:

    There aren't any fixins in this burrito recipe. Just chicken and a cheese sauce. *shrugs* LOL
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I think the average chicken breast is 4 oz. So about 32 oz give or take.

    Average chicken breast is closer to 6-8 Oz.

    Best bet OP...get a food scale.
  • ncl1313
    ncl1313 Posts: 237 Member
    I am making a new recipe and it calls for 8 chicken breasts. I would prefer an ounces/pounds measurement! The recipe is for burritos and it makes 16 of an 8 inch burrito. My my guess was about 2 pounds. What is your take?

    The yield of the recipe is 16 burritos. I'll assume the serving size is one burrito. Therefore, one burrito would have half a chicken breast. If you go by the USDA serving size of 3oz of chicken, it sounds like this recipe assumes 6oz chicken breasts, therefore 6oz x 8 breasts=48oz, or 3 pounds.
  • melsmith612
    melsmith612 Posts: 727 Member
    3 oz in each burrito

    My burritos need room for fixins :tongue:

    There aren't any fixins in this burrito recipe. Just chicken and a cheese sauce. *shrugs* LOL

    That sounds more like a quesadilla. Now I'm sad that there'll be no rice or beans. :sad:
  • dearestcrh
    dearestcrh Posts: 9 Member
    I am making a new recipe and it calls for 8 chicken breasts. I would prefer an ounces/pounds measurement! The recipe is for burritos and it makes 16 of an 8 inch burrito. My my guess was about 2 pounds. What is your take?

    The yield of the recipe is 16 burritos. I'll assume the serving size is one burrito. Therefore, one burrito would have half a chicken breast. If you go by the USDA serving size of 3oz of chicken, it sounds like this recipe assumes 6oz chicken breasts, therefore 6oz x 8 breasts=48oz, or 3 pounds.

    That was my thinking. Thanks for that. :)

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