Preserve Your Leftover Turkey
Edited by Deepthi Gottumukkala, Eng, Lynn, Alma and 2 others
Cooked turkey, served it to your family and still have a lot left over?
It is important to serve the cooked turkey within two hours. Otherwise it easily assimilates bacteria at room temperature. The leftover turkey, stuffing and gravy can be refrigerated and preserved. Here is how:
Preserving the leftover turkey
- 1Take your leftover turkey.
- 2If you want to keep it hot, store it in the oven at a temperature of 200 degrees.Remove the stuffing from the bird.
- 3Until the meat reaches 40 degrees, the bacteria will keep on multiplying.Once you put the turkey in the refrigerator, see that it gets cooled rapidly.
- 4If you have a lot of meat left over, place it in several smaller dishes instead of a larger one. This will help it to cool down rapidly.For proper cooling, remove the stuffing as well as the leftover meat from the bones.
- 5Tightly cover the containers.
- 6The stuffing and gravy should be used within a day or so.You can keep the leftover turkey in the refrigerator for three or four days.
How to Serve your Turkey Differently
Not everybody know that Turkey can be made into meatloaf. It works really well and tastes really good too! This recipe is very healthy as it contains a lot of fibers in it, can be eaten smoking hot or even cold straight from the fridge. It really depends on your preferences. By the way, you could even modify this one, add a whole lot of veggies that you really like - no holds barred really!
Turkey Meatloaf Ingredients
(This recipe yields 2 servings)
- 11/2 lbs of ground turkey
- 21 piece of egg
- 31/4 cup of salsa
- 41/8 cup of diced red bell pepper
- 51/8 cup of chopped yellow bell pepper
- 61/4 cup of chopped onion
- 71/4 cup of diced celery
- 81/4 cup of oatmeal
- 92 cloves of garlic, minced
- 10A tablespoon of onion flakes
Steps
- 1Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F.
- 2In a mixing bowl, mix the ground turkey with all of the ingredients and mix them well to evenly distribute the flavor.
- 3Press the mixture firmly into a loaf pan.
- 4Bake it in the preheated oven for about 20 to 25 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean when you prick it to check.
Turkey Pasta Salad
This unique turkey recipe is very healthy. Definitely different from fat laden salads that you used to serve in your kitchen. Preserve your leftover turkey while keeping tab on your diet.
Ingredients
- 12 cups of whole grains spiral pasta noodles
Steps
- 1Cook the pasta following the package instructions.
- 2While waiting for it to cook al dente, mix the mustard, Greek yogurt, mayonnaise and white wine vinegar well in a small bowl.
- 3In a salad bowl, toss the turkey meat, drained pasta, red grapes, celery, raisins, and some of the onions well.
- 4Drizzle with dressing and toss well upon serving, sprinkle the left onions and pecans on top as well.
Turkey Wild Rice Soup
Who will not succumb to a hot bowl of healthy and yummy soup during winter time? You can not go wrong with a unique soup recipe, always worth the shot!
Ingredients
- 1Chicken broth - low sodium (about 30 ounces for 4 servings recipe)
- 22 cups of water
- 3A cup of wild rice (long grain)
- 42 and a half cup of turkey meat, cubed
- 51/2 cup of sliced mushroom
- 62 stalks of celery, julienned
- 71/2 onion, sliced finely
- 82 large carrots, sliced finely
- 91/2 cups of peas
- 101/2 tablespoon of olive oil
Steps
- 1Heat a big sauce pot on medium heat and saute onions, mushrooms and turkey meat in olive oil.
- 2Add the wild rice in and pour water, cook it as per the package instructions.
- 3In another pot, boil the water and chicken broth.
- 4As soon as it boils, add in the vegetables over and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until they are tender.
- 5Add in the rice mixture over the boiling broth with vegetables.
- 6Simmer it covered for a few minutes to let the flavors blend well.
Tips:
- You can also store the turkey meat in medium-sized zipper-type plastic bags.
- If you want to keep your turkey longer than a few days, you can freeze it. In a freezer, it will last up to three months.
- Cut the meat into slices and freeze it, if you will want to use it for sandwiches.
- Cut the turkey into cubes, if you want to use the turkey in soups.
- The stock or gravy can be frozen as well.
If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.
