Getting portion sizes right is an important part of healthy, balanced eating. Serving the right amount of food can help reduce waste, avoid overeating, and make it easier to meet your nutritional goals. Whether you’re preparing calorie smart meals or planning family dinners, understanding recommended portion sizes can make meal planning much simpler. This HelloFresh guide explains how much to serve for different foods and offers practical tips for everyday cooking at home.
What are portion sizes and why are they important?
Portion sizes refer to the amount of food served to one person at a meal. Getting them right can help you maintain a balanced diet, reduce food waste and avoid preparing more food than you need. They also make it easier to adjust recipes depending on how many people you’re cooking for and the ingredients available in your food box delivery.
Recipes such as this Middle Eastern-style chicken hotpot provide ingredient quantities for different numbers of servings, helping you scale meals up or down with confidence. Remember that these serving sizes are intended as a general guide for a typical adult. Individual needs vary depending on factors such as age, activity level and appetite, so children and toddlers will usually require smaller portions.
Portion size guide and portion size chart
According to the British Nutrition Foundation, the key to portioning meals isn't always a question of how much food there is per serving, but rather the typical portion sizes for individual ingredients. This is because you need a range of different ones in all meals, and balanced recipes should cover all the food groups, carbohydrates, protein, fibre, minerals and vitamins.
As a general guide, an adult meal might include around 75 grams of dried rice or pasta or 180 grams of potatoes, for carbs. For protein, a main meal portion should contain about 70 grams of cooked meat or 140 grams of fish. At least half the plate should consist of vegetables or salad to increase your intake of fibre, vitamins and minerals while helping to create a well-balanced healthy meal.
Portion sizes for adults and toddlers
Although recipe serving sizes are usually based on a typical adult, not everyone needs the same amount of food. Younger children and toddlers generally require much smaller portions, while older children and teenagers often need more as they grow. When cooking a dish like this balsamic chicken with roasties recipe, a suitable toddler portion is often around one-third to one-half of the adult serving, depending on their age, appetite and activity level.
How much rice per person should you cook?
For most adults, around 75 grams of uncooked rice is a suitable serving. If you’re cooking for several people, measuring rice before you start can help reduce waste and ensure everyone receives a similar portion. If you’re planning ahead, our meal prep rice guide has more useful tips. A standard British mug holds roughly 150 grams of uncooked rice, making it an easy way to measure two adult portions without kitchen scales.
How much pasta per person should you cook?
A typical adult portion of dried pasta is around 90 grams before cooking. Pasta provides carbohydrates along with small amounts of protein, vitamins and minerals, while wholemeal varieties are a good choice if you want to increase your fibre intake. Fresh pasta contains more water than dried pasta, so a standard adult serving is usually larger, at around 120 to 140 grams before cooking. Adjust portion sizes to suit your appetite, activity level and dietary goals.
Planning portion sizes for family meals
Whether you are preparing a turkey roast dinner or a light summer salad, adjusting portion sizes according to age is important, especially for younger ones who can be overwhelmed by too much food on their plate. You don't necessarily need to serve scaled-down versions of adult meals because children have different nutritional needs. Instead, focus on maintaining their recommended dairy, fruit and vegetable intake for a well-balanced diet with every meal.
Portion sizes FAQs
How big are HelloFresh portion sizes?
HelloFresh recipes indicate the number of portions, or servings, you can expect from each dish. You can see the HelloFresh portion sizes given in grams for each recipe at the top of the relevant page. The number of kilojoules and kilocalories is also given per portion, along with other details, including the amount of protein per serving.
How much rice should I cook per person?
For most adults, around 75 grams of uncooked rice per person is a suitable portion. Children typically need between 40 and 60 grams, depending on their age and appetite, while toddlers usually require around 20 grams. Adjust portions if you’re serving rice as a side dish rather than the main part of the meal.
How much spaghetti should I cook per person?
A typical adult portion of dried spaghetti is around 90 grams before cooking. Children usually need between 40 and 70 grams, depending on their age and appetite, while toddlers generally require 20 to 30 grams. Increase or reduce portions to suit your activity level and whether pasta is the main meal.
What counts towards 5 a day?
Most fruit and vegetables count towards your 5 a day, whether they’re fresh, frozen, canned or dried. Potatoes don’t count because they’re considered a starchy carbohydrate, while beans and pulses only count as one portion. Fruit juice and smoothies count too, but only as one serving each day.
Are portion sizes the same for everyone?
No, portion sizes necessarily need to differ for different people. More active people typically need larger portions, while those who are smaller, less active or seeking to lose weight should consume less per serving than others. Children and toddlers also need smaller portions, although many teenagers will require adult-sized portions.