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Home » Seasonal » Thanksgiving » Leftover Turkey Noodles

Leftover Turkey Noodles

Created: November 14, 2018 Updated: November 7, 2022 by Lyuba Brooke 19 Comments *This post may contain affiliate links. Read More...

11.6K shares
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Easy Leftover Turkey Noodle pasta dinner. This easy pasta dish features leftover turkey, sautéed vegetables, and egg noodles, all cooked in creamy sauce.  Great way to use up leftover turkey and vegetables from the holiday dinner.

closeup of creamy turkey noodles in red pan.

Leftover Turkey Dinner

I can’t be the only one who has a ton of turkey left after the holidays. Turkey seems to be the most leftover dish from the whole holiday dinner (besides cranberry sauce). It’s partly because all the sides and desserts are so filling and delicious, so people eat more of it them than turkey.

I also do tend to get an extra large bird just so that we have a good amount of it leftover. I love turkey leftovers. It’s great in sandwiches, in soups, enchiladas, and quesadillas. Turkey salad is a great way to transform the leftover meat, as well as this creamy turkey noodle dish.

These noodles are done in less than 30 minutes and they make the perfect comforting dinner for the weekend after the holidays. Especially when Black Friday shopping is involved.

scooping out some noodles from the pan with a ladle.

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.

top view of creamy turkey noodles with veggies in a pan.

More Recipes For Leftover Turkey:

Main dishes: Turkey Enchiladas or Turkey Pot Pie.

Sandwiches: Turkey Cranberry Brie Grilled Cheese or Asiago Turkey Sliders

Soups: Creamy Turkey Potato Soup or Turkey Tortellini Soup

Breakfast: Thanksgiving Leftovers Tart or Turkey and Stuffing Waffles

Leftover Turkey Noodles

Easy noodle dinner made with leftover turkey, veggies, and cream sauce.
4.15 from 42 votes
Print SaveSaved! Rate
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes minutes
Servings: 8
Calories: 417kcal
Author: Lyuba Brooke

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
US Customary – Metric

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.

Nutrition

Calories: 417kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 116mg | Sodium: 210mg | Potassium: 449mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 3300IU | Vitamin C: 18.8mg | Calcium: 62mg | Iron: 2.1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @willcookforsmiles and tag #willcookforsmiles
collage of cooked creamy noodles and scooping out noodles.

LYUBA

ABOUT LYUBA

I’m Lyuba Brooke, mother of 2, the cook, recipe developer, photographer, and author behind willcookforsmiles.com. I share many classic and original recipes, cooking tips, and tutorials. My passion is sharing delicious meals for everyone to try. Read more...

11.6K shares

Filed Under: 30 Minute Meals, Dinner, Holiday Leftover Recipes, Pasta, Thanksgiving, Turkey

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 variations.

Comments

  1. Jim Hartman says

    December 7, 2022 at 8:45 am

    5 stars
    I made this! It’s good.

    Reply
  2. Penny says

    November 30, 2022 at 6:42 pm

    5 stars
    Delicious 😋

    Reply
    • Jim Hartman says

      December 1, 2022 at 8:52 am

      I’m going to try it; I’ll let you know .
      The recipe mentions putting the cream into cups, but doesn’t mention any cups. Please clarify this.

      Reply
      • LyubaB says

        December 6, 2022 at 9:16 am

        Hi Jim, sorry abou that let me clarify what I meant. You will need to pre-measure the 1 cup of cream and 1 cup chicken stock before you make the recipe, this recipe goes fast and that way you wont have to stop and measure while cooking.

        Reply
  3. Penny says

    November 30, 2022 at 6:39 pm

    I made this recipe and I had to tweak it a little. I didn’t have fresh carrots so I used canned. I didn’t have any heavy cream so I used cream of chicken soup with a little 2%milk,no chicken broth,used chicken bouillon. It turned out delicious, my family loved it. Thanks for the recipe

    Reply
  4. Pat says

    November 30, 2021 at 4:08 pm

    You have the best, simple to make recipes on the internet!!!I have a granddaughter who is a vegetarian, no milk products! It’s difficult to cook for her. Mostly I can do adjustments to your recipes, adding items to parts of items later.
    These are like I cooked when my family was still home. Going to freeze some in portions.

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      December 8, 2021 at 10:14 am

      Thank you for the sweet compliment, Pat! I am so happy my recipes work so well for you!

      Reply
  5. Brenda Cofell says

    November 16, 2021 at 7:24 pm

    This was delicious. Great way to get veggies into children. Can you freeze the leftovers? Best way to reheat?

    Reply
  6. Teresa says

    November 29, 2020 at 6:26 pm

    3 stars
    I made this recipe exactly as instructed. I found that the carrots were not done enough and it wasn’t as soupy as I would’ve liked so I then added another cup of chicken broth. It didn’t really have much flavor to me I felt like it needed a zing of some sort

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      December 4, 2020 at 11:22 am

      This technically is not a soup so it shouldn’t be soupy, but if you like it that way and added more liquid that is probably why it isn’t as flavorful because it is diluted. Next time you would need to increase the amount of spices to give it the same flavor.

      Reply
  7. Helen says

    December 5, 2019 at 8:28 pm

    5 stars
    An easy to make, great use for leftover turkey. I subbed bow tie pasta for the noodles and used smoked turkey which gave a great flavor to the dish. I think next time I’ll add fresh mushrooms, too. My husband loved it – Win!

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      December 9, 2019 at 5:29 pm

      Hi, Helen! I’m so glad you liked it and I think adding mushrooms will be delicious!

      Reply
  8. Ellen piety says

    December 1, 2019 at 4:59 pm

    Came out tasty

    Reply
    • LyubaB says

      December 4, 2019 at 12:03 pm

      Hi, Ellen! So glad you liked it!

      Reply
  9. Kristin says

    November 30, 2019 at 10:28 pm

    Well mine certainly did not come out looking like that. I did have to substitute and made my own chicken broth using bullion powder, and made my own heavy cream. I also only had can pees (you should absolutely use frozen). Other than that it came out tasting a lot like a pot pie. So still good.

    Reply
  10. Jen says

    November 11, 2019 at 10:08 am

    Is it possible to substitute the heavy cream for a healthier option? Thanks

    Reply
  11. John Palecek says

    February 9, 2019 at 12:15 pm

    5 stars
    I actully made something everyone liked, thanks for the help

    Reply
    • lyuba says

      February 23, 2019 at 11:16 am

      That’s awesome to hear, John! I’m so happy to help!

      Reply
  12. Tanya Schroeder says

    November 19, 2018 at 12:12 pm

    5 stars
    This is such a great way to use up leftover turkey!

    Reply

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Well, hey there!

I’m Lyuba Brooke, mother of 2, the cook, recipe developer, photographer, and author behind willcookforsmiles.com. I share many classic and original recipes, cooking tips, and tutorials. My passion is sharing delicious meals for everyone to try. Read More.

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