This recipe for warm and cheesy Leftover Turkey Casserole is made using leftover turkey and a few pantry staples to create a fast, easy and absolutely scrumptious dish the whole family will love.
Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe
One thing is true about every Thanksgiving dinner, there are always a lot of leftovers! Even as tasty as they are, you may be craving something a little bit different after feasting on all the holiday classics. With this easy casserole, there is no need to let that turkey go to waste!
This super tasty cheesy pasta casserole only takes minutes to prepare making it a perfect weeknight dinner or a delicious one dish meal that will feed a crowd. Once you see how easy it is to make and just how quickly it’s devoured, you will be so glad you hung onto those turkey leftovers.
Another great leftover recipe is this Cranberry Jell-O Salad. It’s the perfect way to turn cranberry sauce into a sweet and delicious treat you’ll be craving all year long.
💓 Why We Love This Recipe
- A comforting and filling casserole that’s a great way to use up Thanksgiving leftovers.
- Easy recipe that uses ingredients you probably already have handy.
- Ultimate leftover thanksgiving dish that adds veggies to create a one dish meal.
- Crowd pleasing dish that is great for a potluck or to serve at any social gathering.
Recommended Tools
- Casserole Dish
- Sauté Pan
- Saucepan (for boiling pasta)
- Large Bowl
- Kitchen Knife
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
What’s Needed to Make this Turkey Casserole Recipe
For the Casserole
- Penne pasta-uncooked
- Butter
- Mushrooms, sliced
- Cream of chicken soup
- Milk
- Dried basil
- Salt
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Shredded mozzarella cheese
- Cooked turkey
- Frozen peas
- Optional: Fresh parsley, chopped for garnish
For the Topping:
- Breadcrumbs
- Butter, melted
How to Make Creamy Turkey Casserole
Step One: Cook the Pasta
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9×13 casserole dish and set aside.
- Cook pasta over medium-high heat until al dente according to package directions, drain and set aside.
Step Two: Sauté Mushrooms
- Melt butter in a medium sauté pan. Add sliced mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes or until tender.
Step Three: Assemble Casserole
- In a large bowl, add cooked pasta, cooked mushrooms, can of cream of chicken soup, milk, seasonings, turkey, frozen peas, and ½ cup of the shredded cheese. Stir to combine.
- Transfer mixture to the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese.
Step Four: Add Topping and Bake
- To make the topping, melt 2 tablespoons of butter and stir in the breadcrumbs. Sprinkle topping in an even layer on the casserole.
- Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Turn oven settings to broil and bake for an additional 5 minutes.
Easy Leftover Turkey Casserole Variations and Add-ins
- Cheese: You can use any of your favorite melty cheeses, like cheddar cheese or provolone. Hard cheeses like parmesan cheese won’t give you the same gooey cheesy sauce so you’ll want to stick with something that melts well.
- Turkey: If you’re wanting to make this casserole and don’t have leftovers, you can just roast a turkey breast and use it instead. Not a fan of turkey? No worries! You can use leftover chicken or even rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. And the great thing about this idea is you can make this casserole any time of year instead of waiting for Thanksgiving.
- Pasta: We used penne, but you can use elbow macaroni or any of your favorite pasta. For something totally different, you can use steamed white rice, brown rice or even wild rice instead of the pasta.
- Veggies: If English peas aren’t your thing, you can use chopped broccoli florets, cut green beans or even chopped fresh asparagus.
- Soup: Any creamy soup will work in this recipe to make the creamy sauce. Try using a can of cream of mushroom soup or cream of celery soup.
- Breadcrumbs: If you prefer, you can use crushed Ritz crackers or saltines instead of breadcrumbs.
- Additional flavor hack: A flavor hack for cooking pasta to add so much more flavor is to cook the pasta with some leftover chicken broth or turkey stock. Also, adding fresh herbs to the pasta water as it boils infuses the pasta with tons of flavor.
Tips for Storing Easy Turkey Casserole?
- Fridge: When cooking with leftover turkey or any poultry, keep in mind that it’s good for up to 4 days, counting the day it was originally cooked. Some people assume the clock starts over when making a leftovers casserole, but you’ll need to either eat or freeze the casserole within the same 4 days. Be sure and store it in an airtight container in the coldest part of your fridge.
- Freezer: For best results, transfer leftover casserole to a freezer safe container and double wrap it with plastic wrap. Then wrap it in a layer of aluminum foil and label it with the date. It should keep well in the freezer for up to several months.
- Reheating: After it has thawed in the fridge overnight, you can either just heat up individual portions in the microwave or put the whole casserole back in the oven. Pasta continues to soak up liquid after it’s cooked. To loosen it back up a bit, you may want to add a few tablespoons of milk and give it a good stir.
What Should I Serve with Turkey Casserole?
This delicious leftover turkey casserole recipe is so filling and with the green peas, it’s really all you need for a complete meal.
But if you’re feeding a crowd and need to make it stretch, just stick with a simple green salad, sautéed green beans or something easy that won’t keep you tied up in the kitchen for every long.
More Tasty Casserole Recipes
- Hamburger Casserole
- Pizza Casserole
- Tuna Noodle Casserole
- Jiffy Corn Casserole
- Frito Pie Casserole
- Ham and Cheese Casserole
Creamy Leftover Turkey Casserole
Ingredients
- 3 cups uncooked penne pasta
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 8 ounces mushrooms sliced
- 10.5 ounces cream of chicken soup 1 can
- 1 ⅓ cup milk
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 3 cups cooked turkey
- 1 cup frozen peas
Topping:
- ½ cup bread crumbs
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9×13” casserole dish and set aside.
- Cook pasta al dente according to package directions, drain and set aside.
- Melt butter in a medium saute pan. Add sliced mushrooms and cook for about 5 minutes or until tender.
- In a large bowl, add cooked pasta, cooked mushrooms, soup, milk, seasonings, turkey, frozen peas, and ½ cup of the shredded cheese. Stir to combine.
- Transfer mixture to prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese.
- To make the topping, melt 2 tablespoons of butter and stir in the bread crumbs. Sprinkle topping in an even layer on the casserole.
- Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Turn oven settings to broil and bake for an additional 5 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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