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21 Easy Leftover Turkey Recipe Ideas

Heidi Larsenby Published: Nov 27, 2025

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This roundup of 21 easy but creative leftover turkey recipes will help you make the most of the lingering bites of Thanksgiving.

21 Leftover Turkey Recipe ideas foodiecrush.com

Put Those Thanksgiving Leftovers to Good Use with These Easy Turkey Recipes

Photo of Heidi from FoodieCrush

Ahhh, it’s the most wonderful time of year. Thanksgiving is over and even though next day leftover turkey sandwiches with all the fixins’ are a gift from the gods, there’s only so many of them we can manage to shovel down our gullets.

That’s why we’re determined to leverage our turkey leftovers as best we can, in as many different ways as possible.

Every Thanksgiving, I make it a point to cook an extra turkey breast just to be sure I have plenty for leftovers. From soups to pot pies to casseroles, these 21 delicious ways to repurpose Thanksgiving turkey leftovers go beyond the sandwich.

These are the stuff tryptophan dreams are made of. Gobble, gobble.

Enjoy!

Heidi

Leftover Turkey Recipe Ideas

Heidi’s Tip: Some of the recipes listed below call for chicken — that’s because you can sub in cooked turkey meat anytime a recipe calls for cooked chicken. And for any of the recipes that ask you to cook the chicken, just skip over those instructions and add the leftover turkey near the very end of the cooking time to prevent it from drying out. Leave me a comment below if you have questions about a specific recipe!

1
Deer Valley Turkey Chili foodiecrush.com
Deer Valley’s Famous Turkey Chili
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Per hubby “The best leftover turkey recipe you have ever made”. I love the amount of veggies used, not the chopping BUT the end result is worth it!" -Doreen, FoodieCrush reader
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2
Turkey Tetrazzini Casserole foodiecrush.com
Creamy Turkey Tetrazzini
This classic turkey tetrazzini is a creamy turkey and spaghetti noodle casserole with mushrooms, onion, and peas topped with a crunchy topping of breadcrumbs to make a perfect recipe for leftover Thanksgiving turkey.
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3
Turkey Pot Pie Soup
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Delicious! I used frozen carrots and peas and a large russet potato since that’s what I had on hand. Excellent use of leftover turkey. My kids especially loved making the pie cutouts. Thanks for the recipe.” -Becky, FoodieCrush reader"
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4
One-Pot Penne Pasta with Turkey and Spinach | foodiecrush.com #recipes #pasta #penne #healthy #onepot #turkey
One-Pot Ground Turkey Pasta Recipe
There's no tomato sauce in this Mexican-inspired turkey pasta! It's a fast and easy recipe that takes just 30 minutes to prepare. Swap the ground turkey with your leftover shredded turkey and add it near the end of the cook time so it doesn't dry out.
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5
Spinach Salad with Turkey and Spiralized Apples and Butternut Squash | foodiecrush.com #spinach #salad #turkey #recipes #dinner
Spiralized Butternut Squash and Apple Salad with Turkey
Leftover turkey breast shines in this spinach salad with spiralized butternut squash and apple in a sesame-tinged dressing for a full meal dinner or super easy and delicious lunch with mega crunch.
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6
Turkey Chili with Butternut Squash foodiecrush.com
Turkey Chili Recipe (with Butternut Squash)
This chunky turkey chili with roasted butternut squash and sage tastes like fall in a bowl, with a Southwestern flair from roasted pasilla peppers.
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7
Dill Pickle Chicken Salad Recipe in bowl with spoon foodiecrush.com
Dill Pickle Chicken Salad
This Dill Pickle Chicken Salad recipe with tangy pickles, dill pickle juice, celery, and shredded chicken stands out from all the rest.
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8
Gnocchi Soup with Chicken in bowl foodiecrush.com
Gnocchi Soup with Chicken
This gnocchi soup with chicken and spinach is creamy, savory, hearty, comforting, and fast to make on the stove in under 30 minutes.
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9
Chicken and Dumplings Recipe with spoon foodiecrush.com
Easy Homemade Chicken and Dumplings
This easy chicken and dumplings recipe with creamy chicken vegetables is topped with fluffy, tender dumplings for a comfort food dinner that comes together in less than an hour.
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10
Macaroni and Cheese with Chicken and Broccoli in skillet foodiecrush.com
Mac and Cheese with Chicken and Broccoli
This homemade mac and cheese recipe gets a healthy boost with chicken and broccoli added in to make a complete meal in each serving.
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11
Chinese Chicken Salad with Sesame Dressing | foodiecrush.com #chinese #chicken #salad
Chinese Chicken Salad
Simple and refreshing, this copycat recipe is based on my favorite salads from Santa Monica's Feast from the East and California Chicken Cafe.
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12
The BEST Chicken Pot Pie foodiecrush.com
The BEST Chicken Pot Pie Recipe
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Made this tonight and I agree it’s the best chicken pot pie I’ve ever had! I didn’t have celery so I substituted green beans and it worked out great! Love that the filling isn’t watery.” -Jen K., FoodieCrush reader
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13
Chicken Marsala Gnocchi foodiecrush.com
Chicken Marsala Gnocchi
This saucy chicken marsala gnocchi with mushrooms is a fun twist on everyone's favorite sweet and savory chicken marsala dinner.
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14
Mediterranean Chicken Quinoa Bowls with Broccoli and Tomato
Mediterranean Chicken Quinoa Bowl with Broccoli and Tomato
Chicken quinoa bowls have staked their healthy claim on quick and easy meal-prep dinners that are flexible enough to mix and match ingredients for take-to-work lunches that never get boring, too.
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15
Easy Buffalo Chicken Dip | foodiecrush.com #easy #oven #chicken #buffalo #dip #recipe #cheese
Buffalo Chicken Dip
This easy buffalo chicken dip recipe is loaded with awesome buffalo chicken flavor and comes together in just 30 minutes.
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16
Chicken and Mango Rainbow Veggie Wraps
This easy, veg-heavy Thai-flavored lunch wrap represents all the things right with eating the rainbow.
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17
Chicken Pot Pie with Puff Pastry Crust
This Chicken Pot Pie with Puff Pastry Crust is packed with fresh veggies and a creamy yet lower-fat and lower-calorie sauce that brings it all together.
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18
Greek Salad with Chicken | foodiecrush.com
Greek Salad with Chicken
This delicious Greek salad topped with Greek marinaded chicken is the best for meal prepped lunches or light dinners. Top it with kalamata olives, feta cheese, crunchy cucumbers and my Mediterranean tomato salad with an easy Greek vinaigrette dressing.
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19
Chicken Tortilla Soup in bowl foodiecrush.com
Chicken Tortilla Soup
This easy chicken tortilla soup recipe is truly chicken soup for the soul, with a warm broth filled with chunky bites of black beans, sweet corn, shredded chicken and tomatoes topped with its namesake tortilla strips.
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20
Italian Chicken Wrap Sandwich | foodiecrush.com #italian #chicken #lunch #wrap
Italian Chicken Wrap
This Italian chicken wrap is stuffed with the most flavorful ingredients like roasted red peppers, arugula, kalamata olives, tomatoes, and provolone cheese, and is such a delicious, easy lunch.
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21
Classic Chicken Salad in bowl foodiecrush.com
Classic Chicken Salad
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️"Great recipe- easy to make, throw in what you got to make it your way (love dried cranberries in it)." -Rob, FoodieCrush reader
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If you make one of these recipes, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.

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Heidi of FoodieCrush

Hi! I’m Heidi and I cook real good, real food I hope you’ll love to make, too.

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