When it’s my turn to cook the turkey for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter, I almost always cook a larger bird than I need so that I have lots of leftovers. There are so many things you can do with turkey leftovers, but before you get out your favourite recipes, be sure to follow these safety tips:
Is It Safe To Cook Stuffing In A Turkey?
PS: Visit Health Canada for more helpful tips on storing your leftover turkey safely.
Want Answers To More Of Your Turkey Questions?
Do I Need To Baste The Turkey?
Is It Safe To Cook Stuffing Inside The Turkey?
Did You Know You Can Do This When Buying Your Turkey?
I grew up balancing holidays between my mom, my dad, and even my stepfather and my stepmother’s families. I learned to eat my favourite things at each house (instead of filling up on everything at every meal) and became a master scheduler for every holiday. When my husband and I decided to move our family out West all of a sudden, it was just the five of us and the idea of cooking a turkey for only a few of us seemed ridiculous. I wish I had come up with this recipe back then. Making Turkey Dinner in the slow cooker would have saved me a ton of time, especially when my daughter requested “Turkey, Stuffing, and Gravy” for her birthday dinner.
Simply cut up and toast your bread.
Mix up your stuffing ingredients (clearly I was doing this early in the morning as my kitchen was very sunny).
Add the turkey to the slow cooker.
Top with stuffing mixture.
Cook on low for 6 hours. Then carefully remove the turkey.
Mix up the stuffing to combine all the dry bits and the super-moist bits.
Don't forget to whip up some mashed potatoes and gravy near the end of the cooking time, and voila!
Ingredients:
1 loaf of day-old bread, cubed (either left out over night or toasted in the oven on a baking sheet) (I used a loaf of fresh French bread from my grocery store bakery)
2 stalks celery, sliced
½ white onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
½ tsp. poultry seasoning
½ tsp. salt
¼ cup butter, melted
1 to 1 ½ cups chicken stock (depending on how moist you like your stuffing)
½ cup white wine
1 turkey breast
2 turkey drumsticks
Directions:
Place bread, celery, onion, garlic, poultry seasoning, salt, and melted butter in large bowl. Stir until combined.
Add chicken stock and white wine. Stir until combined.
Place some stuffing on the bottom of the slow cooker (just enough to cover the bottom), sprayed generously with non-stick cooking spray (be sure to spray bottom and sides) and arrange turkey pieces in slow cooker.
Top with remaining stuffing, cover with lid, and cook on low for 6 hours.
Serve with mashed potatoes and gravy (made from a package or using your favourite recipe) and any of your other holiday “fixings.”
PS: If you like using your slow cooker or if you need a little encouragement, here are some helpful tips and some of my favourite recipes.
PPS: Be sure to check out how I roast a whole turkey dinner and what I do with all the leftovers.
Does your family fight over the drumsticks?
Do you find yourself constantly refilling the “dark meat” turkey platter?
Do you buy the biggest turkey you can only to have bigger drumsticks and still find you don’t have enough?
Do you wish you had more dark meat leftovers for soups, stews, and other yummy turkey leftover favourites?
Well, here’s a handy little tip my Dad taught me only last year (no idea why it took him so long to enlighten me!). When you order your turkey from the butcher you can actually request EXTRA DRUMSTICKS.
Last year I ordered a 20lb. turkey and four (yes 4!) extra drumsticks, which came packaged separately when I picked up my turkey. I just threw the drumsticks in the roasting pan with the turkey and cooked, basted, and foiled normally.
Needless to say, the dark-meat fans in my family were thrilled and my favourite leftover turkey recipes were even better, because I had the perfect ratio of leftover dark to leftover white turkey meat.
Want Answers To More Of Your Turkey Questions?
How Big Of A Turkey Should I Buy?
Do I Need To Baste The Turkey?
Is It Safe To Cook Stuffing Inside The Turkey?
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