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After the Christmas chaos and commotion has died down and we’re left with surplus roast turkey, there’s only one thing I will do with it every year…
My Easy Leftover Turkey Curry is just about all that I can manage to summon the energy for because it’s quick and easy, but the bonus is that cold turkey makes a really special curry too!
Well we’ve eaten all the cheese we can lay our hands on, we’ve gorged on anything in pastry and chocolate, and in the days after Christmas I don’t want to look at another pig in a blanket or mince pie.
It’s time to change it up and get those different flavours and spices we’ve forgotten about for the last few weeks.
And the best thing about this recipe is, it’s an economical and easy way to use leftovers and make sure that big expensive bird we’ve worked so hard on doesn’t go to any waste!
Why you’ll love this Turkey Curry recipe
⭐️ Perfect for Christmas Dinner leftovers
⭐️ Other easy store cupboard ingredients
⭐️ An added dose of vegetables after festive excess!
Sarah’s Notes
Apart from Bubble and Squeak, one of my absolute favourite Christmas dishes is this Easy Leftover Turkey Curry.
It’s easy, quick, healthy (no cream!) and packed with veg for a dose of goodness after aaalll the calories.
I love the simplicity of being able to throw together a big pot of this at any point when I feel like I want to get off the sofa at Twixmas.
It’s also such a forgiving one-pot recipe as you can also adjust the ingredients to fit the amount of turkey you have left. You can find a slow cooker version below too if you prefer to do it that way.
Turkey Curry Ingredients
- Onions – Use frozen to save time if you have it
- Garlic and ginger – The pre-made kind or frozen is fine
- Curry paste – Use a paste to suit your own tastes and spice levels (such as korma, tikka masala etc). Check the jar for what’s considered a serving for 6 and adjust accordingly (it’s usually 1-2 tbsp per person but it may vary)
- Butternut squash – I use a 500g/1.1lb bag of frozen prepared squash here. If you’re preparing fresh, a small butternut squash will be about 500g/1.1lb after peeling and deseeding too
- Tinned tomatoes – One tin
- Vegetable stock – Made from a cube is fine
- Red lentils – The dried kind
- Leftover turkey – This recipe is for about 500g/1.1lb so alter the ingredients accordingly if you have more or less
- Mango chutney
- Baby spinach
- Sea salt
How to make Turkey Curry
1. Add the onions, garlic, ginger and curry paste to a pan with oil and cook gently.
2. Add the butternut squash, passata, about half of the stock and lentils
3. Add the turkey and mango chutney. Cook according to the recipe below.
4. Turn off the heat, add the spinach and pop the pan lid on for 5 minutes until wilted.
Hint: Stir occasionally and add more of the stock as and when needed.
Substitutions
- Vegetables – You can swap the butternut squash with other vegetables if you like, or use them all
Leftovers
In the fridge Technically, you shouldn’t reheat food more than once, according to the Food Standards Agency. So if your turkey was roasted on Christmas Day and then reheated to make this curry, really you should be eating it straight away. That said, I have done this before and it was fine, ensuring the food was piping hot.
In the freezer If you want to make this to freeze, omit the turkey at step 4, then add it to the sauce when it is cold, and then freeze. This way it hasn’t been reheated and is safe to do so after defrosting.
Recipe Tip
If you’re making this from what you have lying around in the store cupboard, don’t have curry paste and are determined not to go out to the shops for a while, you can easily make your own sauce instead.
Make it up using onions, garlic, ginger, turmeric, curry powder and passata.
FAQs
Yes! Just add everything into the slow cooker apart from the cooked turkey, spinach and mango chutney.
Put the lid on and cook for 5-6 hours on HIGH or 8-9 on LOW. Then add the turkey and cook on HIGH for 15-30 minutes until heated through.
Add the spinach and mango chutney before serving. The method can also be found in the recipe below.
I have tried-and-tested a number of one-pan pans, and I hope this review will help you! It’s so important to get a good one that works for you because they get used a lot.
I would tailor this recipe around the weight of the turkey you have as the sauce ingredients are simple and inexpensive, so it seems silly to have leave any meat to waste.
Use this recipe as a guide using 500g/1.1lb of turkey, and work out your measurements accordingly. For example, 250g of turkey means halve the ingredients, and double it instead.
Don’t forget to use the plain old taste test too. You can be a little relaxed with this dish.
It’s entirely up to you, but I love it with rice, poppadoms, yoghurt dip and naan breads.
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
Easy Leftover Turkey Curry
Ingredients
- 2 tsp Olive oil
- 2 Onions, Peeled and finely chopped
- 4 Garlic cloves, Peeled and crushed
- 1 tbsp Ginger puree, Or freshly grated ginger if you prefer
- 150 g (5 oz) Curry paste, See notes
- 500 g (1.1 lb) Butternut squash cubes, See notes
- 1 x 400 g (14.5 oz) Tin chopped tomatoes
- 500 ml (2 cups) Hot vegetable stock, Made from a cube is fine
- 100 g (3.5 oz) Dried red lentils, Rinsed
- 0.5 tsp Sea salt
- 500 g (1.1 lb) Leftover cooked turkey, Cut into 3cm chunks
- 4 tbsp Mango chutney
- 200 g (7 oz) Baby spinach
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat, add the onions, garlic, ginger and curry paste and cook gently for about 10 minutes until soft. Add the butternut squash, tomatoes, stock, lentils and salt, stir well and pop a lid on. Cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- When the lentils and butternut squash are soft and cooked through, add the turkey and mango chutney. Cook for a further 5-10 minutes until the turkey is hot through.
- Turn off the heat, add the spinach and cover for 5 minutes until wilted. Mix and serve.
To SLOW COOK:
- Add everything into the slow cooker apart from the cooked turkey, spinach and mango chutney.
- Put the lid on and cook for 5-6 hours on HIGH or 8-9 on LOW.
- Add the turkey and cook on HIGH for 15-30 minutes until heated through.
- Add the spinach and mango chutney before serving. (The heat of the curry will wilt the spinach).
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This post was originally published on December 27, 2022 and updated later to make improvements.
Delicious thanks
Leftover turkey curry
Wow! just made this tonight and was delicious, takes turkey curry to the next level!
In fact it was much nicer than a takeaway we had recently.
Thank you, this recipe is a definite keeper.