Since the dinner crowd this year was likely your own household, there wasn’t much option of sending turkey home with guests. Delivering turkey dinner to neighbors who were alone, or unable to have a big meal would be a thoughtful day-of option. Still have turkey leftovers? Follow me for favorite, quick, leftover-anytime options.
Quick Leftover Fried Rice
I love making fried rice as a leftover user! It calls for things that we always have on hand: veggies, egg, meat, rice or cauliflower, and seasonings. As far as holiday meals, this recipe is great for using veggie tray leftovers and leftover holiday meats like chicken, turkey, or ham. Hubby and I prefer using cauliflower rice, but this isn’t the kiddos favorite, so I often make a pot of rice for them to serve with fried “rice”. Lately, I have been doing traditional fried rice without the cauliflower. Likely, because I am not frequenting the grocery store as often, and because my cauliflower did not have a good year in the garden. Oh well…
Turkey Fried Rice
Notes
This recipe is easily halved and adjusted according to taste. Please cook your rice ahead of time -leftover rice is great, and what we usually use. It is best to have cooled, cooked rice available for this recipe.
If you are using cauliflower rice, add in when cooked rice would be and cook until tender.
Ingredients
- 2 Tbls sesame or olive oil (sesame is preferred as it adds great flavor to this recipe)
- 1 small diced onion
- 2 Cups chopped veggies (carrots, celery, snap peas, broccoli, cauliflower work well)
- 1-2 Cups chopped, cooked meat or other protein (chicken, turkey, ham, or firm tofu)
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp powdered ginger
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/4 Cup soy sauce (we use gluten-free tamari)
- 2 cups cooked, cooled rice
Instructions
- Heat oil in wok or other large pan suitable for frying on medium high. Add in onions and cook for a couple minutes until start to become slightly browned. Add in meat and cook with onions for a minute or so, then add in rest of veggies and stir. While these are cooking, add in your red pepper flakes and ginger powder. Stir well to keep from sticking too much to the bottom of the pan. Next, scoot all the veggies, etc. over to the side as best you can, and crack the eggs into the available pan space. Stir until eggs are cooked and mix into veggies/meat. Add the rice to the pan mixture and stir. Quickly, add the soy or tamari sauce and distribute throughout the pan. Cook until rice is heated back up and serve.
Do you still have turkey leftovers??
Me too. Now it’s time for a good old stand-by. Turkey Soup with Rice, total comfort food. This recipe could be easily turned into Turkey Noodle Soup by adding pre-cooked pasta instead of rice. The nice thing about this recipe is that it offers a basic structure with room for “creativity”. You could add some extra veggies or, yum, bacon in the initial sauté. Or, use veggie broth and skip the meat to make this a vegan soup. Mix up the rice type you use, or as mentioned before, swap the rice for pasta in any shape. I really like using a rice blend because of the textures it offers. We used and enjoyed this blend. So many possibilities! Here is the recipe I used and it was really good, but feel free to make it your own.
Turkey Soup with Rice
Ingredients
- 2 Tbls olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 3 ribs celery (more if you really like), sliced
- 3 medium to large carrots, sliced
- 2-3 small sprigs of fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 2 cups cooked, chopped turkey
- 8 cups turkey broth (we used homemade bone broth)
- 3 cups cooked rice blend
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in 5-6 quart pot on medium-high until it runs quickly. Add your onions, celery, and carrots (mirepoix), and sauté for 2-3 minutes, until onions just begin to turn translucent. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the veggies and stir to mix. Add in the thyme sprigs and cover the pot for about 5 minutes to sweat the veggies. Uncover and add turkey. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add in rice and simmer for 5-10 minutes. If needed, add salt and pepper to taste.