Turkey is the highlight of Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, even if it’s not your favorite part of the meal. Having turkey leftovers after Thanksgiving is almost inevitable since a family of just six people cannot eat a 13-pound bird in one night, plus side dishes and dessert. This explains why our refrigerators are always stocked with leftover turkey after the festivities. So here are five ways to make delicacies out of your leftover turkey.
Turkey Risotto
Risotto is a delicacy that is like elevated mac and cheese, combining comfort food with a gourmet twist. One of the best things about risotto is that you can always mix and match different ingredients. So, it only makes sense that you can make it with your leftover turkey.
To make this delicious meal, start by stirring your turkey through the rice while it cooks. To flavor your turkey, you could spike the skin with thyme. For the final touch, top it with some hot gravy– you’ll get a second round of Thanksgiving goodness.
Warm Turkey Salad
Turkey isn’t the only thing remaining on the table after Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner; there are other vegetables you wouldn’t want to throw away. Well, you could use all of these leftover ingredients scrumptiously.
Combine sweet dried cranberries, clementines, and pomegranates with your turkey to make a fruity salad. This salad is so easy to make, so you don’t have to enter into another cooking cycle after cooking for the festivities.
Turkey Sloppy Joes
Making sandwiches is one of the most common ways to use up your leftover holiday meats. Well, in the spirit of leftover-inspired sandwiches, we recommend these turkey sloppy Joes.
It’s all about a simple process of piling crunchy vegetables, BBQ sauce, gherkins, and your gravy-dressed turkey meat in a soft bun. You could take things up a notch with some extra gravy on the side. You’ll want to make these for the actual meal next year!
Turkey Stew
This stew is a wonderful old-school delicacy that doesn’t require much stress to make. After the strenuous Christmas or Thanksgiving cooking process, you’ll find a bowl of this stew comforting.
From dumplings to your leftover turkey, you can always make exciting additions to your stew. We also love the fact that most of the required ingredients for this stew would probably be remaining in your kitchen.
Quesadillas
Of course, you probably know about the famous Boxing Day quesadillas. It is one of the best meals to make with your leftovers because it is a crowd-pleaser; everyone would be asking for one more bite.
To make these quesadillas, simply combine cranberry sauce, thyme, and your leftover turkey meat and arrange them in the middle of two soft tortillas. The oozing flavor as you fry them will make you hungry!
