Smoked Turkey substitute

Substitutes for Smoked Turkey with ratios

1. 2Thick-Cut Bacon or Salt Pork

   Taste and texture differ

   Use 4 oz bacon for every smoked turkey leg

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

   What changes

   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.

2. 3Smoked Ham or Ham Shank Pieces

   Different texture

   Use the same amount by weight

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

   What changes

   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.

3. 4Smoked Sausage or Andouille

   Taste and texture differ

   ¾ the weight of the smoked turkey

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

   What changes

   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.

4. 5Smoked Paprika plus Liquid Smoke and Salt

   Taste and texture differ

   Use 1 tsp smoked paprika, ¼ tsp liquid smoke, ½ tsp salt and 1 tbsp oil for every pot

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

   What changes

   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.

5. 6Smoked Paprika plus Mushrooms and Soy Sauce

   Taste and texture differ

   Use 4 oz mushrooms, 1 tsp smoked paprika and 1 tbsp soy sauce for every pot

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

   What changes

   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.