Easy Leftover Turkey Noodle pasta dinner. This easy pasta dish features leftover turkey, sauteed vegetables, and egg noodles, all cooked in creamy sauce. Great way to use up leftover turkey and vegetables from the holiday dinner.
Leftover Turkey Noodles
I can’t be the only one who has a ton of turkey left after the holidays. Partly because all the sides and desserts are so delicious that people eat more of it than the turkey.
And, partly because I get an extra large bird so that I do have a good amount of it leftover. I love turkey leftovers. It’s great in sandwiches, in soups, and quesadillas. Turkey salad is a great way to transform the leftover meat, as well as this creamy turkey noodle dish.
These noodles can be done in less than 30 minutes and they make the perfect dinner for the weekend after the holidays. Especially if Black Friday shopping is involved.
Tips for making the best Turkey Noodle Dinner:
If available, use both dark meat and breast meat from the turkey. Dark meat is a lot more flavorful so it will add more taste to the dish.
When cooking onions, get them nicely browned. So much more flavor comes from the caramelization than just slightly cooked onions.
Leftover carrots can be used here, even if the carrots were glazed. If using cooked carrots, add them to the pan last, right before adding flour.
The best way to get the most flavor out of garlic is to smash it before adding to the cooking pan. Smashing garlic releases its oil and makes it more potent and flavorful.
To smash garlic, I recommend people use a metal spatula if available. To avoid injuring yourself with a knife, I don’t tell people to use a knife unless they know how.
Peel garlic cloves and lay them on the cutting board. Place spatula flat over the garlic clove and hit the spatula hard with your hand, smashing the garlic below.
Quickly dice smashed garlic and add it to the cooking pan.
Some more easy pasta recipes:
Tomato Basil Sausage Pasta Skillet
Ravioli in Creamy Red Pepper Sauce
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Leftover Turkey Noodles
Easy noodle dinner made with leftover turkey, veggies, and cream sauce.
Ingredients
- 12 oz egg noodles
- 2 tbsp canola oil for cooking
- 1 medium yellow onion
- 2 medium carrots
- 4 garlic cloves
- 10 oz frozen peas thawed
- 2 cups turkey meat diced or shredded
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1 cup chicken broth warmed
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- Salt
- Fresh cracked black pepper
Instructions
Dice carrots and slice onions thinly. Pour broth and heavy cream into the cups so it's ready to use.
Cook noodles according to the package instructions. You can save some time by cooking noodles at the same time as preparing veggies and sauce.
Once noodles are al dente, strain off water and set noodles aside.Preheat a large cooking pan over medium heat. Add oil to saute veggies.
Add onion to the pan and cook until transparent. Add carrots and cook both, stirring once in a while, until onions are golden brown.
Smash garlic and add it to the pan. Cook until garlic is fragrant.
Add peas and cook for a couple of minutes.
Sprinkle flour over the veggies, mix well and cook for a minute or so, while constantly stirring.
Keep stirring and slowly pour in broth. Keep stirring to make sure the sauce is smooth.
Pour in heavy cream while still stirring. Stir slowly as the mixture begins to thicken. Season with salt and pepper.
Add turkey and cook for a couple of minutes.
Add pasta and carefully mix until pasta, sauce, veggies, and turkey are all evenly combined.
Take off heat and serve.
Recipe Notes
All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have a slight variation.
Tanya Schroeder
This is such a great way to use up leftover turkey!
John Palecek
I actully made something everyone liked, thanks for the help
lyuba
That’s awesome to hear, John! I’m so happy to help!
Jen
Is it possible to substitute the heavy cream for a healthier option? Thanks