This Overlooked Grocery Store Rotisserie Meat — Not Chicken — Deserves A Spot In Your Basket

For some families, grabbing a rotisserie chicken is almost a reflex action when you need to figure out a simple dinner but haven't got anything specific in mind. But if you want something that can be stretched further and may actually be cheaper overall, consider upsizing to rotisserie turkey.

Rotisserie turkey is a little tougher to find in supermarkets compared to near-ubiquitous chicken, so you may have to check a few grocery store delis. Kroger sells it somewhat reliably: It's available by the pound or by the quarter bird at its deli counters, so you can choose a portion size that works instead of committing to a whole 10-ish pound bird. Sam's Club also sells fully cooked, hickory-smoked Member's Mark turkey, weighing in at around 9 to 14 pounds and offering enough meat to feed around 10 to 12 people, although it comes frozen so you'll need to heat it up. Big brands like Butterball and Jennie-O sell various cooked cuts of rotisserie chicken, so you can also look for those.

Once you've got it, there's no shortage of how to to serve it: Treat it like Thanksgiving leftovers and put it in sandwiches, work it into a saucy casserole, wrap it up as enchiladas, mix it into a cheesy pasta bake, or a well-dressed salad with apple and pecans could work. Otherwise, go classic and whip up some gravy and a couple of veggie sides for a classic roast-adjacent dinner.

You may be wondering whether rotisserie turkey differs from chicken when it comes to nutrition. Although it may vary a little depending on which part of the bird we're talking about, in general, they're similar. For protein, they're very close, although for those who are protein-maximizing, know that turkey will give you a little more in the dark meat. Turkey overall has a fraction less fat than chicken, and fewer calories if you're counting those.

When it comes to price, rotisserie turkey does have some down sides. Although there are rarely reliable supermarket prices available online for the in-house rotisserie birds, turkey generally costs more on a per-pound basis. Meanwhile, rotisserie chicken is often sold by supermarkets as a so-called "loss leader": That is, something that is priced lower than it should be to entice customers into the store where (ideally for the supermarket) they'll buy other higher-profit items. Costco is arguably the most notorious for this, where rotisserie chicken will be around $1.66 a pound, while Walmart is around $2.65 a pound. Vaguely comparable turkey products will still often clock in over $5 per pound.

Obviously, a whole turkey is big, so you'll want to have refrigerator or freezer space for it. As Thanksgiving cooks know, turkey can dry out more easily, so a sauce can help get around that. That said, turkey has a more pronounced flavor than chicken, so it may stand out more when served in a plainer setting.