Delicious recipe ideas for surplus turkey
We know you’ve probably got quite a lot of leftover turkey, so we wanted to bring you some nice ideas of different ways to use it up when you’ve had enough of turkey sandwiches.
Recently, a poll for the ClearAPlate campaign, which aims to reduce food poverty, showed that nearly 10% of every Christmas dinner ends up in the bin.
In the UK, we throw away more food from our homes than packaging every year, according to Love Food Hate Waste.
A good ol’ pie…
TURKEY, HAM AND LEEK PIE
Ingredients
- 90g butter
- 25g flour
- Litre turkey stock
- A pinch of salt
- Black pepper
- 1 tablespoon English mustard
- 350g cooked turkey or chicken cut into chunks or strips
- 125g cooked ham cut into chunks
- 6 leeks, cleaned and chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- 1 lightly beaten egg
- 200g ready make shortcrust pastry
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 220C (425F) mark 7.
2. Melt the butter in a heavy based pan and add the flour off the heat. Whisk in the turkey stock and cook over a medium heat, stirring all the time until the sauce is smooth. Season well and add the mustard.
3. Place the turkey pieces, ham and leeks in the bottom of an oval pie dish, sprinkle with the fresh parsley and pour over the sauce.
4. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and cover the pie dish with the pastry. Brush the top of the pastry with a little beaten egg and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. After this time, reduce the heat to 180C (350F) mark 4 and bake for a further 15 minutes.
Something a little lighter…
TURKEY, MANGO AND LIME SALAD
Serves: 8
Ingredients
- ½ cucumber
- 1 large ripe mango
- Grated rind and juice of 1 lemon or lime
- 150ml vegetable oil
- 250g cooked carved turkey, sliced into pieces
- 250g cooked carved leg of ham, sliced into pieces
- Handful of coriander sprigs
- 3 spring onions, finely chopped
- A pinch of salt
- Some ground black pepper
Method
1. Halve the cucumber lengthways, then carefully remove the seeds with a teaspoon. Slice the cucumber flesh into thin slices.
2. Cut down either side of the mango stone. Cut away the flesh from the skin and place in a food processor, along with the grated lime or lemon rind and strained juice. Whizz, and while the motor is running add the oil until the consistency is smooth. Pour the prepared mango dressing into a large bowl.
3. Add the turkey and ham, cucumber, coriander and finely chopped spring onions and season to taste.
Or something with a little bit of spice…
TURKEY AND CHICKPEA COCONUT CURRY
Serves: 6-8
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons sunflower oil
- 2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
- 1.35kg mixed root vegetables such as potatoes or carrots, peeled and cut into small chunks
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped finely
- 1 ½ tablespoon garam masala
- ½ tablespoon dried chilli flakes or chilli powder
- 200ml turkey or chicken stock
- 1 x 400g chopped tomatoes
- 200g tin chickpeas, drained
- 75g dried apricots, halved
- 500g cooked turkey meat
- 4 tablespoons yoghurt
- 2 handfuls fresh coriander leaves
Suggested accompaniments:
- 2 x 400ml cans of coconut milk
- Add fresh mint leaves to the onion slices
- Mix together the natural yoghurt with sliced cucumber, garlic and chopped mint
- Slice bananas and sprinkle with lemon juice and pomegranate seeds
- Mango chutney
- Poppadoms
Method
1. Heat a large saucepan and add the oil, onions and cook, stirring until just browned, about 10 minutes. Add the other vegetables and cook over the heat until lightly coloured, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the garlic, garam masala, chilli powder and cook for a further 1 minute.
3. Pour in the stock, coconut milk, chopped tomatoes, chickpeas, apricots and bring up to the boil, then turn the heat down, cover and simmer until the vegetables are almost cooked, about 40 minutes.
4. Add the cooked turkey meat and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the turkey is piping hot.
5. Turn the heat off, and just before serving, add the yoghurt and coriander, serve with plain boiled basmati rice or with any of the accompaniments above.
To freeze ahead: Complete the recipe up to the end of step 3. Cool, put into a freezer-proof container, label and freeze for up to three months.
To use: Thaw overnight in the fridge. Put into a large saucepan, add the turkey and bring back to the boil, complete step 4.
Thanks to Love Food Hate Waste, the food waste prevention campaign run by WRAP UK, for all of these recipes: