Christmas dinner (or Thanksgiving) usually means leftover turkey and this super easy curry is a great way to use up that delicious meat. There are also some other super ideas for leftovers here too from other bloggers from soup to pot pie and more.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- This is such a super easy turkey curry recipe.
- It’s a great way to use up leftover curry
- All the other ingredients for this curry are basic store-cupboard goodies
While there is nothing quite like a huge doorstep-sized turkey sandwich, oozing with cranberry sauce and groaning under the weight of all the stuffing you rammed in there, there are other slightly more creative ways to recycle your bird. So I thought I’d ask some of my lovely blogger friends how they like to use their turkey leftovers.
They shared everything from soups to pies, but one I just felt had to be added in was Turkey Curry for who can forget the opening scenes of the very first Bridget Jones movie when she attends the dreaded Turkey Curry Buffet at New Year.
So for all you Bridget fans here is my own turkey curry recipe and a some lovely links to take you straight to some more great recipes for using up those turkey leftovers.
Ingredients for leftover turkey curry
- well there is turkey of course, cooked turkey
- curry spices – I’ve used turmeric, chilli powder, ground coriander and ground cumin.
- the veg – onion and garlic for your base of course. Plus I’ve thrown in some tomatoes, cauliflower and spinach that were lurking in the fridge
- I used coconut milk too as I always have cans of that in the larder and just love the creaminess of coconut in curry
- Nuts – I adore crunch and texture especially in something like a stew or curry where there can be a lot of similar textures. Toasted flaked almonds and unsalted cashews really add flavour and crunch
- I used coconut oil for this recipe
Alternative ingredients
Use curry powder if you don’t want to mix up the spices as I’ve done here. In fact here is my recipe for how to make your own curry powder spice mix.
You can use any veggies you have hanging about instead of the cauliflower and spinach. Potatoes, carrots or parsnips would be just fine in this curry.
How to make turkey curry
Tip all the ground spices into a dry pan and gently toast for about 1 minute until they release all their wonderful aromas. Then chuck them into a mortar and pestle and grind them up with the garlic and onions to make a curry paste.
I love doing this as the smell is amazing. You really feel that you are doing hands-on cooking.
Use the same dry pan to toast the cashew nuts for about 2 minutes till lightly golden.
Add the coconut oil to the same pan and stir the curry paste around in the oil with the cashew nuts for about 3 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, cauliflower florets, turkey leftovers and coconut milk and bring to the boil for 1 minute and then lower temperature and simmer with a lid for 20 minutes.
Add the spinach for the last 5 minutes of cooking.
Serve on a bed of rice with the toasted flaked almonds on top.
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Now head on over to these super blogs below and check out their great ideas for using those turkey leftovers with style and a whole load of good taste.
TURKEY RICE SOUP from my lovely friend Tracy over in Spain at Oh The Things We’ll Make.
TURKEY POT PIE from Elaina at The Rising Spoon, while the original recipe uses chicken you can easily substitute your turkey scraps for a tasty festive treat.
TURKEY SANDWICH WITH CRANBERRY from Linda over at The Organic Kitchen.
BISCUIT TOPPED POT PIE from Quinn at Reformation Acres uses turkey as well as chicken for this great recipe.
CREAMED TURKEY OVER CORNBREAD from Quinn at Reformation Acres uses chicken or turkey for this dish.
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However you choose to deal with your turkey leftovers this year I hope you will enjoy every last mouthful!
Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.
Leftover Turkey Curry Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and crushed
- 1 onion diced
- 2 tbsp cashew nuts unsalted
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 large tomatoes peeled and chopped
- 400 g can of coconut milk
- 2 cups of turkey leftovers
- 1 cup of cauliflower florets
- 1 cup of spinach leaves
- 1 tbsp flaked toasted almonds to serve
Instructions
- Tip all the ground spices into a dry pan and gently toast for about 1 minute until they release all their wonderful aromas.
- Put the spices in a mortar and pestle and grind in the garlic and the onions to make a rough paste.
- Use the same dry pan to toast the cashew nuts for about 2 minutes till lightly golden.
- Add the coconut oil to the same pan and stir the curry paste around in the oil with the cashew nuts for about 3 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, cauliflower florets, turkey leftovers and coconut milk and bring to the boil for 1 minute and then lower temperature and simmer with a lid for 20 minutes.
- Add the spinach for the last 5 minutes of cooking.
- Serve on a bed of rice with the toasted flaked almonds on top.
Wonderful ideas! Thanks so much for sharing!
Thanks Tracy
K x
my pleasure!
K x
Never tried turkey curry before, but it sounds great! Thanks so much for sharing my soup recipe! 🙂
Hi Raia, my pleasure
K x