Come holiday season most families default to roasted turkey as the celebratory centerpiece. But is turkey truly the best option? Its competition the goose, boasts some compelling advantages that just may earn it the crown of festive fowl supreme.
Below, we break down the pros and cons of goose versus turkey to determine which is the better choice for your holiday table.
Flavor
Winner: Goose
Goose meat has a bold rich flavor compared to the relatively mild taste of turkey. Its gamier, darker flesh makes for a more robust eating experience similar to duck or venison. The flavor comes through beautifully when roasted crisp and paired with acidic or tart sides.
Turkey, on the other hand, tends to be bland without plenty of seasoning or brining. Its white meat especially can turn out dry. Flavorwise, goose provides a clear upgrade.
Texture
Winner: Goose
The higher fat content of goose lends itself to incredibly moist, tender meat when properly cooked. It’s hard to dry out, especially the leg and thigh portions.
Turkey, with its leaner composition, dries out easily if overcooked. The breast meat in particular tends to turn out stringy. For best texture and moisture, goose triumphs.
Skin
Winner: Goose
The skin is one of the best parts of any bird. Goose skin naturally crisps up with ease when roasted, turning deliciously crackly and crunchy.
Turkey skin can crisp up nicely, but it requires technique like rubbing butter underneath to get that same level of crunchy browned perfection. For effortless crispiness, goose skin is golden.
Size
Winner: Turkey
Turkeys are bred to be big, with some reaching 30 pounds or more. Their large size makes them suitable for feeding a crowd. Even a 15 pound turkey feeds 10+ people.
Geese max out around 15 to 18 pounds typically. You’d need two geese to feed as many people as one large turkey. For sheer volume, turkey is the more substantial bird.
Price
Winner: Turkey
Pound for pound, goose costs significantly more than turkey—often twice as much or even more per pound depending on the source.
Due to higher demand, turkeys benefit from economies of scale that make them quite affordable, especially around the holidays. For budget friendly feasting, turkey wins for value.
Convenience
Winner: Turkey
Turkeys are bred to put on weight quickly and efficiently. They reach large sizes suitable for holiday roasting in a shorter amount of time than geese.
Geese take longer to raise to maturity since they don’t genetically pack on pounds. Slower growth equals less convenience when choosing your main protein.
Availability
Winner: Turkey
You can find frozen turkeys at every grocery store once the holidays roll around. Fresh turkeys also become more available the closer it gets to seasonal feasting time.
Fresh or frozen goose is not readily available. You’ll likely have to special order one from a local farmer or specialty purveyor well in advance of the holidays.
Ethical Considerations
Winner: Goose
Most turkeys consumed are raised in crowded factory farm environments. Geese tend to be pasture raised in somewhat more humane settings.
For those concerned about ethical meat sourcing, geese provide a slightly better choice in terms of compassionate raising practices.
The Verdict
While the goose does boast advantages like richer flavor, crisper skin, and more ethical raising practices, the turkey ultimately prevails when considering factors like affordability, convenience, and the ability to feed a holiday crowd. However, for smaller gatherings or as a supplemental protein, the goose can be a luxurious and memorable alternative.
How to Prepare Goose vs. Turkey
Roasting and carving a goose requires some different techniques compared to turkey:
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Seasoning: Goose benefits from bold seasoning before roasting to enhance its naturally rich flavor. Try garlic, shallots, onions, fresh herbs, citrus, peppers, chilies, mustard, or spice blends.
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Fat drainage: Place goose on a raised roasting rack so fat can drain off as it cooks. Periodically drain accumulated fat from pan.
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Cooking time: Estimate 15-20 minutes per pound at 350°F for goose vs. 12-15 minutes per pound for turkey. Check internal temp for doneness.
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Resting: Let goose rest at least 20-30 minutes before carving to allow juices to reabsorb.
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Carving: Slice or tear leg and thigh meat first when carving. Then cut breast meat into thin slices on the bias.
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Crisping skin: Finish roasting at 425°F breast side up to crisp the skin. Broil for a minute or two if needed.
Alternative Holiday Main Courses
While turkey may rule supreme for most holiday meals, here are some other festive mains to consider:
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Bone-in prime rib roast or beef tenderloin
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Crown pork roast or porchetta
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Baked glazed ham
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Roast duck or capon
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Rack of lamb
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Roast venison or boar
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whole fish like salmon or sea bass
So set aside the turkey and give one of these delicious showstoppers a chance in the holiday spotlight! Your guests will be impressed with a spectacular centerpiece that brings new flavor to the table.
The Takeaway
When it comes to rich, savory flavor and moist, tender meat, goose has the edge over turkey. But for budget-friendly abundance that feeds a crowd, turkey remains the more practical feathered feast. For smaller parties or as part of a mixed meat holiday spread, goose definitely deserves a place at the table. Whichever bird you choose, embrace new traditions and flavors this holiday season.
Eleanor Doughty in defence of the goose
Ding ding ding! The Christmas birds are in the ring. Goose or turkey? I know whose corner I’m in: the goose. Or, as we call it in my family, the long-necked chicken. This, of course, began as a classic parental ruse, and it’s stuck. It’s not that I don’t like turkey – no, in our house, we always have a variety of meats on the menu, despite usually being only three or four for Christmas each year. One year, there were more meats than people. But despite the luscious cuts of beef, ham and venison, and the mega turkeys that our kitchen has seen, it’s always going to be goose for me. I like to think she’s a bit cooler, somehow more refined – the underdog, if you like. And that’s as good a reason as any to back goose all the way to Boxing Day. (Read how to cook the perfect goose.)
It wasn’t always just a case of popping down to the farm shop for your goosey gander. Working-class Victorians could join a ‘goose club’, a savings organisation run by pub landlords where one could put a shilling towards a goose every week to save up for a tasty bird. When it was time to collect your goose, those who had paid into the club would go to the pub to claim their meat, their names being drawn from a hat. The goose would be taken home and prepared for cooking, before being taken to the bakers for roasting. On Christmas morning, the baker would see a queue assembled of those collecting their prize. Charles Dickens might have popularised the turkey in his 1843 novella A Christmas Carol, but I prefer to read his description of the family’s original goose as a superb modern-day advertisement for the delicious beast: “Its tenderness and flavour, size and cheapness, were the themes of universal admiration.”
Today, there’s no need to join a goose club, but for those who wonder about value for money – since there is invariably less meat on a goose than on a same-size turkey – cooking a goose at Christmas gives you something back in return. Namely, a jar of goose fat ready to go in the fridge and on to your roast potatoes for the next year.
The mighty goose does take some cooking, but I prefer to see this as a culinary challenge, rather than a downside. Putting it on a rack is essential to allow the fat to drain away. In our house, the goose is cooked first, while everything else is being prepared, so that the cook’s full attention can be on it. In this way, it’s more of a cook’s meat than a turkey is – more of a watched pot, a bird requiring patience.
That it is estimated that only about 250,000 geese are eaten every Christmas in the UK compared with the nine million or so turkeys just shows a lack of imagination, rather than anything else. Turkey is the obvious choice, sure. Goose, in my book, is the elegant one, the more romantic, old-world option. It brings a vintage feel to the Christmas table, which, while not a prerequisite, brings a nice flavour, quite literally, to proceedings. Plus, it’s hard to find goose for 11 months of the year, making it a proper treat. Turkey, however, is happily hanging out on our shelves all year round. In that sense, goose is more exclusive, more longed-for and simply far more delicious. Plus, there’s something quite wonderful about asking if anyone wants a goose sandwich, carbonara or crispy pancake. Mine’s a stir fry, please.
Will they do battle? 2 Tom turkey’s vs. 1 Canada Goose, Wildlife photography
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