Turkey Leftovers

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Looking for ways to prepare all that leftover turkey from the big day? Here are a few ideas from this site, as well as from other food blogs. Enjoy!

Turkey Leftovers Ideas from Simply Recipes

Turkey Leftovers Ideas from Other Food Blogs

Got more leftovers ideas? Let us know in the comments.

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14 Comments

Turkey is one of the meats that I have seen cooked in Mexican mole sauce, that amazingly complex blend of chilies, seeds, nuts, dried fruit, herbs, spices, and sometimes chocolate. However, making mole can be a complicated and harrowing process if you don't pick the right recipe. When I made mole negro (from Zaslavsky's Cooks Tour of Mexico) last year it was quite a challenge (but sublime in the end), but I have seen other recipes that look pretty easy (toss some stuff in a blender, puree it, then cook it in a saucepan). I think that Rick Bayless's books have some relatively simple versions. It also comes in jars, and if you live near a large Latino community, the markets might have fresh mole paste for sale (I have read about places in East L.A. that have numerous mounds of different varieties).

Posted by: Marc on November 25, 2006 8:27 AM

Turkey hash is fantastic and hardly needs a recipe. Dice half an onion and cook in oil/butter until soft. Add diced potatoes and chopped turkey and a bit of rosemary and cook until the potatoes are crispy. Add leftover gravy and stir until heated. Mmmm! Our other favorite is turkey enchiladas.

Posted by: Ellen on November 25, 2006 10:26 AM

My whole family lives in a little town called "Paradise" in Northern California. At Christmas I travel down from where I live in Vancouver, WA to Paradise. We usually have turkey and tri-tip roast for Christmas dinner. There is never any tri-tip left, but with the turkey leftovers I always make turkey enchiladas for the family usually a couple days after Christmas. You can just find your favorite enchilada recipe (sorry, mine is in my head) and use turkey meat instead of chicken or the other meat you may use. I also make my homemade Mexican rice, beans and guacamole to accompany the enchiladas. And we wonder why we put on a few pounds at Christmas. ;o)

Posted by: Rita on November 25, 2006 10:36 AM

I come from a house where my father was just your typical meat and potato kind of guy. Didn't like anything too spicey, didn't like anything too weird. Now that I'm 25 and a cooking man (many people are impressed at the complicated dishes I make) I still like a good old fasioned turkey sandwhich.

Just take a few slices of wheat bread, toast them up, add slices of turkey, top with another slice of toasted bread and then pour on alot of gravey. I usually season it with season salt and enjoy! And since I prepare potatoes quartered for Thanksgiving, I just use those leftovers to make a good mash.

Posted by: Josh on November 25, 2006 11:29 AM

We made polenta panini with turkey, cranberry, Manchego cheese, and gravy poured over the top. The moist polenta counteracts the dryness of the turkey and the Manchego is a nice complement to the cranberry.

Posted by: Sarah on November 26, 2006 12:30 PM

I just made something really yummy for lunch with my leftovers and wanted to share:

*Turkey cranberry salad*

Leafy greens
Roasted turkey, shredded into small pieces
Avocado chunks
Chunks/cubes of swiss cheese

For dressing:
1/4 cup walnut or other nonfragrant oil
2 tbs cranberry sauce
2 tbs red wine vinegar
salt and pepper

Posted by: Joan on November 27, 2006 11:45 AM

I cooked the leftover turkey the Malaysian way; the creation is quite "exotic." If anyone is interested, here is the link: http://www.rasamalaysia.com/2006/11/leftover-turkey-malaysian-style.html

Posted by: Rasa Malaysia on November 27, 2006 9:55 PM

These ideas all sound great. For my leftovers this year (with my very first upside-down turkey), I made a batch of Curried Turkey Salad with Dried Cherries & Almonds (all my chicken or turkey salads end up with curry and/or Hungarian paprika in them - I just can't resist). Something about the combo of dried cherries, celery, finely diced onion & the mayo/curry dressing (with a little hit of apricot preserves for tang) is about as sandwich-worthy as it gets. Normally I would use pecans (mmm, pecans & cherries...) but I had almonds so there you go. Also delicious piled on some butter lettuce. Enjoy!! And happy belated Thanksgiving!

Posted by: Tammy on November 28, 2006 6:19 AM

What a handy round up...especially the turkey cornbread sandwich!

Posted by: jeanne bee on November 28, 2006 5:30 PM

I have a great many leftover turkey recipes, but this last week I was staying with a friend and she asked if I would like stuffing sandwiches? Of course, my response was, "huh?"
Basically, you toast 2 slices of bread, we used sourdough, pile stuffing high, then mash into the bread a little, add some turkey bits, smother in homemade leftover gravy and microwave until everything is warmed.
Sounds horribly fattening, I don't care!! It was the yummiest leftover sandwich I have ever had!!!
God Bless Leftovers!!

Posted by: Patricia on November 29, 2006 10:18 PM

I am looking for a recipe using turkey in a shepherds pie. Anybody have that recipe to share?

Posted by: Judy on November 12, 2007 5:13 PM

Mmmm, these all sound delicious! Our turkey leftovers usually go something like:
1) Open-faced sandwiches piled high with potatoes, stuffing, turkey and gravy
2) Turkey soup
3) Turkey pot pie with celery seed pastry crust (I always put aside some of the homemade stock to use in the pot pie)

Posted by: Erin on December 1, 2008 9:35 AM

So far we've had turkey sandwiches, turkey quesadillas with a southwestern veggie soup, and turkey crostini. The leftover soup and turkey from making quesadillas were combined and frozen for a SW turkey & veggie soup next week (served with either cheese quesadillas or warmed tortillas). Still have 4 cups of rough chopped turkey meat in the freezer.

I'm cooking another turkey tomorrow (the Thanksgiving one was sooo good that hubby wanted another), and so will need to come up with more ideas. Hubby doesn't like tetrazzini or shepherd's pie, but I am considering chili, burritos, hash, and a phyllo-filled something or other.

Posted by: Carol on December 3, 2008 10:05 AM

Though the leftover turkey sandwich with all the trimmings is really my favorite part of the meal...TURKEY HASH! It's another that is a great & yummy way to use up those leftovers!

No fussy recipe...
saute up some onions & celery, then add potatoes & whatever other leftover veggies you have along with chunks of turkey...let it get crispy (sometimes I put it in the oven 350-400 for 30 min, depends on how hungry my husband is & how long he is willing to wait) serve it with over easy eggs...YUMMY!

My mom used to make curried turkey with the leftovers & serve over jasmine rice :)

Posted by: Neva on November 18, 2009 7:03 AM

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