Leftover turkey is not just for sandwiches y’all. Although, a turkey sandwich on white bread with mayo, cranberry sauce, and lettuce is delicious, my Turkey Tetrazzini is even better. It’s my favorite way to use up leftover turkey because this dish uses many ingredients that you will most likely have leftover from your celebrations. To name a few…cream cheese, fresh herbs, celery, and onions. I don’t know about y’all but I always still have a fridge full of these ingredients. Consider this a “clean the fridge out” kind of casserole that also tastes fancy and incredible.
Let’s Make It!
This recipe starts with melted butter which is the best beginning I could possibly think of. You sauté onions, celery, mushrooms, and carrots in the butter until they are soft. Next add flour to make a roux (remember we have discussed these many times-easy peasy!). Then just add chicken or turkey broth and let it thicken up. Parmesan and cream cheese are added next to create the creamiest sauce. After that, stir in frozen peas, shredded or diced turkey, fresh herbs, cooked spaghetti and pour into a casserole dish. Sprinkle with parmesan/panko mixture and bake. It is SO good. It reminds me a fancier version of my Chicken Spaghetti. And yes, this would also work with leftover chicken.
What if I told you that you could FREEZE it? Yep! You can easily freeze Turkey Tetrazzini for up to 3 months. It makes a 9×13 which is a lot so you can also divide into two smaller pans and have two dinners waiting in the freezer for a busy night. Just make sure to thaw at least halfway before baking.
Make Turkey Tetrazzini Anytime
You don’t have to wait for Thanksgiving to make Turkey Tetrazzini. You can make it anytime! I needed “turkey leftovers” to make this for y’all so I bought a whole turkey breast and roasted it with herb butter. Then I just diced it up for the tetrazzini. It was worth the extra effort of cooking the turkey JUST to make this casserole. My whole family loves it so much!
I am honestly excited for YOU to make this with your Thanksgiving leftovers because I am 100% confident that you’ll love it. I don’t always want a casserole the day after eating a big Thanksgiving meal so I like to pop it into the freezer for another day. Makes all the benefits of going through the work of cooking a turkey last even longer! Don’t let the ingredients list fool you. This is easy to make and remember…we are cleaning out the fridge!
I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and take time to reflect on the good that is happening all around us. 2020 has been hard but there’s always something to be grateful for if we choose to focus on the positive. I am so grateful for YOU! Thank you for following along, making my recipes, sharing my recipes, and supporting me in so many ways!
Sponsored post for Lee’s Marketplace. Items on sale the weeks of Nov 17-30: turkey, yellow onions, celery, flour, chicken broth, cream cheese, Panko, parmesan
Turkey Tetrazzini
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons butter, divided
- 1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
- 3/4 cup carrots, diced
- 1/2 cup celery, chopped
- 8 oz button or cremini mushrooms, sliced
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 1/2 cups chicken or turkey broth
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 1 cup parmesan, divided
- 2 tablespoons fresh herbs, any combo-rosemary, sage, thyme, parsley
- 8 oz thin spaghetti, cooked and drained
- 3 cups cooked turkey (or chicken), diced or shredded
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare a 9×13 casserole dish by coating with cooking spray.
- In a large deep skillet or tall stock pot, melt 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, celery and mushrooms then cook until softened. Add salt and pepper.
- Sprinkle vegetables with flour and stir until they are coated. Slowly whisk in broth and increase heat to medium-high. Bring to a low boil and continue stirring until thickened, about 4-5 minutes. Turn heat off then add cream cheese and 3/4 cup parmesan. Stir until cheese is melted.
- Add herbs, cooked spaghetti, turkey, and peas to the sauce then stir to combine. Pour into casserole dish.
- Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter and pour into a small bowl with Panko and remaining 1/4 cup parmesan. Mix together then sprinkle over top of the casserole.
- Bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned on top.
Great recipe! I absolutely did not want to use Cream of X soup, and this made a gorgeous sauce in lieu, my modifications were to add white wine for the extra 1/4 cup of the stock and to add some shredded Swiss for a slightly nutty flavor. Otherwise made as written. Thank you!
Sounds delicious! Happy you enjoyed it. Thank you for commenting!