Leftover Turkey Curry Recipe – The perfect post Christmas dish, easy, quick, deliciously tasty. It uses the cold, cooked turkey from your roast for a really special curry.
I love Christmas food, but surely, one of the best bits is the leftovers isn’t it? This is the meal that keeps on giving!
Apart from bubble and squeak, one of my favourite Christmas dishes is this leftover Turkey Curry recipe.
It’s easy, quick, healthy (no cream!) and packed with veg, for a dose of goodness after all of those mince pies.
You’ll love this Turkey Curry recipe because:
✅ The perfect home for your Christmas leftovers.
✅ Uses store cupboard and freezer ingredients.
✅ An added dose of vegetables after festive excess!
FAQs about Turkey Curry
How do you make Turkey Curry?
You make a simple curry sauce with onions, garlic, ginger, turmeric, curry powder and passata.
Along with the sauce goes in butternut squash (or whichever similar vegetable you fancy), plus the leftover turkey, lentils and spinach.
I also add in some mango chutney for sweetness.
It’s so simple to make and really delicious. Perfect for the whole family.
Can I freeze this recipe?
Technically you shouldn’t reheat food more than once, so if your turkey was roasted on Christmas Day, it was then reheated in this curry, you shouldn’t freeze and reheat again.
All that said, I have done it before and been fine. If you want to make it to freeze, just omit the turkey at Step 4, and add it in when the whole sauce is cold and then freeze. That way it hasn’t been reheated and is safe to reheat after defrosting.
Fancy some other Storecupboard meal inspiration?
- One Pan Sausage Pasta – SO tasty and all cooked in one pan.
- Oven Baked Risotto – The classic, but with NO stirring.
- Grilled Halloumi Cheese Bake – The BEST squeaky cheese make.
Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. I’d love to know how you got on and what you thought of it if you make this Easy Leftover Turkey Curry Recipe recipe. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ by the recipe.
Also, if you’d like to show me a photo by tagging me on Instagram (@tamingtwins) I LOVE to see your creations.
This post was originally published on Dec 26, 2016 and updated with new photos on Dec 7, 2021.
Leftover Turkey Curry Recipe
Leftover Turkey Curry Recipe - The perfect post Christmas dish, easy, quick, deliciously tasty. This wholesome turkey curry has added lentils, butternut squash and spinach for a dose of extra goodness.
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons Olive Oil
- 250 g Chopped onions I cheated and used frozen for speed, if using fresh this will be about 2 medium onions
- 1 tablespoon Chopped garlic again I used frozen, this would be about 3 gloves
- 1 tablespoon Grated ginger again I used frozen, this would be about a 1 inch piece of fresh
- 150 g Curry paste Whichever type you like
- 500 g Butternut squash cubed (again, I used frozen!)
- 400 g Tinned tomatoes
- 500 ml Vegetable stock
- 100 g Red lentils
- 500 g Leftover turkey
- 4 tbsp Mango chutney
- 200 g Baby spinach
To Serve:
- Rice poppadoms, more mango chutney
Instructions
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Heat the oil in a large pan over a low heat.
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Add the onions, garlic, ginger, tumeric and curry powder and cook gently for about 15 minutes until sticky and meltingly soft.
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Add the butternut squash, passata and about half of the stock. Add the lentils, stir well and pop a lid on. Leave to cook down for about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally and add more of the stock as and when needed.
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When the lentils and butternut squash are soft and cooked through, add in the turkey and mango chutney. Cook for a further 5 - 10 minutes, again, adding a splash more stock when needed.
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Turn off the heat, add the spinach and pop the pan lid on for 5 minutes until wilted.
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Serve with rice, poppadoms and more mango chutney. (You could garnish with coriander if you're that way inclined.)
I’ve had this Le Crueset dish for about 2 years and it’s still in its box so perfect reason so unpack it!
Sarah this looks delicious! Love that it has so much goodness in it too, perfect after all my Christmas indulgence!
I have nightmares about turkey curry and turkey stew. We lived off the stuff after Xmas each year as children for literally months. It was always yellow, always with less meat than the last meal and always with added potatoes or vegetables to bulk it out. BUT, this could get rid of those nightmares. It looks lush and a great use of leftovers x
I’ve made it this morning for little Ralph and he loves it! Fantastic recipe 😋😋
Winner winner turkey leftovers 😉
Introduced to your Instagram by my lovely daughter in law, Sarah. Fantastic recipe and so easy to follow. Delicious and will definitely do it again. Thanks xx