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Home » Leftover Turkey and Chicken Recipes » Leftover Turkey Pasta with Mushrooms

Leftover Turkey Pasta with Mushrooms

Published: Oct 26, 2019 · Modified: Jul 22, 2022 by Cooking Chat · This post may contain affiliate links

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Savory Leftover Turkey Pasta with Mushrooms is a delicious and easy way to use that leftover Thanksgiving turkey! Read on for details or click here to jump down to the recipe. Disclosure: The wine for the featured wine pairing was provided as a complimentary sample.
Leftover Turkey Pasta with Mushrooms recipe is a delicious way to use your Thanksgiving leftovers! #SundaySupper

Looking for ways to use leftover turkey? I enjoy the challenge of turning Thanksgiving leftovers into another good meal, typically one that is quite different than the holiday feast!

Originally published in 2016, updated in 2019 to include a new wine pairing suggestion and additional recipe tips.

In addition to this Leftover Turkey Pasta recipe, be sure to also check out our Turkey and Butternut Squash Stew and also Orzo with Leftover Turkey and Sweet Potatoes recipes, as well the #SundaySupper group recipes below the recipe card.

For more inspiration, check out our 19 Leftover Turkey Recipes. 

Making Leftover Turkey Pasta

leftover turkey pasta with mushrooms in a skillet

Anyone familiar with the dish “Turkey Tetrazzini” knows that turkey and mushrooms can work together in a pasta dish. Our combination of turkey and mushrooms has less cream than turkey tetrazzini typically does, making it a lighter meal than the Thanksgiving feast. For another way to use turkey leftovers, try our Leftover Butternut Squash Pasta with Turkey.

Below are a few tips for making leftover turkey pasta; jump ahead to the recipe card for the complete step by step instructions

    • Turkey: This recipe starts with the anticipation that you have leftover turkey on hand. But if you are looking for a recipe to cook the turkey initially, here’s a version of roasted turkey breast that has worked well for us. Once you’ve had the initial meal, cut the leftover turkey meat into bite sized pieces.
    • Get your skillet ready: We cook the leftover turkey mushroom sauce in our cast iron skillet (Amazon affiliate link). Get yours ready to make this dish. You can start boiling water for pasta as you get the skillet ready to make the sauce. mushrooms cooking in a black skillet
    • Cooking the mushrooms: Mushrooms bring a depth of flavor to this leftover turkey pasta. After the onions have softened from sautéing, add the mushrooms. They cook until they “sweat”, which means liquid starts to come out of the mushroom. This takes about 5 minutes. Then the mushrooms simmer in wine to enhance the flavor and further soften them.
    • Add the pasta to boiling water after adding the wine to the mushrooms. I’d always rather have the sauce finish up a few minutes before the pasta, so that the pasta can be tossed with sauce and cheese immediately after draining it.mushrooms and leftover turkey in a skillet
    • Finishing the leftover turkey sauce: The turkey just needs about 5 minutes to warm up and absorb the flavors. You want to have a bit of liquid at the bottom of the skillet. If it looks a bit dry after the turkey has warmed up, add a couple tablespoons of broth, cooking wine or olive oil. Cover to keep warm while the pasta finishes cooking – this will also generate a bit more liquid that will make the sauce combine better with the pasta.

Leftover Turkey Pasta with Mu

Now that the dish is finished, let’s talk about the wine!

Wine Pairing for Leftover Turkey Pasta

leftover turkey pasta in skillet served with red wine.

Turkey and mushrooms together makes me think about Pinot Noir right off the bat. We’ve enjoyed the Leftover Turkey Pasta with Pinot a few times with good results.

For last year’s remake of this recipe, we opened the 2017 Domaine Brussett La Bastide ($21, 13.5% ABV) from the Rasteau AOC, an appellation in France’s Rhone region. This blend of Grenache and Mourvedre has rustic qualities that made it a nice match for the leftover turkey pasta! Velvety tannins and a lingering acidity make it a food friendly wine. Stay tuned for more information on the Rasteau AOC, as we will be discussing the region with the French Winophiles in November.

While my first instinct for this dish is a red wine pairing, for a 2020 remake we enjoyed the leftover turkey pasta with a good Sonoma Chardonnay from Sbragia. If you want to go with a white wine, I would go for full bodied wines such as Chard or perhaps a white Rhone blend.

Print

Recipe card

Leftover Turkey Pasta with Mushrooms

Print Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 7 reviews

Leftover Turkey Pasta is a tasty way to use those turkey leftovers. Very different than the Thanksgiving meal!

  • Author: Cooking Chat
  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 20 mins
  • Total Time: 25 mins
  • Yield: 6 servings 1x
  • Category: Main
  • Method: stove top
  • Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 to 3 cups cooked turkey leftovers, cut into bite sized pieces
  • 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 12 ozs sliced mushrooms
  • ⅓ cup red wine
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 12 ozs linguine or spaghetti
  • ½ cup pecorino romano cheese plus additional for serving
  • 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary or ½ tsp dried
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 2 tbsp chicken broth (optional)

Instructions

  1. Get started: Begin boiling the water for the linguine. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, then add the onion and sauté.
  2. Add mushrooms: When the onion has softened, after 5 minutes or so, stir in the garlic and cook for another couple minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of butter, and when melted, stir in the mushrooms, and add the rosemary, thyme, and salt & pepper to taste. Cook until the mushrooms begin to soften and “sweat”, about 5 minutes.
  3. Simmer with wine: Stir in the wine, and cook it down for about 5 minutes. After the wine has cooked down, finish the mushroom preparation by adding the other tablespoon of butter.
  4. Cook pasta: Start cooking the pasta according to package directions around the time you add the wine.
  5. Add turkey: Stir in the leftover turkey, and broth if using. Heat on medium low until the turkey is warmed up. Lower heat, cover, and keep warm on low heat until the pasta is done.
  6. Prepare pasta: Drain the pasta when it is cooked to your liking, then toss with the turkey and mushroom mixture. You can toss the pasta right in the skillet
  7. Finish the dish: Stir the cheese into the pasta. The leftover turkey pasta is now ready to serve and enjoy!

Notes

  • The amount of turkey can vary based on what you have available.
  • I didn’t use the optional broth the first time making the leftover turkey pasta, but found it helped provide enough liquid for the turkey mushroom sauce. You could use water or cooking wine to serve the same purpose if needed.

Did you make this recipe?

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Recipe Card powered byTasty Recipes

Looking for more ideas for your Thanksgiving leftovers? There are a bunch of wonderful recipes in the links below. I also need to give shout out for two of my past #SundaySupper leftover turkey recipes: Turkey and Butternut Squash Stew and also Orzo with Leftover Turkey and Sweet Potatoes.

Orzo with Leftover Turkey and Sweet Potatoes recipe.

 

leftover turkey pasta tossed in a skillet.

« Roasted Beet Dip with Fennel and Garlic
Garlic Broccoli Pasta with Italian Olive Oil #ItalianFWT »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cindy Kerschner

    November 20, 2016 at 11:50 am

    Can’t go wrong with this pasta dish! Yum!

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      November 20, 2016 at 12:27 pm

      Thanks!

      Reply
  2. Liz

    November 20, 2016 at 5:16 pm

    Time to ditch my usual turkey tetrazzini! This pasta looks elegant and delicious!

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      November 22, 2016 at 6:30 am

      Thanks Liz!

      Reply
  3. Eileen

    November 22, 2016 at 11:01 am

    I love that you have the dark meat in this dish. That’s my favorite, but it is often left over.

    Reply
  4. Gloria

    October 26, 2019 at 8:21 am

    All you have to say is pasta, and I am in. Using leftovers in such a delicious way elevates them for sure. As a kid I hated leftovers…as an adult…I LOVE THEM.

    Reply
  5. Mary

    October 26, 2019 at 8:37 am

    Love this way to use up turkey! So good!

    Reply
  6. Tristin Rieken

    October 26, 2019 at 8:41 am

    A perfect quick meal for the holidays, or anytime, really! Love the wine suggestions at the end.

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      October 26, 2019 at 9:14 am

      Thanks Tristin! Pinot is an easy to find choice, but if you are adventurous hunting down a bottle from Rasteau or other Rhone appellation is worthwhile.

      Reply
  7. Julia

    October 26, 2019 at 8:52 am

    This recipe would also be good with leftover chicken! Delicious!

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      October 26, 2019 at 9:13 am

      Good idea Julia! Thanks.

      Reply
  8. Alyssa

    October 26, 2019 at 9:03 am

    I always have lots of leftover turkey and mushrooms after Thanksgiving. I’d never thought to use them in a pasta dish, but this sounds wonderful!

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      October 26, 2019 at 9:13 am

      Nice! We don’t have mushrooms for our Thanksgiving so I usually have to pick them up.

      Reply
  9. steve

    October 31, 2019 at 3:21 am

    I didn’t use the optional broth the first time making the leftover turkey pasta, but found it helped provide enough liquid for the turkey mushroom sauce. You could use water or cooking wine to serve the same purpose if needed.

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      October 31, 2019 at 5:13 am

      Good tip, Steve, thanks!

      Reply
  10. Kate

    November 24, 2020 at 3:28 pm

    Perfect for the leftovers of Christmas. It’s already on our menu. 🙂 Thanks for sharing this recipe.

    Reply
    • Cooking Chat

      November 24, 2020 at 3:51 pm

      Great! Always good to have leftover recipes handy around the holidays!

      Reply

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Hi there! I'm David. I love creating tasty, (mostly) healthy recipes, finding great wine pairings, and sharing good food with family and friends. learn more about me!

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