Goose substitute

Best substitute

Two or three whole ducks

2 ducks (about 5 lb each) for a 10 lb goose; 3 for 8 people

Best for Christmas and holiday roasts

Close match

The nearest thing to goose in flavour, fat and cooking method, and the only substitute that also gives you the rendered fat.

Other goose substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Whole turkey, 12 to 14 lb, plus duck fat or goose fat
Taste and texture differ
1 turkey for 1 goose, plus 3 to 4 tbsp duck or goose fat
The practical choice when you need to feed a crowd on a budget, provided you accept that the dish changes.
What changes
Best for
Christmas dinner for 8 or more, holiday roasts, carving at the table, leftovers and sandwiches, stock from the carcass
Cheap, available and the wrong texture, so it needs help. Turkey breast is lean and pale where goose is fatty and dark, so the same oven treatment gives you something drier and much milder. Salt the bird all over the day before, or brine it, and leave it uncovered in the fridge. Rub duck fat or goose fat over the skin and work some under the breast skin too, roast breast down for the first hour, and pull it at 160F in the breast and 175F in the thigh. It will feed ten where the goose fed six to eight, which is often the actual reason for the swap. Keep the goose recipe's accompaniments, since apple, prune, red cabbage and orange all suit turkey.
3Duck legs or turkey thighs, for goose leg and braised goose recipes
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
The right swap when the recipe cooks legs rather than roasting a whole bird.
What changes
Best for
braised goose legs, confit, goose ragu and pasta sauces, casseroles and pies, German and Central European leg dishes
Duck legs are effectively goose legs at two-thirds the size, so use them 1:1 by weight with no other changes; a goose leg is a big thing, roughly equivalent to two duck legs. Turkey thighs are leaner and milder but dense enough to survive the same hour and a half to two hours of gentle cooking, so add three tablespoons of duck fat or goose fat to make up the difference. Chicken thighs will work but cut the cooking to thirty-five to forty-five minutes, since they turn to shreds if you follow goose timings.
4Capon or a very large roasting chicken
Taste and texture differ
1 capon (8 to 10 lb), or 2 large chickens, for 1 goose
The gentlest substitution, giving a fattier and more forgiving roast than turkey without going as far as duck.
What changes
Best for
holiday roasts, feeding 6 to 8 people, stuffed roast birds, recipes with chestnut or fruit stuffing
A capon is a slowly raised castrated cockerel of eight to ten pounds with much more fat than a normal chicken, which makes it the most forgiving big roast available and a sensible festive centrepiece. Compared with goose it is pale, mild and far less rich, so it does not read as a special-occasion bird in the same way, but it carves beautifully and everyone will eat it. Two large chickens roasted side by side do the same job and are easier to find. Rub the skin with duck fat or goose fat, and keep the rich accompaniments to compensate.
5Duck breasts, for a smaller version of the dish
Different texture
Use 1 duck breast for every person
The route for two or four people who wanted the flavour of goose without a whole bird and its fat.
What changes
Best for
small holiday dinners, plated dishes with cherry, orange or plum sauce, quick festive meals, recipes with red cabbage and potatoes
Delivers the rich dark waterfowl flavour in the easiest possible format and in twenty minutes rather than three hours. What it cannot do is give you a whole roast bird on the table, and it renders only a few tablespoons of fat rather than a jar. Score the skin in a diamond pattern, start the breasts skin down in a cold dry pan over medium heat for eight to ten minutes as the fat renders, then flip for three or four minutes and rest to a final 135F. Save the rendered fat for the potatoes.
6Turkey legs and thighs only, the honest workaround for dark meat
Different taste
About 4 lb turkey legs and thighs for a 10 lb goose
Buying only the dark parts of a turkey, which is the cheapest way to approximate goose's all-dark-meat character.
What changes
Best for
braised goose dishes, casseroles and pies, shredded meat for dumplings and noodles, budget holiday dinners
Goose has no white meat at all, and that is a real part of how it eats, so buying turkey dark meat rather than a whole turkey gets you closer for less money. The meat is denser, darker and more savoury than breast and it tolerates long cooking well. It is still much leaner than goose, so cook it in liquid or add three or four tablespoons of duck or goose fat, and it still tastes clearly of turkey. This is a good practical answer for a braise and a poor one for a centrepiece roast, since turkey legs are not attractive on a platter.

What is Goose?

Goose is A goose is a large all-dark-meated bird of ten to twelve pounds with an enormous layer of fat under the skin, traditionally roasted at Christmas in Britain, Germany and Central Europe, and it yields far less meat for its weight than a turkey does.

Cooking tips

Goose does two jobs that no substitute does at once: it provides dark, rich, faintly mineral meat, and it renders an enormous quantity of fat, often two to three cups from one bird. Work out which one your recipe actually depends on. If it is the fat, for roast potatoes or confit, buy duck and buy a jar of goose fat as well. If it is the meat and the size of the table, turkey is the sensible answer.
Yield is the number that catches people out. A 10 to 12 lb goose feeds only six to eight people, because so much of the weight is frame and fat, where a 12 lb turkey feeds ten to twelve. Never substitute pound for pound in the other direction either: three ducks, not two, if you are cooking for eight.
The roasting method has to change with the bird. Goose and duck want the skin pricked or scored all over, a rack so they sit out of their own fat, and the fat poured off two or three times during cooking, and they do not need basting because they are basting themselves. Turkey, capon and chicken need the opposite: fat added, breast covered or roasted downward, and the temperature watched closely so the breast does not dry.
Prick, do not cut. Jab the skin of a goose or duck all over with a skewer or the tip of a sharp knife at an angle so you pierce the fat layer but not the meat. That gives the fat a route out, which is what produces crisp skin instead of a soft rubbery layer. Pour the collected fat into a jar through a sieve and keep it in the fridge for months.
Whichever bird you roast, cook to temperature rather than to the recipe's clock: 160F in the thickest part of the breast and 175F in the thigh, then rest for twenty to thirty minutes for a large bird. A 10 lb goose takes roughly two and a half to three hours, two ducks about an hour and a half, and a 12 lb turkey around three hours.

Frequently asked questions

What can I use instead of a goose for Christmas dinner?

Two or three ducks are the closest substitute, since duck is the same kind of rich dark fatty bird and is roasted identically, and it also gives you the rendered fat. If you need to feed more than eight people, use a twelve to fourteen pound turkey instead, but salt or brine it a day ahead, rub duck fat or goose fat on the skin, roast it breast down for the first hour and take it out at 160F in the breast, because turkey is lean where goose is not.

How many people does a goose feed?

A ten to twelve pound goose feeds only about six to eight people, which surprises anyone used to turkey. So much of the weight is bone and fat that the edible meat is roughly a third of the raw weight. A turkey of the same weight feeds ten to twelve. Plan by the number of guests rather than by the weight on the label, and allow about one and a half pounds of raw goose per person.

Is duck a good substitute for goose?

The best one there is. Both are all dark meat, both carry a thick fat layer, both are roasted with the skin pricked and the fat poured off, and both suit the same accompaniments of apple, prune, orange and red cabbage. Duck is milder and slightly sweeter, while goose has a deeper, more mineral richness. Two five pound ducks roughly replace one ten pound goose, roasting in about an hour and a half rather than two and a half to three hours.

Can I use turkey instead of goose?

Yes, and most people who make the swap are doing it for cost or availability, but it is a real change rather than a like-for-like. Goose is fatty and all dark meat; turkey is lean with a big pale breast. Compensate by salting the bird a day ahead, rubbing duck fat or goose fat into the skin and under the breast skin, roasting breast down for the first hour, and pulling it at 160F in the breast. Keep the goose recipe's rich fruit and cabbage accompaniments, which do a lot of the work.

Where do I get goose fat if I am not cooking a goose?

Jars and tins of goose fat and duck fat are sold in most supermarkets around the holidays and by many butchers year round, and they keep for months in the fridge. Buying a jar is the easy fix when the reason you wanted a goose was really the roast potatoes. If you cannot find either, roasting two ducks will give you a couple of cups of your own, and beef dripping or clarified butter is the next best thing for potatoes.

Related substitutes

More meat & protein substitutes

Goose substitute

Other goose substitutes

2Whole turkey, 12 to 14 lb, plus duck fat or goose fat

3Duck legs or turkey thighs, for goose leg and braised goose recipes

4Capon or a very large roasting chicken

5Duck breasts, for a smaller version of the dish

6Turkey legs and thighs only, the honest workaround for dark meat