Don’t want to eat another bite of leftover turkey after the holiday? I got you! Make turkey freezer meals with the leftovers so that you can buy yourself some time and save some money.
From soups to salads to sandwiches to burritos to flautas to casseroles, there’s no end to the tasty ways you can use up leftover turkey. You’re going to wish you had cooked a bigger bird!
Want to save this post?
Enter your email below and get it sent straight to your inbox. Plus, I’ll send you budget recipes and money-saving tips every week!
Got turkey? As in, lots of leftover turkey from a large meal?
It seems that every year is different. One year you might not have a big enough turkey at Thanksgiving, and there really are no leftovers to speak of.
Other years? You might have turkey coming out your ears. Oh boy! What should you with all that turkey?
Personally, I’ll take slices of turkey breast on rye bread with a slather of mayo and a sprinkling of salt. If you’ve never tried this combo, you must. It’s super simple, but so very good.
But then what?
Once you’ve exhausted the “reheat and eat” and the plain sandwich options, whaddya do? It’s important not to let that turkey go to waste.
Why It Matters
Using up leftover turkey helps you avoid food waste. Food waste costs us in many ways, but the way you’ll feel it most at home is in your pocket book. If you can stop wasting food, you can divert funds to more needed areas, besides groceries.
Making turkey freezer meals saves you time. If you take a few minutes after the feast to prep the leftover turkey for freezing, you can use it in all kinds of recipes (like all the ones that call for cooked chicken) in the weeks to come. You will save so much time over the holidays!
It’s delicious! Leftover turkey can be delicious if it’s prepared well. Don’t let it sit in the back of the fridge. Freeze it right away if you can’t use up the leftover turkey within 2 to 3 days.
Thanksgiving is about being thankful. Letting leftover turkey go to waste seems counter to the whole point of Thanksgiving. Let’s extend this harvest of bounty to a few more meals — even if you freeze them for later.
Tips for Storing Leftover Turkey
Prepared food is good in the refrigerator for up to four days. If you cook your turkey on Thursday, it should be safe to eat through Monday.
Freezing your turkey leftovers is a great way to avoid waste and give yourself a break from turkey.
If you just don’t want to deal with it right now, stash it all in the freezer. Trim the meat off the bones and package it well in freezer bags or airtight containers. You can even package the bones to make stock at a future date. Just don’t forget you’ve got it in the freezer.
In a week or two, you can thaw the turkey and use it in your favorite recipes that call for cooked and chopped chicken or turkey.
The freezer doesn’t magically make food fresher. It only slows the enzyme action. If you freeze your turkey soon after cooking, you should have a solid 2-3 days to use it after thawing.
However, if you freeze your turkey near the end of the 4-day window, you’ll need to make sure you use it immediately when you do pull it from the freezer.
Check out this great guide about Food Safety Basics from the USDA.
Recipes for Leftover Turkey
Any recipe that calls for cooked chicken can be a great way to use up leftover turkey and it’s perfect to include in an at-home salad bar. But there are also loads of recipes you can add turkey to.
I’ve curated these leftover turkey recipes in such a way that you can freeze either the turkey ready to add, all the prepped ingredients as a kit, or the prepped dish in its entirety.
When you make freezer meals with leftover turkey, you save time and avoid food waste! Here are some of our faves:
Freeze the Turkey Prepped to Add to These Recipes
Cold salads and sandwiches aren’t typically good candidates for freezing. But, you can chop, shred, or slice your leftover turkey and then freeze it in meal-size packages to use in the following recipes.
Recipes to Make as a Kit
Some recipes do better frozen as freezer meal kits. That is to say, some or all of the elements are packaged and frozen recipe-ready, to be assembled later.
Creating a freezer meal kit with leftover turkey is a great way to save yourself time while also giving yourself versatility in adding fresh ingredients or making sure noodles don’t go soggy.
These leftover turkey recipes are great for making into kits:
Recipes You Can Freeze
The best kind of freezer meal is the kind that you can make in its entirety and stash in the freezer for a night in the future.
These easy dinner recipes are perfect for prepping with leftover turkey:
What do you think?
What’s YOUR favorite recipe to use up leftover turkey? How will you use what’s left?
This post was originally published on November 22, 2021. It has been updated for content and clarity.
janet
Some of our favorites include Thanksgiving soup made with leftover turkey and mash potatoes; Kentucky Hot Brown sandwiches; and turkey tetrazinni.
Jessica Fisher
Kentucky Hot Brown is new to me. What is it?
Janet
An open-faced turkey sandwich with bacon and a delicate Mornay sauce. You can read about its history here: http://www.brownhotel.com/dining-hot-brown.htm. In Kentucky the hot brown is as famous as our Mint Juleps on Derby Day.
Jessica Fisher
Sounds yummy!
Heather @ My Overflowing Cup
I agree completely about stocking up on turkeys now. Each November, I buy as many as my budget allows and my freezer can hold. Leftover Thanksgiving is my favorite, too, until I run out of all the side dishes. I make broth, enchiladas, pot pies, soups, stews, freezer burritos, and sandwiches. We love leftover turkey. Easy and frugal. Thanks so much for sharing your recipes. Your enchilada recipes are some of my favorites. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, Jessica!
Jessica Fisher
Thanks, Heather! I’m glad you like the enchiladas. They are some of my favorites, too.
Charlotte
Turkey and dumplings! I’m waiting tables all day Thu, so we cooked our turkey yesterday… enchiladas tonight and dumplings tomorrow, and turkey wraps for my husbands lunch this week… oh, and bbq nachos with turkey are also good. (We just chop up the meat and warm it up in bbq sauce in a skillet).
Jessica Fisher
Sounds like a yummy week! Great job making the most of it!