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Teresa Giudice's Christmas as a free woman will be spent the Italian way ... with lots of family and antipasto.

The 'Real Housewives of New Jersey﻿' star will be released from the big house on Dec. 23rd after serving a little under a year for fraud ... and we're told she doesn't want a big coming home party.

Sources tell us Teresa's going straight home once she's out to Joe and the kids.

On Christmas Eve, they'll make the trek over to sister-in-law and fellow 'RHONJ' star Melissa Gorga's house and Christmas Day will be spent with Joe's family. Teresa's hubby will begin his 41 month prison sentence soon ... so it's the last time they'll all be together for Christmas for a while.