Leftover Thanksgiving or Christmas Turkey Sandwich Recipes

Thanksgiving or Christmas - depending upon where you are in the world - will very often see a large turkey purchased to feed the family. The bird will be carefully roasted and prepared for the meal on the big day but no matter how hungry the diners are, there are inevitably a reasonable quantity of leftovers. This can see turkey being eaten for several days afterwards in the form of soup, pies, curries, or perhaps most commonly of all, sandwiches.

While a turkey sandwich can be enjoyable on occasion, eating the exact same creation several times in a short space of time can become tiresome and off-putting. The purpose of this page is to look at some ways in which the humble turkey sandwich can easily be made more interesting and appealing than in its basic form. The suggestions start at the simplistic end of the scale and proceed to become a little bit more imaginative. If you are looking for ideas for using up leftover turkey next Thanksgiving or Christmas, why not either give one of these options a go, or let them help inspire you to develop your own innovative turkey sandwich creations?

There are a couple of tips for making turkey sandwiches which you may want to take in to consideration. The first is to take the turkey from the fridge about an hour before you intend making the sandwiches. This is especially beneficial where the turkey is to be incorporated as is on the sandwich - ie, cold.

The second tip also relates particularly to where the turkey is not being reheated. This tip is that turkey thigh and leg/drumstick meat is likely to be more moist when cold than breast meat. Where you have considerable leftovers of all types and are making a number of sandwiches, you may therefore find it best to use the breast for reheats and the leg and thigh in other instances.

Prep time: 5 min

Cook time: 1 min

Ready in: 6 min

Yields: 2 wraps

• Handful of fresh water cress, washed and roughly chopped
• 2" piece of cucumber, chopped in to crescent shapes
• 3 small cherry tomatoes, washed and halved
• Handful of roughly chopped leftover turkey
• 2 tortilla wraps
• Sweet and spicy chilli sauce

1. Add the watercress, tomatoes and cucumber to a bowl. Season and stir carefully by hand to combine.
2. Mix the turkey through the salad.
3. Put a dry frying pan on to reach a high heat. The wraps should be heated for seven or eight seconds each side, one at a time.
4. Lay the turkey and salad on the wraps as shown in the photo above. Drizzle with the sweet chilli sauce and wrap to serve.

Prep time: 5 min

Ready in: 5 min

Yields: One serving

• 2 slices of bread
• 2 teaspoons of cream cheese
• 3 slices of turkey thigh (or as required)
• Half a pack of potato chips/crisps

1. Spread one side of each slice of bread with cream cheese.
2. Lay the turkey slices on top of the cream cheese on one slice of bread.
3. Place the second type of bread on top, press down gently and slice in half to serve.

Prep time: 5 min

Cook time: 4 min

Ready in: 9 min

Yields: One toasted sandwich

• 2 slices of bread
• Butter
• 2 tablespoons chopped leftover turkey
• 1 small egg, beaten
• Pinch of dried sage
• Salt and pepper

1. Put your sandwich toaster on to pre-heat.
2. Butter each slice of bread on one side only.
3. Add the sage to the beaten egg and season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
4. Lay the first slice of bread on the heated sandwich toaster, buttered side down.
5. Arrange the turkey on top of the bread in the sandwich toaster.
6. Carefully pour as much of the beaten egg as is required over the turkey. You may not need all of it.
7. Sit the second slice of bread on top, buttered side uppermost.
8. Close the toaster and cook for about four minutes or until done as required.
9. Use a spatula to lift the toasted sandwich to a chopping board. Leave to cool for two or three minutes before slicing to serve.

The vegetables in this stir fry came prepared and packaged. They consisted of bean sprouts, cabbage, carrot and onion.

Prep time: 5 min

Cook time: 5 min

Ready in: 10 min

Yields: 2 wraps

• Handful of leftover turkey meat
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• Generous handful of mixed stir fry vegetables
• 1 5oz sachet Peking lemon stir fry sauce
• 2 tortilla wraps

1. Heat the wok until it is smoking hot and add the vegetable oil. Stir fry the turkey for about a minute until it is fully heated through. You could - if you wish - heat it a little longer to crisp it up on the outside.
2. Add the vegetables to the wok and stir fry for another minute.
3. Pour in the Peking lemon sauce and stir fry until the sauce is bubbling rapidly.
4. Heat the wraps as described on the packet for a few seconds each side in a dry frying pan.
5. Lay the stir fry on the wraps as shown in the photos, fold, roll and serve.

Note: The bacon used in this recipe is standard American bacon but that which is known as smoked streaky bacon in the UK.

Prep time: 5 min

Cook time: 5 min

Ready in: 10 min

Yields: One sandwich

• 3 slices of bacon
• Vegetable oil for frying
• 3 slices leftover turkey thigh meat
• 2 slices of bread
• 2oz cheddar cheese, coarsely grated
• Pinch of dried sage
• Black pepper

1. Pour a little vegetable oil in to a non-stick frying pan and bring up to a medium heat.
2. Fry the bacon for a couple of minutes each side or until done as required. Drain on kitchen paper.
3. Put your overhead grill/broiler on to preheat.
4. Fry the turkey slices for about thirty seconds each side, just to heat through. Again, drain on kitchen paper.
5. Lay the bacon slices on one slice of bread and top with the turkey. Scatter over the cheese and season with the sage and black pepper.
6. Put the creation on a grilling pan and heat until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Remove to a chopping board with a spatula.
7. Place the second slice of bread on top and slice in half diagonally.