Leftover Turkey in gravy is the best and easiest way to use up leftover Roast Turkey meat. All you need are some leftover Dinner Rolls to soak up that sauce.
The mushroom gravy makes the turkey meat so tender and juicy all over again and it’s especially good served over Creamy Mashed Potatoes.

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What to do with Leftover Turkey:
We love Thanksgiving leftovers and it is impressive how much turkey meat you can rescue from your Juicy Roast Turkey even after you think there’s nothing left. We plucked away at my Mom’s turkey last year and got about 8 cups of turkey meat (this was after about 12 people ate it).
I made a big batch of this turkey in gravy for my sister’s house for lunch and everyone loved it! It was a big win across the board and they went on and on about how great the turkey gravy tasted over leftover Mashed Potatoes. Best of all, it never tastes like leftovers.

Ingredients for Leftover Turkey in Gravy:
The ingredients are so simple – mostly pantry staples: chicken broth, mushrooms, butter, onion, and flour.
- Mushrooms: Use white or brown mushrooms. Mushrooms add great flavor but if you aren’t a mushroom fan, you can skip the mushrooms.
- For gluten-free: substitute with a “cup-for-cup” GF flour

To Get the Most Turkey Meat: Focus on the underside of the turkey – this is usually the side that sits in all the turkey juices and much of it is dark meat which is so tender and tasty.
Can I Substitute with Chicken?
You can still make this recipe long-after Thanksgiving is over by using chicken. This is a great way to re-purpose leftover Rotisserie Chicken and you can use both white and dark meat.
Can I use Leftover Gravy?
If you were lucky enough to have leftover Turkey Gravy from your Thanksgiving dinner, here’s a secret trick – just combine the leftover gravy with the shredded turkey and it will be scrumptious!
What can I do with the Turkey Carcass?
If you want to make the most use out of your leftover turkey, be sure to keep the turkey carcass for an incredible turkey Bone Broth. It’s the same process using turkey bones instead of chicken and results in a rich broth to use in Turkey Noodle Soup.
How to Make Turkey Leftovers in Gravy:
1. Heat a large pan over medium heat with 2 Tbsp olive oil. Saute diced onions until golden (4-5 min). Add mushrooms saute until soft and golden (5-7 min), stirring often. Remove mushrooms and onions from the pan.

2. In the same hot pan, melt 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, then whisk in 3 Tbsp flour, whisking constantly until roux is golden brown (1 1/2 to 2 min), then whisk in 2 cups chicken broth. Bring to a simmer and season to taste (about 1/2 tsp sea salt and a pinch of pepper).

3. Add mushrooms/onions back to the pan. Stir in turkey and heat until turkey is just heated through. Garnish with finely chopped parsley if desired.

This is one of those recipes that makes us wish we had more turkey leftovers. This recipe can be even juicier and more flavorful than fresh turkey.

Leftover Turkey Recipes You’ll Love:
Whether you have leftover turkey breast or leftover dark meat, these turkey leftover recipes are our favorite ways to enjoy that turkey meat without tasting like leftovers.
- Turkey Noodle Soup – an easy twist on the classic
- Chicken Tetrazzini – make it Turkey Tetrazzini
- Pot Pie – make a savory Turkey Pot Pie
- Chicken Avocado Salad (sub with turkey)
- (Turkey) Bacon Avocado Sandwich
- White Sauce Lasagna – use turkey instead of chicken
Leftover Turkey in Gravy Recipe

Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb mushrooms, sliced
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 4 Tbsp unsalted Butter
- 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour, gluten free flour works well too
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups chicken broth, (low sodium)
- 4-6 Cups leftover turkey meat, torn into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 tsp sea salt , or to taste
- 1/8 tsp ground black pepper, or to taste
- 1 Tbsp Parsley to garnish, optional
Instructions
- Heat a large non-stick pan over medium heat. Add 2 Tbsp olive oil and diced onions and sauté until soft and golden (4-5 minutes, stirring frequently). Add mushrooms to the pan and sauté until soft and golden (5-7 min, stirring frequently). Remove mushrooms and onions from pan.
- In the same hot pan (no need to wash it), add 4 Tbsp unsalted butter. Once melted, whisk in 3 Tbsp flour. Cook, whisking continually until roux is a golden brown (1 1/2 to 2 min) then whisk in 2 cups chicken broth. Bring to a simmer and season to taste (I added 1/2 tsp sea salt and a pinch of black pepper).
- Add add mushrooms/onions back to the pan. Stir in turkey and heat until turkey is just heated through. Garnish with finely chopped parsley if desired.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
I’d love to hear your creative ideas for leftover turkey. Let me know about your favorite Thanksgiving leftover recipes in a comment below.
Just made this tonight with left over turkey. It came out delicious and will use this idea again in the future. I didn’t have chicken broth or stock on me so I just used water and some of the turkey fat drippings into the mixture to add some flavor. Also added different spices like basil, oregano, marjoram, garlic powder etc. Overall, great little recipe to clean out the leftover meat!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!! 🙂
You might want to correct the spelling of roux in this recipe too. French and English – such difficult languages when it comes to spelling.
I am going to try this with some left over chicken tonight and will probably add some fresh rosemary or basil.
Thank you for this lovely recipe. I have been looking for some good sauces and gravies and I think your site is the place to find them!
Thank you so much for pointing that out!! That’s awesome of you (I have no idea what I was thinking! :-O) Seriously, thank you! 🙂
Is there something I could substitute the butter with so it can be cholesterol friendly?
Hi Liz, it should work fine with oil as a substitute. You may only need 3 Tbsp if using oil. Enjoy!
This was delicious! Quick dinner that comes together perfectly. Thank you so much. My teenage son loved it.
Camille, thank you for the great review and you are welcome 😀.
Made this today with leftover chicken. It’s so fast and simple but really delicious. It was a big hit with everyone. I added peas after reading the recommendation of one commenter. Thanks for another great recipe.
I love the ideas of using chicken and adding peas. Thank you for sharing your awesome review!
Can I substitute the turkey with chicken? Also, would one of those small organic chickens be enough?
That will work fine. I’m not sure how small you mean but you can add as much or as little chicken as you want 🙂
Mmmmmm very good recipe, i added frozen peas and a little bit of white wine.
Those sound like great add-ins! Thanks for sharing that with me 🙂
This was so yummy!! Thank you for sharing. Would this be an okay dish to freeze?
You know, I haven’t tried freezing it, but I think it would work fine.
All I can say is Yummy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’m so glad you loved it! Thanks Larisa 🙂
I made this today and OMG was it good!! I added dill instead of parsley and served it over white rice. Super delicious. Five stars.
Thank you so much for the fantastic review!! 🙂 I love the idea of using dill. You’re making me hungry!
I just bought mushrooms and I will try this recipe. My turkey is from Sunday, I hope it’s not too dry!
It’s very nice and not dry at all. Also, it reheats well on the stove top. I hope you LOVE it! My sister has made it a couple times already since Thanksgiving :).
Hey! Did you know you were mentioned in Season 2 Episode 14 of the Young and Hungry? SUPER cool! Just thought you’d like to know :).
http://amzn.to/1QQq8cC
I did see that and thank you! 🙂 It’s still very exciting. 🙂
Loved this Creamy Turkey recipe. It came out so yummy. I served it over noodles and we had some left over so I mixed the few noodles that were left along with a small amount of leftover stuffing and served it over rice. It was even better the second time on rice. I don’t know how I found this site but so glad I did.
I’m so glad you did too! Thank you for your awesome review 🙂
I made it and it came out great. I was thinking that this would go well stuffed into traditional (English) Yorkshire puddings. OR, for convenience maybe lining a muffin pan with puff pastry, baking until golden and then filling the pastry cups. Hmmmm… Thanks Natasha.
Wow that does sound really really good! Thank you for the great idea!
This recipe looks yummy. Going to try it as we had a 12# turkey for 3 people. Made the turkey from your recipe and it was insanely good. Even today reheated with gravy it was yummy. Love your recipes and the pictures of your beautiful family.
Thank you Cindy for such a nice compliment 😀 . We had same thing for lunch today 🙂 .
It’s so funny – here in Canada we already celebrated our Thanksgiving (it’s in October), but I am kinda sick of turkey by association (like seeing it all over Pinterest). This is a creative way to use up leftover turkey for sure haha… I am glad I don’t have any leftovers to worry about, though 😀
Yeah that would be a little weird to celebrate Thanksgiving and then watch everyone else celebrate it another month. Keep this one in mind for next year. It sure is good 🙂
hello, i was wondering if you have a kartoplaniki recipe?
Lily, I have few of them on the site. Click on the links to see the recipes. Mashed Potato Pancakes, https://natashaskitchen.com/2015/10/06/mashed-potato-pancakes-with-meat-filling/, https://natashaskitchen.com/2012/03/23/easy-mashed-potato-pancakes/, Stuffed Potato Pancakes. Hope this helps 😀 .
yes, those are good recipes i will try them. thank you so much. i was also hoping if you have a chicken roulette recipe somewhere on here maybe?
lol. i meant chicken roulade.
I don’t yet but that is a great suggestion. If I come across or come up with a great recipe, I will be sure to share! Thank you!
Looks wonderful. I love your recipe like this with chicken, I’m sure turkey will turn out just as great!
Thank you Teresa! 🙂
Thank you in advance for sharing this recipe. Definitely will try it…
You’re so welcome. I hope you love it as much as we do! 🙂 I kept the recipe since last year because I was too late to post it last year but I knew it was worth keeping for this year 🙂
What a great idea!! I will definitely buy a turkey or two after thanksgiving. This looks so so good and comforting. I can’t wait to try! Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving!!
Thanks Marina 😀 , blessings to you and your family!