What’s the Right Amount of Meat to Serve per Person?

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Planning a full dinner party tin sometimes consciousness for illustration a elephantine logic puzzle: If we service this dessert, past we’ll do that appetizer. And, if a definite personification comes, past we won’t service those types of foods, and connected and on! Deciding how overmuch nutrient to bargain per person is each portion of nan game.

How do you fig it out? The champion measurement to attack this is to study nan emblematic information size (per person) for nan nutrient you scheme to serve. Then, scheme nan remainder of your paper and set accordingly. Whether you’re cooking for 4 group aliases 40 people, there’s an easy measurement to lick this mathematics puzzle.

A batch of different factors tin spell into meat-buying puzzle, but it helps to commencement pinch a wide thought of what a emblematic information size is for a fixed type of meat.

Now you tin multiply nan serving size by number of servings. For example, if you’re serving 6 group steak, you tin scheme connected buying 4.5 pounds (or 72 ounces).

Now you person a wide thought of really overmuch nutrient you’ll need. But what other are you readying to serve? If this is simply a elemental salad-main-dessert type menu, you’re astir apt bully to go. If this repast is going to person appetizers and aggregate sides, though, you’ll want to standard backmost nan nutrient successful proportion.

That’s why it’s adjuvant to scheme your full paper earlier you bargain your meat. Work backwards by looking astatine what other you want to serve, really nan nutrient is going to beryllium used, and what benignant of appetites you deliberation your guests will have. Will immoderate of nan guests beryllium children? Are immoderate vegetarian aliases vegan?

Is nan Meat nan Main aliases a Component?

Now that nan paper is planned, what domiciled does nutrient play successful nan meal? Is it nan main portion of nan repast to beryllium served on pinch sides and a salad, aliases is it portion of a broader dish, for illustration a ragout aliases curry?

Knowing nan reply to this is important successful determining conscionable nan correct magnitude of nutrient to acquisition and prepare.

When cooking thing for illustration steak, turkey aliases pork, wherever meat is nan main crockery of nan repast and paired pinch a fewer side dishes, we urge about 1/2 lb (eight ounces) per person, aliases up to 3/4 (12 ounces) lb for bigger appetites and those who emotion leftovers.

In different words, if you’re cooking for 10 people, you’ll want astatine slightest 5 pounds of nutrient total. For 20 people, scheme to acquisition 10 aliases much pounds of meat.

When Meat Is a Component of a Dish

If nan meat is portion of a bigger dish, for illustration pasta aliases curry, scheme for 1/4 to 1/3 lb (four to six ounces) per person. That intends you’ll want astatine slightest 2 1/2 pounds of nutrient if you’re readying to person 10 group complete to dinner, and 5 aliases much pounds of nutrient if you’re cooking for 20 guests.

There’s usually a small much wiggle room successful position of number of servings pinch a ample roast than location is pinch individually cut steaks aliases chicken breasts. If you’re really unsure astir really overmuch group will eat, enactment distant from dishes pinch those individual cuts and spell for a look that gives much leeway for portioning.