9 Creative Ways to Cook a Whole Turkey

Perhaps you head to your parents’ or the in-laws’ for Thanksgiving and other holiday meals, where someone else cooks and carves the turkey. Maybe you’d also like to cook a whole turkey at home (and have a few leftovers to play with), but it’s way too much meat for your little family.

Here’s my proposed solution: go ahead and purchase a fresh turkey and then make four or five recipes with it. When properly sourced from a reliable butcher (and not shot up with strange chemicals and salty brine) turkey is a delicious, lean meat, and should definitely be taken advantage of in its season.

We’re talking turkey and holiday meals for our Eat Well, Spend Less series this month and my method for serving one turkey for four (or more) meals is one way to get the most bang for your buck. Fresh turkey isn’t cheap, but by following two key rules to savvy shopping: buying in season and buying bulk (in this case, a whole bird), as well as using every scrap of your purchase, you’ve got yourself a frugal way to eat this holiday season.

Assuming you have your fresh, whole turkey, the first step is to partially break it down into various components because you don’t want to roast the whole bird and then eat it slowly over a week-long period as it gets drier and drier. No way.

You’ll cook the breast first, for your ‘fancy’ meal if you like, and freeze the legs for later. From the breast, you’ll also enjoy panini with the leftovers. The scraps will go into a stock, which you’ll later use for a simple turkey noodle soup. Sound good? Let’s do the prep in 3 steps.

TIP: If your butcher is really awesome (and he should be!) you can ask him to break down the turkey for you, which is most of steps 1 and 2

Step 1: With a sharp knife, remove the wings tips (at the first joint), neck, and the ‘Pope’s nose’ (sorry, my Dad’s irreverent name for the area where the tail once was). Reach inside the bird and remove the organs from the cavity. Go ahead and get your turkey stock going with all of these scraps.

Step 2: On a sturdy cutting board, and with a sharp knife, remove the legs from the turkey. This is exactly the same way as you would remove legs from a whole chicken.

Step 3: Wrap the turkey legs well in plastic wrap and freeze for another meal. Strain that stock, and you’re ready to proceed with any of the four recipes below.

Cooking a whole turkey can seem like an intimidating task, especially if you’re not feeding a crowd. However, there are plenty of delicious ways to prepare turkey that don’t involve roasting a bird for Thanksgiving. Whether you bought a whole turkey on sale, raised your own, or received one as a gift, you have options beyond the traditional roasted turkey.

Here are 9 creative ways to cook a whole turkey for smaller households

1. Make Turkey Tacos

Shred or chop cooked turkey and use it to make tacos, burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas, or any other Mexican dish. Top with your favorite taco fixings like lettuce, tomato, cheese, salsa, guacamole, etc. The flavors of the spices and toppings will give new life to the leftover turkey.

2. Use it for Casseroles or Pot Pies

Cook a whole turkey, then use the meat to prepare casseroles like turkey tetrazzini or pot pies. Casseroles and pot pies allow you to stretch the turkey into multiple meals. Plus, they freeze well for future meals.

3. Cook Once, Eat Twice with Soup

After cooking and carving the turkey, simmer the bones,Connective tissues, and excess meat to make broth. Use this Turkey broth as the base for soups like turkey noodle soup or turkey and wild rice soup. The delicious Turkey flavor will come through in the broth.

4. Make Turkey Salad

Chop or shred turkey meat and mix it with mayonnaise, mustard, celery, onion, cranberries, almonds, or any other ingredients you enjoy. You can serve the salad stuffed in a hollowed out tomato or avocado, on bread or lettuce for sandwiches, or on its own as a side dish.

5. Turkey Stir Fry

Cut turkey into strips or bite-sized pieces and stir fry it with sliced veggies like onions, carrots, broccoli, bell peppers, snap peas, etc Serve over rice for a satisfying, one-skillet meal. The stir fry cooking method will give the turkey a bit of a new taste and texture

6. Cook it on the Grill

For a smoky savory flavor cook a spatchcocked turkey on the grill. Butterflying the turkey helps it cook more quickly and evenly. Use wood chips on the grill for extra smoke flavor. Brush the turkey with barbecue or teriyaki sauce during the last 10-15 minutes of grilling.

7. Make Turkey Burgers

Ground leftover turkey into patties and grill or pan-fry into burgers. Top with cheese, lettuce, tomato, avocado, or anything else you enjoy on a burger. The ground turkey will have a texture and richness similar to beef burgers.

8. Turkey Fried Rice

Chop cooked turkey into bite-sized pieces or shred it into strands. Stir fry it with cooked rice, frozen peas and carrots, scrambled eggs, soy sauce, and other veggies you enjoy. The turkey fried rice makes for a fast weeknight meal.

9. Turkey Enchiladas

Mix shredded turkey with enchilada sauce, salsa, beans, corn, cumin, chili powder, etc. and roll up in tortillas. Top with more enchilada sauce and cheese before baking until hot and bubbly. The Mexican flavors complement the turkey wonderfully.

With a little creativity, you can transform a whole cooked turkey into all kinds of delicious dishes. Don’t let cooking a whole turkey intimidate you. Instead, get excited for the variety of meals you can create with the leftovers! Which way of using up a whole turkey sounds tastiest to you?

what to do with a whole turkey

Eat Well, Spend Less: One Turkey, Four Meals

I made this recipe from Shania over at Food for My Family and it did not disappoint. Simple and sensational, it made the perfect amount of roast turkey for about 6 people with leftovers for panini.

I’m crazy about cooking with fresh herbs, especially when paired with poultry, and loved that Shaina used sage and thyme to perfume her turkey. The breadcrumbs on the outside crisped up beautifully and added a nice texture to the oftentimes boring turkey breast.

Get the recipe: Mustard-Crusted Turkey Breast

Why not go with classic comfort food when you cook your turkey legs? This recipe for Roasted Chicken and Root Vegetables can easily be made with turkey legs for a quick, one-pot dinner.

If you’ve frozen your turkey legs, be sure to thaw them overnight in the refrigerator before cooking. Pat them dry with a paper towel and they are ready for roasting.

Get the recipe: Roasted Turkey Legs with Winter Root Vegetables

Alternatively, throw everything from the above recipe in your crock-pot, add 1 quart of chicken stock plus enough water to cover (a splash of white wine too) and cook for 8 or so hours into a hearty turkey-vegetable stew.

Photo by Tim Chin

This popular sandwich uses the leftover sliced turkey from the mustard-crusted turkey breast. You can also use any roast turkey (or chicken) you have on hand. I recently made these hot sandwiches for a casual bistro-style lunch and served them with French Onion Soup. It made a perfect autumnal meal.

Recipe: Turkey, Arugula & Havarti Panini

You don’t really need me to tell you how to make a panini, but I’ll give my tips.

Start with the best bread you can source. I use a long ciabatta loaf or two.
Slice the turkey thin and layer it between the best cheese you have on hand. We love Havarti, Monterey Jack and Provolone for panini.
If you use a rich, buttery cheese such as Havarti, don’t butter the bread or your panini will be too greasy.
Let the paninis cook slowly (I use a Breville Smart Grill). Mine go almost ten minutes and this ensures they are hot right through to the center.
Jazz up your meat and cheese panini with a handful of fresh arugula or spinach.
Serve with a side of cranberry sauce and pickled red onions.

We’ve just come through a rough bout of head colds and this soup nourished us time and time again. I was so grateful for the several liters of turkey stock in my freezer, because once you have that, the soup comes together quickly, even if you are feeling under the weather.

I can’t think of a better way to put my turkey leftovers to good use and hope you’ll give it a try. Use whatever noodles you have around to round out the soup. Broken lasagna shards, whole wheat macaroni, and chopped spaghetti all made it into our bowls last week and were topped with the soup.

My apologies for the lack of a photo, but I was more concerned with nourishing my sick body (no cold meds for this pregnant lady) than snapping photos of my bowl!