How much meat per person?

kazd

Just curious, I have just returned from Costco with a load of meat. I normally buy my chicken breasts there, I don't think they are much cheaper (never really compared) but I buy them for convenience as we go through quite a lot. I usually buy 2/3 trays of them a month. These I wrap individually in cling film.

I also buy lamb neck fillets and I usually split the pack in two and the same with stewing steak.

Question is when portioning out meat to wrap and freeze how much would you allocate per person. In my house 2 adults and 3 children 17 (B) 15 (G) 12 (B).

the-mango

It honesty depends on wht you're making. You can be vry thrifty with stews and other saucy things by pdding out with lentsil and bulky veg wheres if you're mking stuffed chicken breasts it's normlly 1 per person. Sorry, not very helpful!

dlusman

I would normally cook the lot ( or as much as I can fit in the pan/oven ) and freeze the leftovers

Alton_Towers

I find that I can usually stretch out 3 of the costco chicken breasts, sometimes 2 if they are large for 2 adults and 2 kids. I usually allow around 400g of meat between us depending on what it is and how much I can pad it out.

I have also started using turkey steaks instead of chicken as its alot cheaper and the kids cant tell the difference!

kazd

Sorry not making myself clear, I am wondering whether I am over generous with the amount of meat I would allocate per person, especially in the case of a casserole which is bulked out with vegetables and usually served with Potatoes, Broccoli and dumplings.

I would normally reserve about 100g per person but invariably end up leaving the table stuffed.

PasturesNew

You can look at supermarket ready meals for clues. It does depend what you're serving stuff with though. e.g. one chicken breast, with a sauce and green beans needs a breast each. Slice it up and serve it as a curry, with other stuff in the sauce and lashings of rice and one breast can do 2-3 people.

I'd say 100-125g/person is a portion.

redfox

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere (please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com"]forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

PipneyJane

With raw meat, I normally allow 100g/person for chicken breasts that I'm going to cube/slice or 125g cubed beef (my butcher parcels stewing steak up for me in half kilo lots). On the bone meat depends on the ratio of meat to bone - I don't have a rule of thumb for that. For mince, I'll use 250g to feed 4-6 people, padding it out with grated veggies, lentils, etc.

Anything that is served whole (steak, chops, fish fillet) goes into the "it depends" category. You need to know the capacity of your diners. For example, I'll give my husband a huge steak but only allocate one half it's size for me. (I swear the man has hollow legs.) We might only eat steak once every 3 months.

mummygems

I buy the costco chicken breast and me and DH have one each regardless of what its in (curry, casserole etc). If the kids are eating the same thing then its usually an additional 2 breasts between the 3 of them (DD1 eats more than DD2 or DS).

If its mince beef I usually allow 85g per adult and 100g between the kids (again the portion sizes depend on what we are making but DD1 gets more then DD2 then DS).

It does depend on the chicken breast as well as sometimes there is so much gristle/yucky bits that by the time Ive cut it all off there isnt as much meat.

DH and me do have large portions and any leftovers go towards lunch the next day.

kazd

Looks like I am portioning the same sort of size out then. I just think sometimes are meals are quite large and if for example I do something like cajun chicken pasta then we usually have two helpings.

Like you if it is grilled chicken breast then it is one each but if I am making a stir fry or curry then I would probably do three chicken breast between four people.

arbroath_lass

There's quite a straightforward guide from BUPA here:

http://www.bupa.co.uk/individuals/health-information/directory/p/hi-portion-size

Is this kind of thing what you are after?