Christmas dinner for 15

[Knockon]

Hello knowing Christmas mumsnetters

I have invited 11 other people to Xmas this year, which is approximately 8 more people than I have ever made Xmas dinner for - so quite the step up.

The numbers are 11 adults 4 children (8, 6, 3 and 3). We are staying across 3 different houses so don't need to worry about breakfast luckily!

I plan on serving christmas dinner as a one meal roast, with dessert and cheese to follow once the first dishwasher load has gone through !

If I intend to have the following food on my dinnerplate, could any one help me guesstimate how much I would need to buy/prepare for this number (and ideally, also to ensure there are some leftovers on boxing day for an easy bubble and squeak and cold meats lunch before my guests depart.

Turkey
Glazed slow cooked Ham
Chicken
Roast potatoes
cauliflower cheese
carrot and swede mash
roast carrots
roast parsnips
broccoli
peas
stuffing (sage and onion)
stuffing (chestnut - de-skinned butter beans, butter and pureed chestnuts)
stuffing (onion pudding - its made with chopped onions and suet, with milk to bind)
pigs in blankets
chipolata sausages

I think that is probably the sum total of all the food expected!

Does anyone know how to work out quantities?!

How many ovens do you have?
Why chicken and turkey? Probably easier to do just one of these?

I would get 2 or 3 of each of the meats (assuming the adults and oldest children may have at least one piece, possibly two of each), potatoes I would go with around 1per person with a few extra thrown in. Since you’re doing three types of stuffing I would only do one big pot of each. Same with the veg. Pigs in blankets and chipolatas I’d go with around 4 per person.

Im known to “cook for a village” but I always air on the side of caution; much better to have too much than not enough.

Sorry. Another question. Why 3 stuffing? Is one a veggie option so you need more than one stuffing.
Keeping it simple really helps.

@Knockon do you have room for me? Your menu looks delicious.

turkey and chicken because some guests prefer chicken to turkey. The stuffings are a family thing - I love chestnut stuffing and onion pudding, they are a family xmas staple that I cannot not have (nor my mum dad or sister ha).

i’m hoping its a cold week in December so I can use the garage as a mini fridge to store half the veggies !!

dont get me started on the cooking timeline.. I think I’ll need to start next month

How far away are the other houses?

How big is your oven? When I do roast for a crowd the biggest issue is fitting the meat and potatoes and that's for a normal meal without the Christmas sides.

I would calculate 700g of raw meat per person, that account for bone weight and leftovers.
4 pigs in blankets per person and 2 chipolatas.
3 cauliflower heads
1.5 kg carrots 1.5 kg swede for mash
3kg carrots 3 kg parsnips for roasting
4 heads of broccoli
1 kg of peas
300g of potatoes per person.
Stuffing I would aim for 1.5 kg each, but will depend on if everyone eats all of them.
Be advised I definitely overfeed people!
Try to precook as much as possible or you might struggle on the day

For the main meats: 4kg ham, 5kg turkey, large chicken. I’d cook the ham 1/2 days before, brine the turkey to cut down the cooking time.

I love chipolatas so would normally buy a few kilos - half for pigs in blankets, the other to make in a sticky soy sauce!

Seriously I would simplify. That's a good number of people to cook for - when we have been that many we have gone for simple.

Turkey. At least 6kg
Glazed slow cooked Ham
Chicken - no, there's already two meats to choose from
Roast potatoes. At least 4 each
cauliflower cheese 2 heads of cauli
carrot and swede mash 15 carrots and a big swede
roast carrots no, there's already carrots
roast parsnips x 6
broccoli x 2
peas 1kg
stuffing (sage and onion)
stuffing (chestnut - de-skinned butter beans, butter and pureed chestnuts) no, too much faff and there's already two stuffings
stuffing (onion pudding - its made with chopped onions and suet, with milk to bind)
pigs in blankets x30
chipolatas no, there's already pigs in blankets

The most I've done is 12 - but the thing I've learnt is that with a massive menu like that (mine is also very extensive!) people just don't have room on their plate or in their stomach for more than a spoonful of each side so I think some of these quantities are way way too much!

You'll be eating swede and carrot mash until Easter!

Roast the turkey and chicken. Take it out and let it rest under foil and cleab teatiwels.
Get the oven git and then roast potatoes.

Unless you have more than one oven as then you'll be fine.

Hot oven
Clean tea towels

Agree with @FusionChefGeoff I did Christmas lunch for 17 once, with so many veg people only eat a little. With things like peas/broccoli or other plain veg, a steamer is your friend to free up the hob. Prep as much as possible in advance, cauliflower cheese the day before and just finish off, the mash and reheat in microwave on the day etc

Could you stick the chicken inside the turkey like as in a 5-bird roast (but only 2 birds) - that would save on oven space.

With thar many eating and wanting leftovers I would be basing quantities on "what is the maximum I can feasibly fit in my oven?" rather than worrying about portion sizes

How about a rolled turkey breast joint? I get one from my local butcher. Usually a 4-5kg joint for 13 people with a little for leftovers. I much prefer that to a whole bird as there's less waste, no carcass to get rid of and it takes up less space in the fridge!
Many of your dishes can be prepped/half cooked the day before and kept in a cold garage - stuffings, potatoes etc
The turkey can be cooked first thing then left resting under a thick towel.

I am also an over caterer and I love leftovers but I agree with a previous poster who said people don't have tummy or plate space for more than a spoonful of the sides.

Forget the chicken, if you insist on the onion pudding stuffing forget the sage and onion. Cauliflower cheese not a traditional Christmas dinner staple, if you are having roast carrot and parsnips no need for carrot and sweed mash. If pigs in blankets no chipolatas .

But you have missed two vital accompaniments: bread sauce and cranberry sauce. Buy your cranberries early before they run out and keep in the freezer.

I also think your menu is too full! You really need to simplify it to ensure you also enjoy the day.
Why pigs in blankets and chipolatas?
For those who do not like Turkey, isn’t the gammon ham an alternative instead of chicken? There’s a lots of faff in carving a whole Turkey and Chicken, as a pp suggested how about a rolled joint or a couple of Turkey crowns?
As for the veg, I would omit the carrot and swede mash. it’s a lots of work to prepare and mash and you have roasted carrots and parsnips which can be done in one pan.

As a tip, when the meat is resting, use a big towel rather than a few tea towels.

Cook the pigs in blankets the day before, on the day pile them into a foil lined slow cooker set on warm for a couple of hours.

Wash up as you go and put the dishwasher on while you are eating ready to be emptied and reloaded.

Prep as much as you can the day before (or the weeks before and freeze) and delegate jobs to others as hosting is a lot of work and honestly most people want to help.

I eyeball my measurements rather than weigh them so I don’t know if this will be useful to you but I’ll explain how I gauge it.

Generally I count children for a half plate, teens and women as one, teen boys as two, and adult men as one and a half. Then I apply local knowledge (df was a 2.5, gm was a 0.75) factor in the late night sandwiches, and left overs (I like to send my guests home with their lunch for the next day), and then work out a total.

By “plate”, I’m expecting a third of a big dinner plate will consist of meat, a third veg, and a third potatoes.

Since you have one potato dish, that could be 4- 5 roasties (depending on the size you cut the potatoes of course) per plate. With 6 veg dishes you can reduce the overall amount but I’d divide by 4 rather than 6 and if there’s a traditionally popular veg do a bit more of that one.

In my house the toasted stuffing sandwiches are a bigger deal than Christmas lunch, so I’m not batting an eye at your three varieties. I factor 2-3 generous spoonfuls per plate.

If there is a sweet element, eg if cranberry sauce is sweet rather than tart factor in x2 or even x3 for children. Sausages are likely to be popular with younger ones too but you can balance that against the other meats.

Will you plate up or serve it buffet style? If you plate up, you can be more exact but as long as you don’t have teenagers, adults can generally be relied on to moderate their helpings according to what’s available.

Would you consider dropping the turkey and doing extra chicken instead? I’m really no use for meat measurements, I just find the biggest turkey I can fit in my oven and the biggest ham for my pot.

This has been super helpful! You're all probably right reference the 3x meats; I will look at a rolled turkey and then the ham. Vegetable wise it's actually me who loves all the veg - I could eat a plate of them without the meat sometimes haha!

Whoever asked about oven size - well if you have any awareness of military quarters, then its a military oven which is single oven with a grill/oven on top. I have a dual ninja, and a single door airfryer, a slow cooker, a steamer and a microwave....

The other house is 25 minutes away...I could get the stuffings cooked there and then they would only need warming at mine..!

I think I might have to buy some new teatowels ...

So menu now:

Turkey (rolled)
Slow cooked ham
Roast Potatos
Cauliflower cheese
carrot and swede mash
Parsnips
peas
chestnut stuffing
onion pudding
sage and onion (all three cooked at a different house, brought to mine to be warmed prior to serving in the airfryer probably!)
pigs in blankets

As an aside, does anyone know a good roast parsnip recipe to help make them taste a bit more.. moist? I cooked a very small roast today and reminded myself that I have yet to find a way to cook them so that they don't have a drier texture than say roast carrots... pubs seem to know how to do it but I have not experimented enough... is it just beyond comprehensible amounts of butter?

Treat the parnips like roasties (less fat though)
Parboiled them until a knife can pierce them easily. This can be done the day before.
Put them in a baking tray with butter/olive oil honey, thyme and salt. Bake until nicely coloured.

Looking good now @Knockon

Do you really want casually cheese at Christmas? I love it with a roast but it's a faff, and not seasonal. Red cabbage now . . .

Sprouts?

Cranberry sauce?

Yorkshire puds?

More roast potatoes than you think.

Also more pigs in blankets than you think.

Don't forget gravy!

Are any of the DC yours? Do you want to spend most of Xmas in the kitchen?