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Healthy turkey leftover recipes

Use your leftover turkey to make a turkey noodle soup or turkey sliders!

What is better than Thanksgiving dinner? Leftovers! Here are two ideas for leftovers that are sure to please your family and stretch that food until at least the weekend.

Turkey Noodle Soup

This recipe is adapted from my favorite chicken noodle soup recipe at Woman's Day online. It is full of flavor, high in protein, but low in salt and saturated fat!

Ingredients:

  1. 6 cups of low sodium chicken broth

  2. 1 cup carrots, peeled and chopped

  3. 1 parsnip, peeled and chopped

  4. 1 cup yellow onion, diced

  5. 1 cup celery, chopped

  6. 2 cloves of garlic, minced

  7. 2 small bay leaves

  8. 2 cups of cooked turkey, cut into bite size pieces

  9. 1 cup of whole wheat elbow macaroni

  10. ¼ cup of fresh parsley leaves, chopped

  11. 1 teaspoon of dried thyme

  12. ¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper or more to taste

Directions:

1. In a large pot over high heat, combine broth, carrots, parsnip, onion, celery, garlic, and bay leaves. Bring mixture to a boil.

2. When the mixture boils, add the cooked turkey and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until vegetables are fork tender and turkey is heated through, about 20-25 minutes.

3. Once vegetables are soft, add the elbow noodles and simmer for another 10-12 minutes until macaroni is soft.

4. Before serving, add parsley, thyme, and black pepper. Stir soup to combine.

Recipe makes 6 servings

Thanksgiving Leftover Sliders

Ingredients:

  1. 2 whole wheat dinner or slider rolls

  2. 2 tablespoons of soft cheese (brie and goat cheese are my favorites!) or reduced fat cream cheese

  3. 2 leaves of lettuce

  4. 2 ounces of shredded cooked turkey, white meat

  5. 2 tablespoons of cranberry sauce

Directions:

1. Slice 1 dinner roll in half.

2. Spread 1 tablespoon of cheese on the bottom half of the roll.

3. Place 1 lettuce leaf on top of the cheese.

4. Add 1 ounce of turkey and 1 tablespoon of cranberry sauce.

5. Repeat with the other dinner roll and rest of the ingredients.

Add leftover green beans on the side to make a complete meal!

Recipe makes 1 serving

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