The debate on what to do with the remains of the Christmas turkey leftovers is almost a national joke, so here is one more suggestion of a meal to make a few days after Christmas to use up some more leftovers – scraps of turkey and the last of the gravy, bread & cranberry sauce, stuffing, sausages, bacon and roasted vegetables.
I think that it is the trimmings which make Christmas dinner and the meals in the days which follow, and my mother always makes lots extra as they are so delicious; intentional leftovers and part of the meal plan. In an ideal world you would strip all the meat from the turkey on Boxing Day and put the carcass in the slow cooker overnight to make stock. In reality we leave the turkey in the unheated (and thus refrigerated) garden room for a good few days longer.
When you make the sauce add in any left over gravy and bread sauce, if you have not got round to making stock from your turkey carcass then use ready made stock – I used a Knorr chicken stock pot here (if you only need to use half a pot then the leftover will freeze). Use your judgement and use less flour if you are using up bread sauce.
Here’s how to cook the perfect Christmas Turkey and what to do with all the leftovers!
Table of Contents
Easy Leftover Turkey Recipes
Here are some more ideas for using that leftover turkey – remember that you can also substitute turkey in any recipe that uses leftover chicken!
- Leftover turkey curry
- Leftover turkey pasta bake
- Leftover turkey biryani
- Leftover turkey stuffed baked potatoes
- Leftover turkey soup
- Leftover turkey frittata
- Leftover turkey croquettes
- Leftover turkey slaw
Turkey Pie with Stuffing Cobblers
Ingredients
For the Sauce:
- 30g/ 1oz butter
- 1 Tbs flour
- 400 ml chicken stock
- 1 Tbs cranberry sauce
- good glug of wine
For the Filling:
- 1 onion, (chopped)
- Leftover turkey, trimmings, sausage meat, bacon and roast vegetables
For the Topping:
- stuffing balls or slices
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to GM5/190C/375F
- Place the butter in a saucepan and melt over a medium heat, stir in the flour to make a roux and cook for a few minutes.
- Reduce the heat and gradually add the stock, stirring all the time to get a smooth paste, then sauce. Add the cranberry sauce and wine. Cook for a few minutes until thickened. Season with salt and pepper.
- Whilst the sauce is cooking fry the onion in a glug of oil until soft.
- Place the cooked onion and rest of the fillings into either a large gratin dish, or individual pie dishes and pour the sauce over. Arrange the stuffing balls or slices on top and bake for about 25 minutes until the stuffing is crispy and the filling bubbling.
- Serve with lots of green vegetables.
Gill
Great idea. Also, I love that you made a cobbler. I was mocked in my first job when I mentioned a peach cobbler – they insisted I was lying and that such things don’t exist. 9 years later and I see them crop up quite a lot.
I do love proper dumplings but I think this sounds nice enough to stop me from complaining :)
Helen
Thanks Gill, I am rather pleased with it. Super easy, but still delicious.
Jude A Trifle Rushed
It’s wonderful to find a new idea for Turkey left overs, I love the idea of using the stuffing for a topping!
Nic
Liking this a lot, especially the way you used the stuffing – great recipe!
Annaloa Hilmarsdottir
Amazing recipe, it even incorporates the stuffing!
Helen
I like to use all the leftovers up.