What to do with a whole leftover turkey....

[Turkeycondundrum]

Help!

My MIL bought an absolutely enourmous turkey even though there were only four of us to eat it. We literally have a whole turkey left. She doesn't cook meat very often and got in a bit of a panic about buying it, so just ordered blindly online. What arrived was a turkey easily enough for 11/12 people!!!

She has given us the 'leftovers'.

We are out all day today and not home till later this evening, but we have 6 people coming for lunch tomorrow.

Aside from turkey sandwiches, what on Earth can I do with the rest of this bird?! It seems so wasteful to be thinking about throwing it away, but I cannot fathom how we can use it all before it goes off. I'm assuming it will only be good for another day or so anyway!

Coronation turkey? Curry? Cold meat and baked potatoes with salad and chutney? Turkey and ham pie?

You can Freeze pies if you make extra.

Big curry? Big pie?

Cut into chunks and freeze it in bags. Put the weight on the bag. Use over next few months for curry, pies, etc.

This Jamie Oliver pie is lovely
www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/turkey-recipes/turkey-and-sweet-leek-pie/

Serve it cold with hot whatever you would normally eat. Roast/chips plus veg.
Or with a salad.

Portion it up into sandwich bags and freeze. They come in handy for quick meals.

I fancy Coronation turkey now ive read it.

Carve and freeze. Will be great for anything you normally use chicken for. Pies, sarnies, curry, stir fry, risotto, fajitas. If you slice reasonably small it’ll defrost really quickly once you need it.

I'm going to have to go out and buy lots of things to make pie etc.... Not really sure I've got time, or that I want to be doing that this evening!

Can I freeze it in portions and defrost it for pie etc in the next few months? I assume i would just defrost in the fridge overnight as use as normal?

Pies. I had heaps leftover one year and made a gazillion individual pies, turkey in a cranberry gravy/sauce with creme fraiche from memory (got the recipe from the internet at the time). Cooked and then froze. Defrosted and ate them cold on picnics and heated up as a meal. Very nice but we were glad when they had all been exhausted .

Can I freeze it in portions and defrost it for pie etc in the next few months?

Can’t see why not. Defrost and make dishes/pies fresh and eat at the time. Sounds good.

Freeze.

I ordered our usual size for when we entertain 8 even though there are only 3.5 of us this year.

Last night I froze 2 bags of nice sliced turkey breast, and 2 tubs of bits and bobs. I've still a lot out but by the time it has done lunch and supper for 2 days it will mainly be gone.

The sliced breast will come out for sandwiches or similar. The tubs will each turn into a turkey lasagne. Yum.

How long can I keep it as it is in the fridge? Will it be ok till tomorrow to eat and to freeze?

Freezer dark meat for pies, slice white meat for sandwiches.

Yes it'll be fine to eat tomorrow, and the day after and the day after that. Lucky you! Cold turkey with cranberry, baked potatoes and salad. Curry?

I don't think the crown has any dark meat - I could be wrong though!

Great ideas here :) am going to see it as a challenge to use it all up and save ourselves a bit of money off the weekly shop in the process. I reckon if we freeze it in portions we would have enough for about 6 decent sized meals. Maybe even more. There is a LOT!

Turkey sandwiches today and cold turkey tomorrow. Will make some coronation turkey ntoo and save freeze the rest for pies and curries in the weeks that follow.

We are hosting next year though and I've already said to DH we will not be doing turkey!

Can I freeze it in portions and defrost it for pie etc in the next few months?

Yes.

How long can I keep it as it is in the fridge?

It'll be good until Friday so long as it was cooked yesterday and your fridge is below 5 degrees. You can freeze any left overs on Friday.

If it was only a turkey crown you definitely don't have 'literally' a 'whole turkey' left! There is masses of meat on the legs, plus the oyster pieces etc.
Should be fine 3-4 days in the fridge, but if freezing, the sooner the better.
Freeze in small packages so you only need to defrost what you actually want.

I like a turkey stir fry. After eating lots of rich food it can be nice to eat a stir fry on the 27th that has lots of fresh veggies. We'll be splitting our left overs so we have curry today and stir fry tomorrow.

I did a turkey chilli one year that was nice. Also turkey curry.

We got a huge crown too as I’m always worried we won’t have enough for sandwiches after. We have tons! Planning lots of turkey sandwiches which are my fave bit of Xmas. With lots of stuffing. Yum.

I agree about stripping all the meat off the carcass and having a mix of slices and chopped up pieces to freeze in portions.

Things to can make with the meat include, turkey & mushroom risotto, turkey curry, turkey in white wine sauce served with rice or used to fill vol aux vent cases, pasta Alfredo, add to winter vegetables soup, heat up in gravy as the base for a quick mid week roast dinner.

Turkey and Leek pie nice or layer a pie crust with a layer of turkey, then stuffing, ham and repeat add some gravy and top with pastry.

Or you could put some slices of turkey and in some gravy and use it as a quick roast dinner.

Cook some potatoes and mash with veg and make bubble and squeak, and serve with cold meat or even just with a fried or poached egg on top. You can even freeze as patties for a future date.

Best to freeze asap. Get it all of the bone (is there one in a "crown"?) chop into slices or chunks, and freeze all except what you want to today/tomorrow.

off not of. FFS.

Jamie's pie, as mentioned by a pp, is amazing. Ready made pastry, leeks and some bacon are all you really need.