8 years ago, I hosted my first Thanksgiving.
It was such a great time, but it was stressful because there were 19 people in our small basement suite! I had helped make a Thanksgiving with my mom while I was growing up, but it was my first time making a turkey on my own. No pressure, right?
There were no disasters (thankfully) and that was where my love for cooking turkey began. My love for turkey has only continued to grow!
A few years ago I posted a blog called “Year-Round Turkey” where I teach you how to make a turkey in the crockpot. I still stand by this method. Currently, I have turkey in the crockpot for my Thanksgiving dinner that I’m hosting tonight! It’s such an easy and delicious way to make turkey – no carving necessary!
Side note: If you don’t have a crockpot I recommend you get one! They are literally one of my favourite things in the world. We got this one as a wedding gift over 8 years ago and it’s been amazing! Okay, now back to turkey.
Another reason I love to make turkey is that there is so much you can do with it. Today I’m going to give you just a few ideas of how you can take all of that leftover turkey meat and put it to good use – stretching your food budget by using all of that glorious turkey.
First of all, I highly recommend that if you make a turkey in crockpot, you just leave all the bones in there and make your own broth! Here is the blog I wrote where I tell you how to make your own beautiful (and healthy!) turkey broth in the crockpot.
Second of all, I recommend that you keep some of your leftover turkey in the freezer. Chances are, you’ll be sick of eating turkey after Thanksgiving, and you’ll want a little break. After a few weeks have passed, you’ll be so glad that you have all that turkey in the freezer! The texture stays the same – just pull out what you need for your meal to thaw, and you’ll be good to go.
Okay, here we go. Here are my ideas on how you can use up all that leftover turkey meat!
(Note: I’ll link to a few recipes, but you can also search for your own new turkey meals or substitute in a recipe you already have!)
General:
- Broth
- In place of chicken in just about any recipe (the flavour is very similar)
Breakfast:
- Fry it up with some eggs
- Make a breakfast casserole with turkey (like this one – just sub the sausage for turkey)
Snacks:
- With cheese and crackers
Lunch / Dinner:
- Salad (try making your lunches ahead of time with salads in jars)
- Soups
- Stir-frys
- Sandwiches (Allrecipes has over 80 recipes for turkey sandwiches – the sky’s the limit!)
- With pasta and a tasty white sauce
- Fried rice
Lastly, a plug for one of my favourite cookbooks called Healthy Meals for Less. This cookbook has a section dedicated to turkey called “The 12 days of Turkey.” Lots of great recipes there too!
Do you have any favourite recipes or turkey tips? I’d love to hear them! Leave a comment below with all the info.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Note: There are a lot of links in the page, but only two of them are affiliate links (Healthy Meals for Less and the crockpot). The other links are just ones that I thought would be helpful to you – there are in no way sponsored. Enjoy!