• Home
  • About The Arners
    • Contact
    • FAQs
    • Arner Adventures Resources
    • Press
  • Blog
  • Podcast
    • Episodes & Show Notes
  • Wanderlust(ing)
    • Travel
  • Mental Wellness
    • Mindfulness
    • Self-Care
    • Anxiety
    • Grief

Arner Adventures

In Advocacy Holidays Recipe Dupes-Made Meatless ·

The Best Turkey Substitutions This Thanksgiving

best turkey substitutions
Tweet
Share
Share
Pin

Whether you are going meat-free this holiday season or are vegan and looking for the best turkey substitutions, we’ve got you! There are a ton of benefits for doing so, not just for you, but for the turkey! We think we can speak for the turkey when we let out a big, “Whew! Thank you!”

Let’s Get Real About the Benefits of Not Eating Turkey

Before we get into the best substitutions for turkey, we will let you know some of the benefits of not eating turkey for Thanksgiving, that may make you feel better about your decision.

  1. Turkeys are living beings and have personalities and don’t want to die for you to eat them. They form strong bonds with their flock, enjoy playing, and are very curious. Why take that away from them so that you can have a big meal with your family?!
  2. Most turkeys that are purchased in stores come from terrible conditions that you wouldn’t even want to step foot in. Not only are the slaughterhouses inhumane, and crowded, causing high-stress levels for the turkeys (to say the least), they are often mutilated, infected with disease, maybe treated with antibiotics, inhaling ammonia during their short lives, then killed in an inhumane way, and landing on your dinner table so that you can eat all of that trauma. 
  3. Not only are the conditions terrible for the turkeys, but most slaughterhouses are terrible for the workers. When demand is high, production needs to increase. Not only are the animals hurt more in the process, but so are the workers. In 2018, the Guardian and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism compiled data from U.S. meat plant workers and found that “amputations, fractured fingers, second-degree burns, and head trauma” are common injuries workers face every day. Yikes! Can you imagine how bad it gets when demand gets high?
  4. Meat consumption has been linked to increased cancer risks as well as heart disease. Processed meats can carry harmful bacteria like E. coli, Listeria and Salmonella. Hello, how often do we all hear about meat recalls due to these issues?
  5. Delish turkey alternatives exist, and we are going to tell you about the best turkey substitutions. We’ve tried just about all of them, and there is something for just about all pallets, so there really are no excuses when everyone loves all of the sides and fixins anyway. 
The Best Turkey Substitutes This Thanksgiving
A turkey mom and her babies, or poults.

Let’s Get to the Best Turkey Substitutions

Turkey alternatives have come a long way over the past few years. More companies are coming through with their own recipes. Bye-bye are the days of just tofu-bland turkey-dupe recipes. We’re talking about companies that are doing it right where the average meat eater wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. 

In the average grocery store, you will find a few plant-based turkey brands, especially around the holidays. There are a few others that we will introduce you to, that may take some digging, but we’ll share the resources with you, too. We aren’t wasting your time with the bland, we only have the best turkey substitutions!

Tofurky– ahhh, the tried and true standby for non-turkey eaters at Thanksgiving everywhere. You really cannot go wrong with Tofurky and they seem to get better and better every year. Their Holiday Feast is absolutely amazing. It is tasty and comes with wild rice stuffed inside, a side of gravy, and a chocolate cheesecake. We have always found this to be a great alternative. *Found in most grocery stores around the holidays, and Vegan Essentials.  

Gardein– this is for the turkey lover who may want a little more breading. Gardein’s Turk’y Roast is a great option. The plant-based roast has wild rice, kale, and cranberry stuffing inside. It also comes with gravy. You will need your own sides to pair with this one. It is flavorful, though not as much as the Tofurky in our opinion. If you are a Gardein fan though, you will like it. *Found in most grocery stores around the holidays, and Vegan Essentials. 

Field Roast– This one is a great one, though hard to find. Even our resource for Vegan Essentials often has sold out. It is the Field Roast Sage and Garlic Celebration Roast. If you can find it, grab it! Their website has a delicious recipe to pair with it, which we are linking. It is a recipe for the roast, made with cumin and roasted carrots- the perfect meal for Thanksgiving. Some of our local specialty stores have it, and/or can order it if we contact them early enough, so try that if you run into issues. 

The Best Turkey Substitutes This Thanksgiving
No Evil Foods always gets it right.

No Evil Foods– We love No Evil Foods, and not just because they are from our home state of North Carolina, but because their plant-based foods are so damn flavorful, it just seems wrong. The Pardon is their alternative to the turkey. It is made with white miso and dry-rubbed with peppercorns and herbs and will make you feel so much better about not eating the real turkey. This one is super difficult to find. Even the places that sell No Evil Foods do not sell it. We used to purchase it from their website, but now you can only purchase it online via Vejii. 

Honorable Mention– also by Tofurky– for those ham lovers, Gerry loves for us to grab the Plant-Based Ham Roast with Amber Ale Glaze. Cooked slow, it is juicy, flavorful, and has a nice sweet brown sugar taste to the glaze that is absolutely amazing! This is difficult to find, so we usually have to order this early on Vegan Essentials. Order two- one for Thanksgiving, and one for Christmas.

We simply could not leave off the plant-based ham, even though this is about the best turkey substitutions!

Save a Turkey by Considering One of the Best Turkey Substitutions

This year, please consider saving a turkey by not eating one. If you haven’t encountered a turkey, please seek a sanctuary and go spend time with one. We love days like the Day with the Turkeys at Piedmont Farm Animal Refuge in Pittsboro, NC, where you can learn more about the animals, and get to know the turkeys by name. 

Turkey production is cruel, dangerous for the workers, and harmful to our health. Americans can still have a delicious Thanksgiving feast without eating turkeys. This year, we encourage you to go meatless and try one of the plant-based options. Lastly, if you want a real chuckle, check out this Ode to Turkeys and Not Eating Them from a few years back. 🙂

Related posts:

Valentine’s Day: From Depraved Origins to Self-Love and Fancy Drinks
Our Fave Meat Dupes: Meatless Substitute Products
Creating a Hygge Environment in Your Minimalist Home This Holiday Season
Tweet
Share
Share
Pin

Leave a Comment

About arneradventures

Hi, we are Shannon and Gerry Arner, and our rescue, fur baby, Betty White. After owning our own business, working 24/7, we made a lifestyle change and decided to make the most out of life. We sold our house, downsized, and moved to the coast. We are wanderlusters; we live life minimally, but fully. We live each day as an adventure, and enjoy sharing them with you!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • TikTok
  • YouTube
Arner Adventures Free Travel Prep List

Looking for something?

Arner Adventures Declutter Challenge

Arner Adventures

We make very attempt to keep our cleaning eco-frie We make very attempt to keep our cleaning eco-friendly. #AD While we make a lot of our cleaning products, we also love the convenience of having a product that we align with. That is @pathosans
🌎
We've been using two of their product - (1) PathoPure Cleaner and (2) PathoNex Disinfectant. 
🌎

🤎PathoPure thoroughly cleans countertops floors, etc. It's easy to grab and clean up a mess in a pinch. 
🤎 PathoNex is what we use in the bathroom, or any other area where we need to concentrate on sanitizing and disinfecting. This is a hospital broad-spectrum disinfectant, kills 99.9% of bacteria including the virus that causes covid-19.

Both are super easy to use, but best of all, they are safe for us and for Betty White 🐾 

Other benefits - 
☑️Fragrance-free 
☑️ No dilution, mixing, or rinsing
☑️ No gloves required 
☑️Drain & disposal friendly 

Use code: arnerPSD20 to save 20% on your purchase. link is in the stories or visit pathosanadirect.com 

#pathossanspartner #cleanwithpathosans
Whatcha got at the bar, Ger?! 🏈 It's #dryjanuar Whatcha got at the bar, Ger?!
🏈
It's #dryjanuary for some, but that shouldn't stop you from having a delish drink with friends or while watching football.
🏈
Ger is showing you his easy mocktail using @liquidiv cucumber mojito #hydrationmultiplier This is "The Playoff Mocktail".
🏈
BTW-this is a yummy drink if you're the DD, or if you're hosting a get-together, have these available for the DDs in the room. They deserve a tasty bev for being the true heroes on game day!
💦 💵 
Save some cash (20% off) Use code-ARNERADVENTURES when purchasing your #LiquidIV Link in bio 👆 

#whosgonnadriveyouhome #thecars #LIVfam #dryjan #LiquidIV #liv #hydration #mocktails #gameday
"If you know what you want to be, then you inevita "If you know what you want to be, then you inevitably become it - that is your punishment, but if you never know, then you can be anything. We are not nouns, we are verbs. You can be imprisoned if you think of yourself as a noun." - Oscar Wilde

Be a verb.

#oscarwilde #oscarwildequotes #itsthatsimple #beaverb #wearenotnouns
It's #podcasttuesday and our #sparkinourlives  It's #podcasttuesday and our #sparkinourlives guest today is @shaunanuckles founder of @advocationsystem
🎙️
Shauna Nuckles is a public relations industry leader and founder. Shauna spent her career rising through the PR agency ranks. She was determined to move to the top of an industry she loved and put in the hours and dedication to do so. At the point where it looked like she’d “made it,” the toll that job-related stress took on her health told a different story. Her doctor told her that she had 6 months to keep working like she was now or her body would force her to stop.
🎙️
Through this process, she realized she wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelming stress and heard stories from others who shared their anxiety, stressed-induced hospital visits, and panic attacks. 
🎙️
Her mission suddenly became clear. In 2019 she founded Advocation, which is now paving the way for industry change by working with PR agencies to reduce stress without sacrificing results.
🎙️
We chat with Shauna about:
☑ Rising through the public relations ranks, and her passion for the industry.
☑ Experiencing burnout, and how she pivoted after her health crisis.
☑ Starting Advocation and what led her down the path as a founder.
☑ Compassion fatigue and how she maneuvers through it.
☑ The Advocation model and what is in store for the future. 
☑ Shauna answers our “Fast Five” questions and the most important question, “What does a life well lived mean to you?” Swipe left to hear her answer! 👈🏻
🎙️
For anyone who is still in the hustle culture mentality (we've been there, so we get it 🖐🏻) this is a MUST listen! Tons of helpful and inspiring nuggets in this convo!
Follow on Instagram

© 2023 ARNER ADVENTURES LLC | Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Affiliate Disclosure | Consulting

 

Loading Comments...