9 Reasons to Serve Seafood This Thanksgiving
Why You & Your Guests Will Be Thankful You Did
If you are planning your Thanksgiving menu, this is the year to start a new tradition by trading in your traditional turkey for seafood. It’s been talked about before, but never have the reasons to switch to this affordable, easy-to-prepare—and yes, nutritious—option been more compelling than this year.
Below are nine reasons to you’ll be thankful for serving seafood this Thanksgiving.
Availability. Overall, turkey processing is down due to the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), which has killed an estimated 6 million turkeys. While the loss from HPAI has dropped considerably since spring, turkey processors predict turkey availability to remain down by 20% through early 2023. These supply chain issues may leave you little choice but to opt for something other than turkey for Thanksgiving, and what better replacement than readily available seafood?
Cost. Thanks to HPAI and inflation, the American Farm Bureau Federation says Americans can expect to pay record prices for the popular holiday bird. The average cost of a 16-pound turkey has soared from $23.99 in 2021 to $51.81 in 2022. And according to the Wall Street Journal, turkey prices have risen 57% over the past five years. Meanwhile, in September 2022, the average price for pre-sliced, boneless turkey breast was $6.70 per pound—112% more expensive than the 2021 price of $3.16.
The bird is not the only cost associated with turkeys, which usually require hours of oven time (energy use), and this year’s turkey shortage and high gas prices could make your turkey hunt far more expensive. Meanwhile, there is the usual trick of stores using one or two traditional Thanksgiving ingredients as loss leaders while selling others at higher holiday prices, which this year will be higher than ever.
Priceless Savings
Higher prices and scarce pickings are not the only reasons to make seafood your new Thanksgiving centerpiece. Below are a few other reasons to trade in turkey.
Storage. For many hosts, where to store the bird is a dilemma: There is not enough room in the freezer. Similarly, it isn’t easy to fit other items once the turkey is relegated to the refrigerator. Worse, the constant opening and closing of the refrigerator door can cause the bird to thaw in an uneven, potentially unsafe manner. This year, avoid the hassle. Frozen seafood takes up about ¼ of the space and is easily stacked.
Stress. Cooking a turkey includes a host of worrisome variables: What size bird to buy, fresh or frozen? Thawing and cooking time? How long it takes to thaw? How long does it take to cook it, and at what temperature? Stuffed or unstuffed? The list of concerns is long enough to make the most experienced chef want to throw in the towel. Meanwhile, high-quality frozen seafood is easy and straightforward: Thaw, prep, cook, and plate. And unlike a botched turkey, if a seafood recipe goes awry, you can cook more in minutes for a remarkable comeback.
Time savings. Turkeys are time-consuming, from finding, thawing, and preparing to cooking, cooling, and carving. It’s a whole-day process. High-quality frozen seafood can be thawed, prepped, and cooked in minutes, not hours. Some seafood can go from frozen to fully cooked in as little as 75 to 90 seconds! Trading turkey for seafood frees time for other activities, such as football or interacting with friends and relatives, especially those you may not see as often as you’d like.
Clean up. With turkey, there are leftovers, all to be stored in separate containers, and a seemingly endless array of pots and pans to be washed, dried, and put away. Many delicious seafood dishes can be cooked in a single pan. Add a vegetable, starch, and dessert, and you still face a hill of dishes vs. a mountain.
Sleepiness Turkey’s tryptophan, on top of the overall heavy meal, can make even your most avid football fans lethargic. While filling, fish leaves guests less full and significantly less likely to doze off in the final minutes.
Discomfort. As much as Americans profess to love turkey, half or more push away from the table wishing they had eaten less. This is thanks to that overly full feeling that often comes with the traditional turkey/stuffing/potato combo. It’s time to lighten up. Easier to digest seafood will leave your diners satisfied instead of stuffed.
Health. While this is a major reason to switch to seafood, it is often the last thing people want to think about on holidays. However, in addition to all the pluses above, seafood is packed with protein, vitamins, essential minerals, and “good” fats and is low in bad fats and calories. So go ahead; splurge on that pumpkin pie à la mode.
Start Small. If you can’t bring yourself to banish turkey from your Thanksgiving table altogether, try introducing your celebratory meal with chilled shrimp. Brighten that tired old stuffing with a touch of chopped, lightly dusted calamari. Or take a slightly bigger step, such as serving a branzino dish as a costar. Then listen to the feedback. When your guests start to rave about the new additions, you know it’s time to go cold turkey and move toward seafood full throttle.