12 Delicious Alternatives to Turkey for Your Thanksgiving Feast

A capon is a kind of super-bird, typically larger than a roasting chicken and sometimes almost twice its size, with particularly delicious meat. Capon is a traditional centerpiece for Christmas feasts in Italy and France today, but would make a perfect Thanksgiving main dish here.

Cooking for two or four and still want something festive? Duck is a good choice. There’s not as much meat on a duck, even proportionately, as there is on a turkey or plump chicken, but it’s red meat, with plenty of fat, and quite rich. Even a smaller duck can feed four if there are enough side dishes — and it would be more than enough for two. (If you have more guests coming, roast two or three ducks.)

“Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat,” goes a 19th-century English Christmas carol, and in many households in Europe and at least some in America, this bird has long been considered prime Yuletide fare. Its association with the later holiday aside, goose makes a good, if slightly offbeat, choice for the Thanksgiving table, too, because it’s big and rich and looks good roasted.

A poussin is a small, young chicken, three to four weeks old. Less fatty than a full-grown chicken, it has mild, tender meat. One bird will feed one diner, so it’s a good choice for anyone who will be spending the holiday alone and who wants to put something festive on the table. For Thanksgiving dinners for two or more, roast as many poussins as you need, and think of all the big-bird carving that will be avoided.

A roaster, or roasting chicken, is ideal — as its name indicates — for roasting. It’s smaller than a capon (and considerably cheaper, even pound for pound), but larger than the typical broiler or fryer, and looks nice as the centerpiece of a festive table. Roasters have more fat than smaller chickens, which helps keep them moist as they cook, and they usually have a bit more flavor.

A boneless ribeye roast is an impressive-looking and immensely satisfying choice for the Thanksgiving meal. How many people you can feed with this hefty cut of meat depends on how thick you slice it (it’s much easier to “carve” than any bird, of course). Most sources recommend allowing half to three-quarters of a pound of meat per person, though some guests might tackle a pound or more.

This particularly festive-looking arrangement of meat is made by tying two or three racks of lamb — i.e., lamb chops still joined together — into a round shape with the bones protruding upwards so that the whole resembles a crown. (A typical lamb rack consists six to eight chops.) Ask your butcher to French the racks (removing meat and fat from the bone ends that will stick up) and to tie the racks together. The interior cavity of the “crown” calls for stuffing, though some cooks recommend adding it after the meat has been roasted. A crown roast looks beautiful in the middle of the table, and it’s very easy to carve (removing the string first).

Ham is the traditional main course for Easter dinner but has also been showing up on Thanksgiving tables for a long time, especially in the South. A smoked, bone-in ham, glazed with something sweet — brown sugar, maple syrup, orange marmalade, pineapple sauce, etc. — and baked to a golden-brown is as imposing as a roast turkey. In fact, if you’re hosting a huge group, consider serving both turkey and ham in the interests of variety and abundance.

A Frenched venison rack, typically containing eight chops, is a handsome cut for the holiday table. Most of the venison sold in America today is farm-raised in New Zealand and, while rich in flavor, not as gamy as the wild-shot version.

A whole roasted salmon, whether wild from the Pacific or farmed from the Atlantic (the latter tend to be larger) makes an unusual but impressive main dish for Thanksgiving — and while you probably won’t want cranberry sauce with it, most other traditional sides (mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts, green bean casserole, etc.) match it well.

A good-sized whole fish — for instance, black sea bass or haddock — can be filled with a traditional Thanksgiving stuffing (just seasoned bread cubes; cornbread and bacon; oyster; etc.) and roasted. Unless they’re accomplished gourmets, some of your guests might be put off by a fish with the head and tail, though that makes for a more dramatic presentation.

If you keep a vegetarian household or want to serve something special to the vegetarians at your Thanksgiving meal — or if you just want to add a flavorful vegetable option to the usual side dishes — a good option would be a savory pie with a vegetable-shortening crust, filled with winter squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, or other seasonal vegetables, alone or in combination.