Smoked turkey substitutes

The smoked joint from a pork leg, full of skin, bone and collagen.

Best for

collard greens, black-eyed peas, pinto and lima beans, split pea soup, pot likker

The traditional original and a direct swap. It brings the same smoke, salt and gelatin, plus considerably more fat, so the pot likker comes out richer and glossier than a turkey version and the greens taste rounder and less lean. Simmer it for at least an hour, then pull the meat off the bone and return it. If you are avoiding pork, this is the one option on the list that does not work.

Cured smoked pork belly, or unsmoked salt pork, cut into lardons.

Best for

greens, green beans, beans, cabbage, quick weeknight pots

The fastest fix and almost everyone has it. Use about half the weight of the turkey called for, because bacon is far saltier and fattier per ounce. Render it first so you cook the onions in the fat. The result is smokier and distinctly sweeter than smoked turkey, and it contributes no collagen, so the broth stays thinner. Salt pork brings the salt and fat but no smoke, so add smoked paprika alongside it.

Diced smoked ham, or the meaty end of a ham shank.

Best for

beans, greens, soups, cabbage, rice and peas

Straightforward and widely available. Diced ham gives you smoke, salt and pieces of meat to eat, which is most of what smoked turkey was doing. It is sweeter and milder than smoked turkey and has less connective tissue, so the liquid is less silky. A shank piece with the bone in solves that, since the bone contributes the body that plain diced ham cannot.

Fully cooked smoked pork sausage, sliced into coins or diced.

Best for

red beans, greens, black-eyed peas, cabbage, one-pot rice

Convincing on smoke and salt and it adds real richness, so use a little less. Sausage carries its own seasoning, usually garlic and pepper and sometimes cayenne, so the pot ends up spicier and more sausage-flavoured rather than cleanly smoky. It contributes no collagen either, so if the silky pot likker is what you are after, this is not the substitute for it.

The seasoning-only approach, which is also the vegetarian answer.

Best for

vegetarian collard greens, vegan beans, vegetable soups, pork-free cooking

This is the honest reconstruction of what the meat was doing, taken one component at a time: paprika and liquid smoke for the smoke, salt for the salt, oil for the fat. What it cannot supply is collagen, so the broth stays thin rather than silky. Go easy on the liquid smoke, since a quarter teaspoon is plenty and more tastes chemical. A spoonful of miso or a splash of soy sauce adds savoury depth on top.

A meat-free version that adds savoury body as well as smoke.

Best for

vegan greens, vegetarian beans, lentil soups, vegetable braises

Better than seasoning alone because mushrooms bring real savoury depth and a meaty bite. Brown them hard in oil until they squeak and shrink before adding liquid, or they taste watery. Dried shiitake soaked and chopped is stronger still. It will never fool anyone into thinking there is smoked meat in the pot, but it makes a genuinely good pot of greens rather than a sad one.