So I've Got This Turkey.....

[jsmla]

I scored a free turkey last Christmas but didn't use if for the holiday meal. It's been sitting in our freezer ever since because I just don't know what to do with it. I've cooked many, many turkeys over the years but always for a large gathering. Now it's just hubby and myself and I'm wondering what I'll do with all of the leftovers.

It's a 13 pound bird and is currently sitting in the brine. I'll roast it today but after that, what? I'd love to hear your favorite recipes for leftover roast turkey!

We need dishes that don't require corn or much cheese/dairy due to hubby's dietary restrictions. So far I have:

turkey/andouille gumbo
turkey pot pie
turkey/gravy on toast



We'll probably eat a good deal of the breast on sandwiches. Hubby is NOT a fan of dark meat so I need ways to disguise it!

Thanks!

Jennifer

 

[Madison'smommy]

I made a good soup with some I had leftover after the holidays. I did it like chicken noodle with vegetables.. It was delicious! I dont have a recipe, I just throw in whatever I have!

 

[prncess674]

You can freeze some of the cooked meat and use it to make something later. It is better to keep the chunks bigger. Wrap the leftovers in foil and then place inside a freezer bag.

 

[Jen117]

I agree, free packets of turkey with enough for a meal. Then you can throw it into soup, enchiladas, fajitas... whatever!

 

[lucyem]

You can freeze some of the cooked meat and use it to make something later. It is better to keep the chunks bigger. Wrap the leftovers in foil and then place inside a freezer bag.

This.

We cooked a 23 lb turkey at Thanksgiving for me, DH & two young boys. I immediately cut a large chunk off one side of breast and froze it. That we had at Christmas. We ate turkey for a couple of days after Thanksgiving and then the rest was stripped off in pieces and some frozen in meal size portions and some put into soup I made.

As for our favorite meal I will take leftover turkey pieces and heat up in mccormick gravy and put on mashed potatoes. Not anything fancy but so yummy

 

[EllenFrasier]

Oooooh....you guys are making me so hungry! Good thing I have a pork roast in the slow cooker for pulled pork sandwiches tonight! But that is hours away. I have to eat lunch and I think it's going to be a turkey sandwich.

 

[prncess674]

Also a 13lb turkey isn't going to produce nearly as much meat as your think. Once you debone it and the turkey cooks down there will be maybe be 9lbs of edible meat.

If you decide to freeze parts of it leave the skin on, it will act as a barrier and will help keep the meat moist.

 

[jsmla]

I would really like to have a big cooking day tomorrow and prepare as many dishes as I can to have in the freezer. I'm not a huge meat person and hubby doesn't like it leftover or frozen unless it has been redone into something like a soup or casserole. I guess I should have said that in my OP!

I'll probably use the skin and bones for stock for gumbo and things. We have egg noodles in the pantry leftover from something. Maybe a casserole? I love Mexican/Tex-Mex but there's the cheese and corn thing.

Thanks again!

J

 

[dromio42]

I freeze 'Thanksgiving' casseroles. I line an 8x8 pan with foil for easy clean up - place a 4 stips of pre cooked bacon on the bottom, than layer in bite size pieces of Turkey, next comes whatever vegetable was left over (roasted brussel sprouts, broccoli, whatever), next layer is stuffing (or you could do mashed potato - I can't do dairy...) and that's it. Although I suppose you could sprinkle cheese on top - again no dairy for me. I thaw it in the fridge, reheat it in the oven and serve with turkey gravy.

 

[blanq]

I can tell you what I do. We are just a small family of three, so I often buy a good size turkey breast, and I get three meals out of it:

1. Traditional turkey dinner with mashed potatoes, stuffing, etc
2. Club sandwiches (triple decker sandwiches made with turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayo...you can add sliced ham too)
3. Salad w/turkey, hard boiled eggs, ham, tomato, lettuce, cheese (which you will want to skip due to your DH's dairy issues), croutons, black olives and thousand island dressing.

If I am not up for time and effort it takes to make the full turkey dinner thing, I often will make open faced turkey sandwiches on bread with mashed potatoes and gravy.

 

[branv]

It's funny you posted this b/c just last week DH got his first smoker, and I just happened to have a 13 lb turkey I'd had for a year and a half in the freezer! Eeep! It turned out MARVELOUS, but like you, now I have one whole turkey breast and two quart size bags full of shredded turkey left over. We are slicing the breast for sandwiches, but for the other, recipes I'd use:

white chili -- there's a really good recipe on cooking light (but doesn't taste light!) -- http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/r...&recipe_id=10000001545785&cookbook_id=5044206

I change the recipe by using a can of drained rotel instead of the tomato. Don't skip the lime juice, it really adds a bright flavor.

I was going to suggest verde enchiladas, but then read the thing about corn and cheese. I know plenty of people do make enchiladas or casseroles with flour tortillas, but I could never do this as the flour tortillas end up so gummy. So, what if you chopped the turkey, heated it with some verde sauce (not too much or too wet, just enough to lightly coat the turkey), then served it in flour tortillas with pico de gallo and some cubed avocado that's been tossed with lime juice and salt and pepper? I know my DH would gobble that up like mad

 

[annsteere]

Every casserole you make with chicken would work.

If you chop the small bits finely they can get mixed with hamburger for dishes that call for browned ground beef. (Chili where part of the ground beef is turkey, sloppy joes where part of the ground beef is turkey, etc).

Turkey and chopped almonds makes an good quiche.

 

[Deb123]

I just did this!! One meal I made was turkey and dumplings (instead of ck and dumplings) For my family of 4, I shredded up the turkey meat into small pieces. Put in the bottom of my pan. I added 2 family sized cans of cream of chicken soup. Once that came to a rolling boil, I added my dumplings. Simmer for about 30 min, and enjoy! So good, my DH is not a fan of dark meat either, but he absolutely loves this recipe!

For my dumplings I use a can of GRANDS Butter flavored biscuits. I roll each biscuit out thin and cut in strips.

 

[teacup princess]

My absolute favorite thing to do with leftover turkey is to make pulled turkey BBQ sandwiches. Just shred with a fork, smother with your favorite brand of sauce and rewarm. So good. I look forward to this more than the original turkey.

 

[shortbun]

Well, I have a 12 pound and I'm planning a dinner party with it during Spring Break.

 

[clh2]

We love turkey tetrazini. We use the following recipe:

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/turkey-tetrazzini/Detail.aspx

We do make a couple of slight changes - I use fresh mushrooms. And, I do not like pimentos - so I simply do not add them.

We still need to use up our holiday turkey. We'll probably have it over Easter.

 

[tlh0726]

try completely covering the meat in broth when you freeze it.
My DH and kids cannot tell that it was previoulsly frozen.
I do this with turkey and beef, I then also have broth to make gravy when thawed.

 

[ENSOCK]

Make turkey salad sandwiches. Grind the turkey, add boiled eggs, mayo, mustard, chicken broth and seasonings with pickles. Yummy!

 

[Granfan]

Freeze chopped turkey breast in 2 serving portions. Make a main dish salad with the thawed turkey, tomato, avocado, or whatever you like in a salad.

 

[buzz5985]

I would have a turkey dinner. Then I would slice some up for sandwiches for the week, and then my favorite recipe for leftover turkey is this one

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000000237722

It is so easy to make. I buy the organic low sodium broth from Trader Joes. It's $2.29 for a carton. If you can't find the sausage, just use some hot sausage to replace it.

I just cooked a hotel style turkey tonight. I take it off the bone and slice it on my slicer for our lunches this week. The hotel sytle (no wings or legs) is expensive, 2.29/pound, but for $18 it will feed the 3 of us for a week without the sodium, etc found in cold cuts. We do the same thing with chicken, beef.

Janis