If your festive turkey comes with plenty of leftovers, rejoice! There are so many ways to make the most of a generous bird and you need never be bored with these fantastic leftover turkey recipes.
Turkey and all the trimmings
Roast turkey has, rather amazingly, been a part of our big festive occasions since Tudor times. Whether it’s Christmas, Thanksgiving or Easter, the point is to be generous with food. A turkey will feed a big family and then some.
See also
- Best leftover mincemeat recipes
That’s the whole point, of course. There is supposed to be enough to feed everyone to bursting and have something left over to offer them more. It’s all about plenty and no one having to hold back.
Favourite leftover turkey recipes
When you’ve had the hot feast one day and the traditional cold cuts with pickles the next, what do you do? For most of us, it’s soup or a curry, or maybe a pie. Here are some classics to start with.
Turkey and Lentil Soup
Leftover Turkey Curry
Turkey and Ham Pies with a Filo Crunch
Sweet and Sour Turkey
Love your leftovers
With smaller modern families, roasting a traditional turkey can mean quite a lot of leftovers, but I am absolutely fine with that. Everyone expects and wants the cold cuts for Boxing Day. Beyond that, leftovers are the ingredients for more fabulous dinners. Turkey makes a great carrier for all sorts of flavours.
I tend to choose a turkey crown, which means a bit less meat, but still enough for several great meals. Turkey is a lean, healthy meat that is low in fat and high in protein. I want to make the most of it.
So if you find yourself with leftovers, instead of feeling jaded I believe you should embrace making use of every bit of your leftover roast turkey. If you don’t want to eat it all at once, use the freezer. You don’t have to recreate the Bridget Jones turkey buffet!
With the meat packed away in the freezer, you can enjoy these easy recipes for turkey curry, turkey and ham pie, soup, muffins, frittatas and so much more for weeks to come.
Dealing with the turkey carcass
The point of a roast dinner on those big occasions is that it more or less looks after itself. You left the dinner in the oven unattended without having to worry while you sat through a lengthy church service. Today, of course, it may be as much about leaving it to cook while you open all those presents!
After the flurry of getting everything to the table and then clearing, you don’t want to spend too much of your afternoon or evening clearing up.
It is important, though, to get the leftover bird in the fridge as soon as it is cold enough. Don’t forget and let it go to waste. If it will go in whole, you can leave the work for tomorrow.
Once the turkey is cold, you can carve slices and then pick off smaller pieces of meat, separating it into dark and light meat, and slices and the smaller pieces of meat.
Pack into takeaway plastic boxes (I do this with roast chicken too, as shown in the photograph.)
PLEASE remember that you should only freeze poultry twice: once raw and once cooked. If you are storing roast turkey in the freezer, don’t take it out and make it into a dish to freeze.
- Leftover gravy – freeze some of the meat in it. Once defrosted, serve with more veggies for an easy homemade ready meal. You can also use gravy in stock and soup.
- Leftover vegetables – delicious added to soup, stir fries or the classic bubble and squeak.
In actually cook extra veg deliberately and set some aside, rather than serve it all. It is no extra effort to cook more and I know I will want to use it in the days to come.
- Leftover bread sauce – ideal to add to soups to thicken them.
- Leftover cranberry sauce – I love cranberry sauce, and use leftovers in cranberry ice cream, or to make cranberry gin.
Making stock
Don’t throw away that carcass, even after you have stripped it. Once the wishbone is pulled, all the bones and skin can be used for stock.
It may be that you have never thought of making your own stock or broth for cooking, but many classical chefs regard good homemade chicken stock as the foundation of good cooking.
Turkey works too and can be substituted in a traditional chicken stock recipe and used in much the same way, although the flavour is stronger.
If you don’t want to make your stock right away, break up the bones and freeze them to use later. I like to use 3 carcasses for chicken stock, but you will almost certainly have enough with from one large turkey. If not, mix it up with chicken.
When you are ready, just follow one of my methods for chicken stock, substituting the turkey carcass to make a turkey stock.
The flavour will be a little different to the more usual chicken but in general you can use it wherever you would use a traditional chicken stock. You’ll be amazed at the difference a really good homemade stock makes to a dish.
Classic Stock
Slow Cooker Stock
Easy Pressure Cooker Stock
Lunch and supper recipes
For lighter meals after a big feast, here are some easy options that make great use of leftovers. Try adding turkey to a delicious soup, an easy omelette or a refreshing salad.
Pies, pasta bakes, and even savoury supper muffins are all at your fingertips with ready to use roast turkey to hand.
Creamed Pea Soup with Leftover Turkey
Roast Turkey Frittata
Turkey Coleslaw with Tahini and Cranberry Sauce Dressing
Turkey Pasta Bake with Ham and Mushrooms
Turkey, Ham and Cheese Stuffed Baked Potatoes
Turkey, Cranberry and Stilton Muffins
Spicy leftover turkey recipes
There are those for whom the endless post-Christmas turkey curry is a running joke. Well, forget all that. A classic curry recipe is wonderful, but if you use up your leftover turkey a little at a time you can enjoy a different spice palette every day.
Indian inspired flavours
You’ll be amazed at how quickly you can throw together a really wonderful Indian restaurant inspired meal with ready roasted turkey.
Roast Turkey Biryani
Mexican inspired leftover turkey recipes
Chilli and lime and all things nice and spicy lend plenty of fresh flavour to your turkey leftovers in thes quick and easy Mexican style dishes.
Leftover Roast Turkey Fajitas
Leftover Roast Turkey Tacos
With ready-cooked turkey they take no time at all and are great for a Boxing Day supper or a simple midweek meal.
A North African twist
Use earthy spices to turn your leftovers into exciting suppers.
Turkey Tagine
Far Eastern flavours
Delicate and fragrant or powerful and punchy, these recipes are a great way to rustle up a takeaway style meal for a fraction of the price.
Turkey Thai Green Curry
Thai Curry Turkey Croquettes with Cranberry Mixed Grains
More ideas for leftover turkey
I have found that you can use turkey leftovers and chicken leftovers more or less interchangeably in many recipes. Here are some that were written with roast chicken in mind, but you can substitute turkey with no other adjustments.
Camilla
fantastic round up of ideas!