Foie Gras Per Person: Expert Guide | Artzner, Maison Française

Foie Gras seduces the palates of those who love subtle, silky flavors — especially when it comes to quality French Foie Gras, whose refinement elevates any meal, from the simplest lunch to a grand festive table. Yet this exceptional delicacy remains a rich product that needs to be dosed carefully. So how much Foie Gras should you plan per person? The number of grams per guest depends on several factors. Are we talking about goose or duck? Slices for a starter, for example, or a pan-seared preparation for a main course? In this guide to Foie Gras quantities per person, our French Maison advises you case by case and provides practical tables for a flawless service.

In short:

When and how it will be served matters for the portion size.
As an aperitif, allow roughly 15 to 20 g per bite.
As a starter, 30 to 70 g per slice.
As a main course, 100 to 120 g for pan-seared Foie Gras, 20 to 30 g for a sauce.
When weighing raw lobes, add 15 to 20% to the desired plated weight.

The 4 Golden Rules for Deciding How Much Foie Gras to Serve Per Guest

Knowing the weight of Foie Gras per person lets you determine the total quantity needed for your meal. The amounts given in this guide are ranges. Here are the questions to ask yourself to decide whether to lean toward the lower or higher end of the range.

1. Your guests: are they generally big eaters? If so, lean toward the higher end of the stated quantity. If your table has an even mix of big eaters and small appetites, aim for the middle of the suggested range.

🥄 Our tip: whatever the portion per person, once you've worked out the total weight to buy, you can add about 20% more for those who might want seconds.

2. Where it falls in the meal: aperitif, starter, or main course? The dosage won't be the same. This is detailed in the following sections of this guide.

3. How generous the other courses are: rich or light? The Foie Gras quantity per person as a starter will vary depending on whether it's followed by meat in a creamy sauce or steamed fish, for example. You need to consider your guests' overall culinary experience, from the aperitif through to the end of the meal.

4. The type of Foie Gras: raw for you to prepare, or ready to serve (fresh, semi-cooked, or canned)? If you want to know how much raw Foie Gras to buy per person, plan for 15 to 20% more than the weight you want to serve on the plate.

That's because during cooking, some of the fat melts and separates from the lobe: the weight of the Foie Gras itself doesn't decrease, but the amount actually eaten does.

💡 Example: to end up with 50 g of cooked Foie Gras per person, plan for about 60 g of raw product.

As an Aperitif: How Many Grams of Foie Gras Per Person Should You Plan?

Allow 15 to 20 g when it's served in small bites.

What matters most, though, is how it's presented — on small toasts, mini skewers, and so on. Here's a helpful table:

Presentation example	Suggested quantity
Verrine with several ingredients	15 to 20 g per person
2 or 3 small bites	15 to 20 g per person
Topped toasts	About 20 g per person
Mini skewer with a few cubes	20 to 30 g per person

🥄 For an aperitif made up of several canapés, the CIFOG* suggests around five to six bites per guest.

*CIFOG (Comité interprofessionnel des palmipèdes à foie gras) – the French professional body representing the goose and duck foie gras industry.

As a Starter: How Much Foie Gras Per Person Should You Plan?

The ideal weight of a slice

Allow 30 to 70 g per slice.

The Foie Gras quantity per person as a starter also depends on how the plate is composed:

30 to 50 g if it accompanies a salad, fruit, or several small preparations;
50 to 70 g for a slice served with condiments and one to two slices of bread.

💡 If you're hosting a very small gathering, say two or three guests, you could also opt for a pre-sliced product. At Édouard Artzner, the weight of a Foie Gras slice per person is 40 grams — a format suited to any starter.

🥄 Discover our ready-to-eat French Goose and Duck Foie Gras slices.

Practical Tables for Portioning Your Foie Gras Starter by Number of Guests or Available Quantity

Total quantity by number of guests

Number of guests	Foie Gras with salad, fruit, or several preparations – 30–50 g/person	Slice with condiments and one to two slices of bread – 50–70 g/person
2	60–100 g	100–140 g
4	120–200 g	200–280 g
6	180–300 g	300–420 g
8	240–400 g	400–560 g
10	300–500 g	500–700 g
12	360–600 g	600–840 g

Number of people by available quantity

Foie Gras quantity	30–50 g per person	50–70 g per person
100 g	2–3 people	1–2 people
200 g	4–6 people	2–4 people
300 g	6–10 people	4–6 people
400 g	8–13 people	5–8 people
500 g	10–16 people	7–10 people
600 g	12–20 people	8–12 people
700 g	14–23 people	10–14 people
800 g	16–26 people	11–16 people

As a Main Course: How Much Per Guest Depending on the Recipe?

This refined dish can be served hot, pan-seared, or used to make a sauce. Quantities vary depending on the preparation.

For pan-seared Foie Gras

Plan for about 130 g of raw Foie Gras per person for duck, and 115 to 120 g for goose.

This difference is mainly due to exudation — generally greater in duck (exudation refers to the fat contained in the lobe separating from the flesh during cooking).

💡 Pan-seared Foie Gras is made from a raw lobe, not from a block or canned product.

For a sauce or hot dish

Allow:

15 to 20 g per person for a shaved garnish;
20 to 30 g per person for a Foie Gras sauce or creamy preparation;
30 to 40 g when Foie Gras is a prominent part of the dish (pasta or risotto with pieces of Foie Gras, a generous salad with Foie Gras cubes, etc.).

Portioning Raw Lobes for a Terrine, Torchon, etc.

When preparing a terrine or Foie Gras au torchon yourself, base your calculations on the raw weight. As mentioned, some of the fat separates from the lobe during cooking and ends up surrounding the edible portion.

For a terrine or torchon, allow about 50 to 60 g of raw Foie Gras per person. This quantity yields about 40 to 50 g after cooking. The loss generally represents 15 to 20% of the pre-cooking weight, depending on the quality of the liver and the preparation method.

This table guides you on the initial quantity to plan based on the number of guests, and therefore the final size of your terrine or torchon preparation (for a starter serving).

Number of guests	Raw weight to plan	Quantity obtained after cooking
2	100–120 g	80–100 g
4	200–250 g	160–200 g
6	300–350 g	240–300 g
8	400–500 g	320–400 g
10	500–600 g	400–500 g
12	600–720 g	480–600 g

The right Foie Gras quantity per person depends on many factors, and we hope this guide has helped you plan your meal. But what matters most is the quality of the products you choose. Even if you end up planning a little too much, or not quite enough, it's not a big deal. It's the organoleptic qualities of the Foie Gras you serve that will truly delight your guests' palates. In Alsace since 1803, Maison Artzner has carried on a French savoir-faire passed down from generation to generation, staying true to what matters most: the generosity of this French terroir and the refinement of dishes that elevate your table.

Frequently Asked Questions About Foie Gras Quantity Per Person

Goose or Duck Foie Gras: should you plan the same quantity?

At equal weight, duck Foie Gras can seem richer and more substantial. Its flavor is more pronounced and its texture more melting. Goose Foie Gras offers a finer tasting experience, with a lighter feel in the mouth. You can slightly reduce the suggested quantities if you plan to serve duck Foie Gras.

How much Foie Gras should you plan per person for Christmas?

At Christmas, there's certainly a desire for generosity on the plate. This festive dish is often served as a starter, in slices, in the purest French tradition. But it usually fits into a sequence of fairly rich courses, so portions should stay measured.

In this case, you could go with:

a 30 to 40 g portion if it accompanies a salad, fruit, or several small preparations;
a 50 to 60 g portion if served with condiments and one to two slices of bread.

What is the general price of Foie Gras per person?

At Édouard Artzner, generally allow €10 to €20 per person for a 50 to 70 g starter portion. The price varies depending on the animal, the quality level, and the recipe. Fresh or truffled goose Foie Gras can command a higher price.

Foie Gras Quantity Per Person: The Practical Guide by Édouard Artzner, French Maison Since 1803