This leftover turkey casserole recipe comes with lots of appeal, combining elbow macaroni, milk, cheddar cheese and cream of chicken soup. Comfort food at its best.
Looking for a leftover turkey casserole recipe that’s not Turkey Tetrazzini? A turkey casserole recipe that is creamy, cheesy and will use up a fair chunk of that Thanksgiving roast turkey?
Made with cream of chicken soup and topped with toasted Panko bread crumbs. Creamy and cheesy, this casserole uses elbow macaroni and leftover turkey from your Thanksgiving feast. It’s simply crazy delicious.
Straight out of the church cookbook that my Mom’s WWT committee put together over thirty years ago, the title of the recipe is Turkey Supreme.
As with all church cookbooks, it’s full of good old fashioned comfort food and farm cooking. Just like I grew up on. And a great resource for those casserole recipes made with “cream of” soups.
How to Make Turkey Casserole with Leftovers
This is a unique turkey casserole recipe, because the casserole sits overnight in the refrigerator.
The next day, when you’re ready to cook the casserole, the macaroni has softened due to the milk and soup. This means fewer pans to clean up. It’s somewhat of a one pan meal.
- Cube leftover Thanksgiving Turkey into bite-sized pieces
- Saute the chopped onion stove top. The recipe in the church cookbook doesn’t take the extra step to cook the onion first. It’s just a technique I always do for a milder sweeter onion flavor. You can skip this step if you want.
- In a bowl whisk the milk, the cream of chicken soup, and the chopped onion together.
- Place the elbow macaroni (shell macaroni would also work nicely here) evenly on the bottom of a Pam sprayed 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
- Sprinkle on the cubed turkey and then pour in the milk/soup/onion mixture.
- Cover and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator.
- The next day, sprinkle with cheese and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until thick, bubbly and wonderfully creamy.
- While the casserole is cooking, toast Panko bread crumbs.
- Once the casserole is cooked, and while hot and steamy, sprinkle the toasted Panko bread crumbs evenly over the top of the casserole.
- Serve with a tossed green salad.
Can You Freeze Turkey Casserole?
This recipe makes enough for an army, especially when there’s just the two of us. So you bet, yes you can freeze turkey casserole. Thank goodness!
Can You Reheat Turkey Casserole?
Absolutely. But with any casserole of this type, that includes a pasta product, the pasta, as it sits, will continue to soak up some of that liquid.
The casserole may be prone to drying out a tad. You can reheat the casserole directly in baking dish. Just pour a little milk over the top, gently push it around so the milk sill seep into the casserole and reheat in the oven. Covered with foil, and at 300 degrees. This will take about twenty minutes, depending on how much is left.
You can reheat turkey casserole by dishing up individual servings on a microwave safe plate. Again, pour a little bit of milk over the individual serving turkey casserole and cover with parchment or your handy plastic microwave lid. About 45 seconds will heat the casserole nicely.
Turkey Supreme Recipe
I hope you give this leftover turkey casserole recipe a try, and if you do, please come back and give the recipe a star rating. And leave a comment about your experience with the recipe.
And if you have a favorite leftover turkey casserole recipe, let me know, I’d love to give it a try.
More Comfort Food Casseroles
- Grandpa Johnson’s Potato Casserole with Corn Flakes
- Pheasant Hunter’s Sausage Egg Breakfast Casserole
- Mexican Casserole with Ground Beef
- Three Cheese Baked Egg Casserole
- Low Carb Turkey Casserole with Cauliflower Rice and Mushrooms
Turkey Supreme, Leftover Turkey Casserole
Equipment
- 9 x 13 casserole dish
Ingredients
- 2 cups Turkey cooked, cut into bite sized cubes
- 1 small sweet onion diced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups elbow macaroni uncooked
- 2 10.5 ounce Cream of Chicken Soup canned
- 1 cup cheddar cheese grated
- 2 cups milk
- 3 tablespoons butter
- For the crunchy panko topping
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 4 ounces Panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
Instructions
- Cut cooked turkey into bite sized cubes. Set aside
- Heat a medium fry pan over medium high heat. Add butter. Once butter has just melted and starting to sizzle, add the chopped onion. Saute until soft and just starting to turn translucent. About 5 minutes.
- Spray a 9 x 13 Pyrex Baking dish with Pam.
- Spread the uncooked elbow macaroni over the bottom of the baking dish.
- Spread the cubed turkey over the elbow macaroni.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the milk and the cream of chicken soup. Add the cooked onion and stir.
- Pour the soup/milk/onion mixture over the turkey and macaroni.
- Cover and let sit in refrigerator overnight.
- The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread the grated cheese over the top of the casserole and bake uncovered for up to an hour. Or until bubbly and hot.
- In the meantime, make the panko bread crumbs.
- Heat a medium fry pan over medium high heat. Add the butter. Once the butter has almost melted and starting to sizzle, add the panko bread crumbs and seasoning. Turn the heat down to medium. Toast the panko until golden brown. This will require constant supervision and lots of stirring.
- Once the casserole is cooked, sprinkle the toasted panko bread crumbs evenly on top. Serve. A tossed salad is a perfect side dish for this casserole.
Nutrition
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This is exactly the recipe I had on my mind for my leftover turkey. The other recipes in the email I received also look amazing!
I’ll be making it Sunday or Monday and I can’t wait to enjoy it with my Family.
With the colder weather moving in I’m seeing more and more comfort food and if this doesn’t scream comfort food, nothing does. What a delicious dish!
Hi MJ! Fall is my favorite foodie season. And yes, bring on that turkey and all its leftovers. 🙂
Fun dish! I make chicken/turkey tetrazzini sometimes with leftover poultry, but this looks like such a nice change. Loads of flavor, and easy — but then, that’s what casseroles are all about! Good recipe — thanks.
Thank you John! It is a very easy recipe.
You are so funny, because I just made turkey tetrazinni. And I don’t even know how to spell it. But this sounds so much better!
Ha! I always have to look up how to spell it.
We have several of those old cookbooks put out by organizations and they seem to always have great recipes, like the one you used.
Absolutely and they’re good reading, especially the “salad” section. Chock full of jello salads, talk about a walk down memory lane.
Such an interesting technique and it sounds delicious! Thanks for the mention for my low-carb turkey casserole.
You’re so welcome Kalyn! Make it a delicious day.