Leftover Turkey Recipes: Nanny’s Turkey Curry Plus 12 More Recipes

Thanksgiving Leftovers

Leftover Turkey Recipes

Love Thanksgiving Leftovers but Tired of the Same Old Turkey Recipes?

Leftover turkey is almost as popular in my house as the Thanksgiving feast itself! Are you tired of the standard leftover turkey recipes yet? In our house, we tend to cook turkey several times a year, just so we can eat leftovers. My mother-in-law is famous for her Turkey Curry, in fact on every summer vacation, we beg to cook a turkey just so she will make curry the next day.

While I love curry, I also like soup and my husband loves hot turkey sandwiches the next day. So, I searched the internet to find many recipes for leftover turkey. I am only sharing 12 with you here, but each of these links will lead you to dozens of additional ideas for leftover turkey. I tried to pick the very best ones with the best reviews or that I thought were creative, different and easy. Who wants to spend a whole other day in the kitchen? I usually wait until Saturday or Sunday after Thanksgiving to make the stock and either soup or curry.

Here is Nanny’s turkey curry “recipe.” The truth is she doesn’t have a recipe. These are just guidelines. The secret is to cook the bones for as long as possible to create a rich stock and to use a good quality curry powder (or make your own.) We usually get a pot of soup and a pot of turkey from the leftovers, which we means we stretch our grocery dollars and get to eat great food for several days.

Nanny’s Turkey Curry Recipe

Remove the leftover turkey from the bones. A good turkey curry needs lots of turkey stock so put all the bones and skin into a large pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Add carrots, onions and celery to taste to the stock. Simmer for at least  3 hours.

The left over turkey should be cut into bite size pieces and stored in the refrigerator. If you have dressing use that too. We make a bread dressing or a sausage meat dressing and both of those add a delightful flavor to the curry.

When the stock is ready for use you can begin to make the curry.  I’m not going to give you quantities because they depend on your family size, the amount of leftovers you have and your personal taste. We always buy large turkeys so there are leftovers.

Saute chopped onions and apple in a large frying pan. I suggest 1/4 onion and 1/4 apple to each cup of cut up turkey, but we love spicy food in our family. Add 3 to 4 cloves of chopped garlic and cook until the onions are tender. Add curry powder to taste to the frying pan, I would suggest 1 to 2 TBSP of good quality curry powder for a large pot of curry. Make sure to stir the curry into the cooking oil with the onions, garlic and apple as that brings the flavor of the curry out and prevents it from burning.

In a large soup pot, put the onion-apple mix and all the turkey you have. Cover with the turkey broth that you made. You may add several tablespoons of tomato paste if you like the tomato flavor in your curry. Here is where you can also use up any leftover gravy. It adds a richness that nothing else can.Cook gently for several hours to make the meat tender and full of the curry flavor. If you want a thicker sauce make a flour paste and add just before you serve. Don’t thicken it too much as the rice or baked potatoes you make will want to soak up the gravy.

Serve curry over rice or potatoes.

Serve with a homemade chutney and some fresh bread. (Nanny didn’t add this piece, but what my husband remembers is that she also always served a fresh fruit salad with the curry.)

 HURRAY FOR LEFTOVERS!!

12 More Ideas for Recipes Using Turkey Leftovers that Your Family Will Love

Leftover Turkey Recipe

1. Turkey Vegetable Soup with Stuffing Dumplings

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/turkey-vegetable-soup-with-stuffing-dumplings-recipe/index.html

2. Dad’s Leftover Turkey Pot Pie

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/dads-leftover-turkey-pot-pie/detail.aspx

3. Turkey Tortilla Soup

http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/turkey-tortilla-soup.aspx

4. Open-faced Hot Turkey Sandwiches

http://southernfood.about.com/od/turkeysandwiches/r/r91123b.htm

5. Turkey Tetrazzini

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/turkey-tetrazzini-ii/detail.aspx

6. Curried Turkey Salad

http://southernfood.about.com/od/turkeysalad/r/bl51029f.htm

7. Turkey Creole

http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/thanksgiving/turkey-creole.htm

8. Turkey Barbecue Sandwiches

http://mantestedrecipes.com/recipe/8164/leftover-turkey-bbq-sandwiches.aspx

9. Crispy Turkey Tostads

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/collections/thanksgiving_leftovers_1

10. Turkey Chilaquiles

http://www.recipe.com/turkey-chilaquiles/

11. Turkey Cheddar Melt

http://www.lhj.com/recipe/turkey/turkey-cheddar-melt/

12. Turkey Fried Rice

http://busycooks.about.com/od/turkeyrecipes/r/turkeyfriedrice.htm

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Feasting!

 

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