Guide September 2026 · 7 min read

The standard plate

Every row is one USDA record and a portion you can picture. Where the record lists a household measure (a cup, a roll, 3 oz), we used it. Where it doesn't, the grams are given.

The plate also carries about 2,400 mg of sodium, mostly from the mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing. That's more than the WHO's limit of 2 g of sodium for a whole day. A salty holiday meal often shows up on the scale the next morning as water, not fat. How much salt per day →

Green bean casserole isn't in the table. USDA has no record for the classic version with cream-of-mushroom soup and fried onions, and recipes vary too much to pick one number. Log it by photo or by its ingredients.

Dessert

Dinner plus a slice of pumpkin pie with whipped cream: 1,237 + 265 + 39 = 1,541 kcal.

Slices vary more than any other item on the table. A 110 g slice is a modest wedge. A thick slice from a deep-dish pie can be twice that.

The plate with seconds

Most people don't stop at one plate. A realistic second round is another 3 oz of white meat, another ½ cup of stuffing, ½ cup of mashed potatoes and more gravy:

First plate, seconds and a slice of pecan pie with whipped cream: 1,237 + 526 + 450 + 39 = 2,252 kcal. Drinks come on top of that. A glass of wine or a beer is covered in calories in alcohol.

What to pick

The numbers point to a few choices that matter and a few that don't.

• White or dark turkey barely matters. 3 oz of dark meat is 25 kcal more than white. Take the one you like. Turkey is also where the protein is: the two portions on the standard plate give 48 g of the plate's 66 g.
• Stuffing is the densest side. 195 kcal per 100 g (½ cup), about 1.7 times the mashed potatoes gram for gram. If you love it, keep it to one scoop and skip the second round.
• Pumpkin over pecan saves 185 kcal per slice of the same size. Pecan pie has 407 kcal per 100 g, pumpkin 243.
• Gravy is cheaper than it looks. ½ cup is 61 kcal. It's the salt that adds up, not the calories.
• Butter on the roll is 51 kcal per half tablespoon. Skipping it is easy and you won't miss much.
• Seconds are the biggest single choice. A second round of the sides adds about 525 kcal, more than any swap above saves.

One holiday meal won't undo weeks of steady eating. Even the 2,252-kcal version is a single day above your usual intake. The weight jump the next morning is mostly salt and water and fades within a few days. Calorie deficit for weight loss →

How to log Thanksgiving dinner

A holiday plate is hard to log because it's eight dishes in one pile, and nobody wants to weigh food at the table.

• Log the plate, not the dishes one by one. In CalMePlease you can take a short video of the plate. The AI identifies each dish, and each one lands as a separate entry with its estimated weight in grams. If a portion looks off, correct the grams in one tap.
• Say it if you can't film it. A voice note like "turkey, a cup of mashed potatoes with gravy, half a cup of stuffing and a roll" works when the table is busy. Voice food logging →
• Log dessert separately. Pie comes an hour later and is the easiest thing to forget.
• Forgot to log? Add the meal to that day later from the calendar. A rough log the next morning beats a blank day.

FAQ

How many calories are in a Thanksgiving dinner? About 1,240 kcal for one standard plate: 6 oz of turkey, a cup of mashed potatoes, gravy, ½ cup each of stuffing and sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce and a buttered roll. With a slice of pumpkin pie and whipped cream it's about 1,540. Seconds and pecan pie can push it past 2,200.

How many calories are in Thanksgiving turkey? 3 oz (85 g) of roasted white meat with skin is 150 kcal and 25 g of protein. The same amount of dark meat with skin is 175 kcal and 23 g of protein. Per 100 g that's 177 and 206 kcal.

How many calories are in a slice of pumpkin pie? About 265 kcal for a 110 g (about 4 oz) slice of store-bought pumpkin pie. Pumpkin pie has 243 kcal per 100 g. A ¼ cup of canned whipped cream adds 39.

Which is lower in calories, pumpkin or pecan pie? Pumpkin. A 110 g slice of pumpkin pie is about 265 kcal and the same slice of pecan pie is about 450. The difference is 185 kcal.

How many calories are in stuffing? ½ cup (100 g) of stuffing made from a dry mix is 195 kcal, and a full cup is about 390. Homemade stuffing with sausage or extra butter is usually higher.

Will one Thanksgiving dinner make me gain weight? Not much fat. 1,500–2,200 kcal is one high day, not a trend. A jump on the scale the next morning is mostly water from the salt and carbs and usually fades within a few days if you go back to your normal meals.

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Data: USDA FoodData Central. SR Legacy: Turkey, whole, light meat, meat and skin, cooked, roasted (FDC ID 171089); Turkey, whole, dark meat, meat and skin, cooked, roasted (FDC ID 171489); Potatoes, mashed, home-prepared, whole milk and butter added (FDC ID 168555); Gravy, turkey, canned, ready-to-serve (FDC ID 171568); Bread, stuffing, dry mix, prepared (FDC ID 174931); Cranberry sauce, canned, sweetened (FDC ID 173961); Rolls, dinner, plain, commercially prepared (FDC ID 172793); Butter, salted (FDC ID 173410); Pie, pumpkin, commercially prepared (FDC ID 172787); Pie, pecan, commercially prepared (FDC ID 175021); Cream, whipped, cream topping, pressurized (FDC ID 170860). FNDDS: Sweet potato, casserole or mashed (FDC ID 2709708). Portion weights from the same records; pie slices are a fixed 110 g. Sodium limit: WHO guideline on sodium intake (2012). Values checked October 2026.

Related: Calories in alcohol · Calorie deficit for weight loss · How much salt per day

CalMePlease logs a whole holiday plate from a short video, with each dish as its own entry and a weight in grams you can correct. Free on the App Store.