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    You are here: Home / Special Holidays / Thanksgiving Recipes / Turkey Recipes / Leftover Turkey Goulash

    Leftover Turkey Goulash

    19 February 2023 - By Michelle Minnaar
    This post may contain affiliate links.

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    Cozy, filling, and hearty, this turkey goulash made with leftover cooked turkey is a great way to use up your leftover bird from Thanksgiving! Leftover turkey is combined with egg noodles, canned tomatoes, spices, and vegetables for a complete meal that tastes delicious with flavors that stray from the typical day-after Thanksgiving leftovers. 

    This recipe is inspired by my leftover turkey stroganoff recipe also available on my site. For a light veggie side try my pear and rocket salad along with this warming fall dish. You can’t go wrong pairing serving up this hot stove top casserole to your family!

    This turkey goulash is great to use up turkey from Thanksgiving leftovers, but you can also use ground turkey to make it anytime of the year. Perfect to feed a large crowd with inexpensive ingredients, this dish comes together without using lots of different cooking vessels. 

    Why You’ll Love This Recipe

    • It’s a great way to use up leftovers
    • It’s delicious and comforting
    • You can easily modify the ingredients 
    • It feeds a large crowd
    • Kids love it!

    How to Make This Recipe

    cooked bowtie pasta in strainer.

    Boil the pasta according to package instructions and set aside.

    frying onion and peppers.

    Gently fry the onion, garlic, celery and green pepper.

    add mushroom to frying pan.

    Add the mushrooms and fry for another 5 minutes.

    add cooked turkey.

    Added the cooked, shredded turkey.

    add chopped tomatoes.

    Pour in chopped tomatoes and herbs.

    turkey in tomato sauce.

    Simmer for 10 minutes.

    finished turkey goulash.

    Add cooked pasta and let everything heat through for 5 minutes. Serve immediately with parmesan. Enjoy!

    Top Tip

    If you’re using leftover meat for this recipe, avoid having leftovers as reheating the meat again and again can increase your chances of food poisoning. 

    What to Serve With Your Turkey Goulash

    This filling turkey goulash dish is great on its own, but it can also be served after a delicious appetizer, along with a lighter side, or finished with a sweet treat. 

    Starters 

    • Leek and onion soup – one of my favorite healthy recipes, nothing says first course like a delicious and easy soup! This leek and onion soup is vegan and packed with flavors from the aromatics, making it a light first course. 
    • Curried butternut squash soup – another warming soup recipe, this curried butternut squash soup is delicious anytime, but especially good in the colder months. 
    • Navy Bean Soup – with only a few ingredients, navy bean soup is a perfect starter for this turkey goulash recipe. You can quickly throw together this simple soup in less than an hour!

    Sides

    • Pumpkin and feta salad – giving fall flavor vibes, this healthy pumpkin and feta salad is perfect with the flavors of turkey goulash and egg noodles. Roasted pumpkin along with feta, red onions, and walnuts meld together for a tasty side.  
    • Caramelized brussel sprouts – this caramelized brussel sprout dish is sweet and a little tangy, with a light crunch from salty pistachios. 
    • Honey roast parsnips -for more veggies, try these roasted honey roast parsnips as a side for your goulash.  

    Desserts

    • Rhubarb and pear crumble – this crowd pleasing recipe uses only a few ingredients to create a delicious dessert that is great for early fall.
    • Chocolate courgette cake – chocolatey and perfectly moist from the addition of courgette, this cake is a chocolate lovers dream and a lovely last course.
    • Filo pastry mince meat pies – this typical holiday dessert is a unique flavor that is festive enough to get you in the Christmas spirit after Thanksgiving has passed. 

    Popular Substitutions For This Recipe

    Turkey

    Trade leftover turkey for ground turkey if you aren’t using leftovers. If you choose to make this recipe with ground turkey, you can either cook the raw turkey on its own, or add the ground turkey to the pan and brown turkey it along side the onions, garlic, and other vegetables with a generous amount of salt and pepper. 

    Tomatoes

    Replace chopped tomatoes with tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, or tomato paste. Keep in mind that tomato sauce will thin out the recipe a bit and change the texture,  but cooking the tomato sauce a bit longer will thicken it and make it less loose.

    If using tomato paste instead of tomato sauce, you may want to add some some chicken or turkey broth to deglaze the pan and make up for the lack of liquid that you would get with tomato sauce, chopped, or diced tomatoes. 

    Oil

    Use vegetable oil instead of olive oil in this recipe. Vegetable oil is neutral and won’t affect the taste of this not so classic goulash. 

    Garlic

    Substitute fresh garlic cloves with jarred minced garlic in a pinch

    Variations to This Recipe

    • Kick up the flavors in this turkey goulash with more than oregano, thyme, salt and pepper by adding different spices like paprika, cumin, garam masala, or Italian seasoning. Spices like garam masala, paprika, cumin, and Italian seasoning will give this dish a unique spin and make it your own. 
    • To make this dish more like a classic goulash dish, add sour cream for some added tanginess. Sour cream is added towards the end of cooking time when the heat is off to avoid curdling. 
    • Add fresh or frozen spinach to this recipe for extra greens

    Top Tip

    Cook pasta to al dente initially so that it doesn’t get too soft once added to the goulash

    How Do I Store Leftovers?

    Store goulash in an airtight container for up to four days in the refrigerator. I don’t recommend storing goulash made from turkey leftover from Thanksgiving as reheating it multiple times can increase the risk of food poisoning.  Instead, if you want leftovers, use fresh ground turkey.

    Can This Recipe be Scaled?

    Yes, scale this recipe up by multiplying the ingredients two or three times for a bigger crowd.

    Can I Freeze This Recipe?

    Yes, you can freeze this recipe. I don’t recommend freezing this recipe with turkey that is leftover, only if you have made it with fresh ground turkey.

    Other Turkey Recipes You’ll Love

    • Leftover turkey lasagna
    • Leftover turkey chowder
    • Leftover turkey tacos
    • Leftover turkey curry
    • Whole turkey brine
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    Leftover Turkey Goulash Recipe


    • Author: Michelle Minnaar
    • Total Time: 1 hour
    • Yield: 4 portions 1x
    • Diet: Low Lactose
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    Description

    Have some turkey leftover from Thanksgiving? Don’t let it go to waste and make this tasty Leftover Turkey Goulash.


    Ingredients

    Scale
    • 300g (10oz) dried pasta
    • 30ml (2 tbsp) olive oil
    • 1 large onion, chopped
    • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
    • 2 celery stalks, chopped
    • 1 green pepper, chopped
    • 300g (10oz) mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
    • 2 400g (14oz) cans chopped tomatoes
    • 1g (1 tsp) dried oregano
    • 1g (1 tsp) dried thyme
    • 450g (1 lb) cooked leftover turkey, chopped
    • parmesan cheese, grated

    Instructions

    1. Boil the pasta according to package instructions. Drain, then set aside. 
    2. Heat the oil in a large pot. 
    3. Fry the onions over a medium heat for 10 minutes, until they have softened and become translucent. 
    4. Add the garlic, celery, pepper and mushroom and cook for another 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are almost cooked. 
    5. Tip in the tomatoes, oregano and thyme. Give everything a stir and bring to the boil. Lower the heat until a steady simmer is reached and cook for 10 minutes. 
    6. Stir in the turkey and pasta and let it bubble away for another 5 minutes. 
    7. Serve immediately and don’t forget to sprinkle plenty of parmesan on top. Enjoy!

    Notes

    • This recipe works well with just about any leftover cooked meat, such as chicken, pork, beef or lamb!
    • Since the meat has already been cooked and is essentially being reheated, it’s best to eat everything once this dish is cooked. Reheating already reheated meat risks food poisoning…
    • Prep Time: 15 minutes
    • Cook Time: 45 minutes
    • Category: Dinner
    • Method: Pan fry
    • Cuisine: American

    Keywords: turkey goulash, goulash recipe, leftover turkey recipe, leftover turkey goulash, healthy turkey goulash, leftover thanksgiving recipe, leftover christmas recipe

    Did you make this recipe?

    Tag @greedygourmet on Instagram and hashtag it #greedygourmet

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    about michelle

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