John Gill Commentary Matthew 15:38

"And they that did eat were four thousand men, besides women and children." — Matthew 15:38 (ASV)

And they that did eat, were four thousand men
This number of men, as well as of the baskets of fragments, clearly shows this to be a distinct miracle from the former of this kind, recorded in (Matthew 14:15–21) . There the number of men were five thousand, here four thousand; there the quantity of food was five loaves and two fishes, here seven loaves and a few fishes; there the number of the baskets of fragments was twelve, here seven; though the quantity might be as large; since the word here used for a basket is not the same as there, and designs one of a larger size:

besides women and children ;
who were not taken into the account, though they ate as well as the men, and whose number might be very large.