How much turkey do you think you eat for Christmas Dinner? If you’re hosting, knowing how big a bird to cook can be stressful. Chef Mark “Gooch” Noguchi says the most important thing to keep in mind when buying a turkey is how much it will shrink, as you “lose twenty to thirty percent” of the weight during the cooking process. Noguchi says the easy way to shop is to buy one pound of raw turkey for every person you plan to feed, which will equate to about five to six ounces of cooked meat per person. To maximize leftovers, he suggests bumping up the poundage per person to one-and-a-half to two pounds per person.

Pro-Tip:  for easy distribution of leftovers, have disposable or festive containers on hand.  Ideally, you can gift these along with the leftovers so you don’t need to worry about arranging for your guests to return them.
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