Meatless turkey alternatives are becoming more common as more Americans lower their meat intake or adopt a vegetarian diet. But for the uninitiated, the very idea still throws a lot of people for a loop. Here's a quick intro to three of the most commonly found unturkeys.

Tofurky has been the standard since the mid-'90s. It's found in the freezer case, and comes in various combinations of gravy and other accessories (as well as in sandwich slices and sausages year-round), but all the holiday ones have a spherical Tofurky with a seasoned stuffing center.

Field Roast's stuffed Celebration Roast is a newer candidate found in the dairy/deli/"meats" case. Their smaller 1-lb. roast is ideal if you are the lone vegetarian at a table of carnivores. The downside is you won't have many leftovers, but they also offer a two-pounder.

Quorn offers a Turk'y Roast found in the freezer aisle that I haven't tried yet, but if it's anywhere near as amazing as their unchicken products, I say go for it! I'm most likely going to try this one this year.

The fake turkeys generally taste like processed turkey from the deli, without being too close for comfort to the real thing. (No bones or gristle, for example.) This is ideal; vegetarians generally want something like turkey without feeling like they're actually eating a bird that led a tragic life in a cage. Ladle on some mushroom gravy over that, your stuffing/dressing, and your roasted veggies, and nobody is missing out on nothin'. This will be my 14th turkey-free Thanksgiving, it's one of my favorite holidays, and I never feel like the feast is lacking (as long as I'm doing a good portion of the cooking, which I love to do).