When it comes to Christmas dinner, turkey is the most popular choice by far with over 10 million UK residents enjoying a roast turkey on Christmas day each year. While there’s nothing wrong with turkey and it’s a perfectly healthy Christmas dinner choice, not everybody’s a fan of this festive meat. So, if you’re not a turkey lover or simply want to try something a little different this Christmas, check out these 8 Nutritious Alternatives To Christmas Turkey.
1) Beef
Beef is a rich, tasty alternative to Christmas turkey that packs 219 calories per 113g serving. Despite what many people believe, it’s actually highly nutritious and can strengthen your heart, protect against cancer, keep your blood healthy, support your immune system and much more. It’s also a very versatile roast and goes well with a range of vegetables, making it a very viable Christmas dinner option.
Key Nutrients In 113g Serving Of Beef:
Nutrient | Amount Per 113g Serving |
Protein | 32.3g |
Monounsaturated Fat | 3.6g |
Saturated Fat | 3.4g |
Selenium | 37.4mcg |
Vitamin B3 | 9.3mg |
Zinc | 6mg |
2) Carp
Carp is an extremely popular Christmas day dish in Poland and other eastern European countries and if you’re a fish lover, it’s a great Christmas dinner option. It’s very light with each 113g serving containing just 183 calories. In addition to this, it’s extremely good for your health and helps your body fully absorb the nutrients in your food, strengthens your hair, nails and skin and much more. When it comes to eating carp, you can enjoy it hot or cold. When served cold, it goes very well with salad and when served hot, it goes very well with steamed vegetables.
Key Nutrients In 113g Serving Of Carp:
Nutrient | Amount Per 113g Serving |
Protein | 25.9g |
Monounsaturated Fat | 3.4g |
Polyunsaturated Fat | 3.1g |
Phosphorus | 903mg |
Selenium | 27.5mcg |
Vitamin B12 | 2.5mcg |
3) Duck
Duck is a juicy, tender meat that contains just 158 calories per 113g serving and is a fantastic Christmas dinner choice. Its health benefits include supporting proper growth, boosting your blood, strengthening your immune system and much more. It’s also a very flexible meat and can be eaten with almost any vegetable and prepared in a number of different ways.
Key Nutrients In 113g Serving Of Duck:
Nutrient | Amount Per 113g Serving |
Protein | 31.1g |
Iron | 5.1mg |
Selenium | 32.8mcg |
Vitamin B3 | 11.6mg |
4) Goose
Goose is becoming an increasingly popular Christmas dinner roast. It has a soft, succulent taste and packs 182 calories per 113g serving. It’s also a very healthy meat which boosts your metabolism, keeps your skin healthy, promotes healthy digestion and much more. When it comes to eating goose, roasting is the most popular way to prepare it and it goes very well with both roasted and steamed vegetables.
Key Nutrients In 113g Serving Of Goose:
Nutrient | Amount Per 113g Serving |
Protein | 22.8g |
Phosphorus | 312mg |
Selenium | 16.8mcg |
Vitamin B2 | 0.4mg |
Vitamin B3 | 4.3mg |
Vitamin B6 | 0.6mg |
5) Lamb
Lamb is a delicious, full flavoured meat that contains 229 calories per 113g serving. In terms of health benefits, it promotes proper digestion, keeps your heart healthy, strengthens your immune system, helps regulate blood glucose levels (which is particularly beneficial for people suffering from diabetes) and much more. There are also plenty of different cuts you can enjoy including lamb chops, lamb legs and lamb shanks, making it a very versatile Christmas dinner choice.
Key Nutrients In 113g Serving Of Lamb:
Nutrient | Amount Per 113g Serving |
Protein | 30.2g |
Monounsaturated Fat | 4.5g |
Saturated Fat | 4.2g |
Selenium | 34.4mcg |
Vitamin B3 | 7.8mg |
Vitamin B12 | 2.5mcg |
6) Pork
Pork is a thick, mild tasting meat and a perfect Christmas dinner option if you’re not a fan of rich meats. Each 113g serving packs 191 calories and also regulates the release of energy in your body, keeps your bones strong, enhances the health of your blood, reduces inflammation and much more. Like carp, pork can be enjoyed hot with a selection of steamed vegetables or cold with salad.
Key Nutrients In 113g Serving Of Pork:
Nutrient | Amount Per 113g Serving |
Protein | 32.8g |
Monounsaturated Fat | 2.7g |
Phosphorus | 361.6g |
Selenium | 42.6mcg |
Vitamin B1 | 0.7mg |
Vitamin B3 | 11.6mg |
7) Salmon
If you don’t fancy carp for Christmas but want some seafood on the menu, salmon is a brilliant choice. It contains 244 calories per 113g serving and boosts your brain, your heart, your joints, your eyes and much more. When it comes to eating salmon it tastes great both hot and cold. Hot salmon works well with parsley sauce and steamed vegetables while cold smoked salmon perfectly complements a crunchy salad.
Key Nutrients In 113g Serving Of Salmon:
Nutrient | Amount Per 113g Serving |
Protein | 31g |
Monounsaturated Fat | 6g |
Polyunsaturated Fat | 2.7g |
Selenium | 42.9mcg |
Vitamin B12 | 6.6mcg |
Vitamin D | 26.4mcg |
8) Sea Bass
Sea bass is yet another fish that works well as a Christmas dinner option. It’s the lightest of the three fishes on this list with 113g serving containing just 110 calories and it has a succulent, melt in the mouth taste. In terms of health benefits, sea bass keeps your heart healthy, reduces your blood pressure, improves the functioning of your brain, prevents cancer and much more. Due to its light, soft texture, sea bass can be eaten with almost any vegetables and tastes great with or without sauce.
Key Nutrients In 113g Serving Of Sea Bass:
Nutrient | Amount Per 113g Serving |
Protein | 20.8g |
Magnesium | 46.3g |
Phosphorus | 219.2mg |
Selenium | 41.2mcg |
Vitamin B3 | 1.8mg |
Vitamin B6 | 0.5mg |
Summary
I hope you’ve found a suitable alternative to traditional Christmas turkey in this article. Whether you’re a fan of fish, dark meat or light meat, there should be something for you here. The best part is that all eight suggestions are packed full of nutrients and can give your health a real boost.
Once you’ve chosen a roast from this list, be sure to come back and leave a comment to let me know which one you went with. Also, if you’ve got any additional nutritious alternatives to Christmas turkey to suggest, please do so by leaving a comment below. Finally, please Like, +1, Pin or Tweet this post, so that everyone else who’s looking for Christmas turkey alternatives can benefit from these ideas.