Here's How Much Ham To Serve Per Person At Your Easter Dinner This Year

The most common ham cooking mistake involves a heating error; the most common ham serving mistake is not accurately accounting for how much meat to buy for your Easter dinner. Choose too petite a porky centerpiece, and your guests go hungry — horror of horrors! Err on the side of too much, however, and even fried rice, the best use for leftover holiday ham, is going to get old really quickly. Luckily, picking the perfect-sized ham from the grocery store or butcher isn't a matter of guesswork. There's actually a science to it.

First of all, does your ham have a bone in it or not? If your ham is bone-in, you can safely estimate that you will need ½ a pound per person, say the pros. On the other hand, if you bought a gorgeous boneless ham, you only need to assume ⅓ a pound per dinner guest. If you want the ideal amount of leftovers, you can up that to a full pound per person with a bone-in ham, or ¾ a pound for boneless. These higher amounts will ensure that there's plenty of succulent, savory ham left over for thick sandwiches in the days after the chocolate bunnies and Peeps are scarfed up. No waste, no shortages ... just a common-sense formula to follow when you are stressed out at the supermarket looking through those wrapped hams.

If you're hosting Easter dinner, you've doubtlessly second-guessed yourself on not just what to serve, but how much of it to prepare. The ham, being the star of the show, is the most important dish to consider, but we've been over that. How about everything else on the table? Luckily, the experts have thought of that, too. A good general rule to bank on is one pound of food per person, all inclusive.

More specifically, the Farmer's Almanac assembled a long list of foods for serving at parties, and broke down per-person quantities. Now we know that you should bank on ⅓ a cup of gravy per person, and ¾ of a cup of stuffing. An average person will consume ½ a cup of cranberry sauce, and ⅓ of a cup of mashed potatoes. Assume that one pie will feed about six people. If you are serving appetizers, you can assume that each person will consume the equivalent of five or six bites. Thirsty? Account for two cocktails per person, per hour, and one gallon of punch (or its equivalent) per 10 people. 

Of course, all this should be taken with a grain of salt, as you know your guests best. If Grandma is a fiend for sweet potato casserole, you might want to prepare some extra, and if Uncle Ned swills lemonade like it's going out of style, you'd better prepare an extra pitcher. A little common sense mixed with your hard calculations will go a long way towards a memorable and plentiful Easter dinner. Now, all you need to know are the best wines to pair with ham!