Turn your leftover Thanksgiving turkey into a new Fall favorite salad by adding sweet cranberries and savory pecans. 
I know. It’s technically not even Halloween and here I am sharing a leftover turkey recipe. Well, you have to start thinking about these things sooner or later so why not start now? Being a food blogger means that my family and I generally eat the recipes I create 2-3 weeks before I share them here on the blog for all of you. It’s just the way it goes so that I gives me time to edit the photos and write the post. So when I recently made a new roasted turkey to share next month for Thanksgiving, I had a lot of leftover turkey and made this Cranberry Pecan Turkey Salad.
I generally don’t like to eat leftover meat as it was served the first time. Instead I almost always repurpose it into something else. Turkey (and chicken for that matter…both can be used in recipes interchangeably) is one of those meats that is so versatile you can make other recipes from it.
Here are just a few that I’ve made over the years:
- Turkey Orzo Soup
- Baked Turkey & Wasabi Mashed Potato Croquettes
- Sun Dried Tomato Turkey Salad
- Cream of Turkey Soup
- Turkey Pot Pie (this recipe uses chicken but turkey can be substituted)
- Turkey Tarragon Soup
This recipe for Cranberry Pecan Turkey Salad is delicious, simple to make and contains just a few ingredients: cooked turkey, chopped pecans, dried cranberries, celery and mayonnaise. Mix all of the ingredients together and you have another meal. I personally like to just eat this turkey salad all on it’s own with a few crackers, but you can place on top of your favorite bread or rolls. Since Thanksgiving is on a Thursday, that leaves plenty of time to pick on the leftovers over the long weekend. ~Enjoy!
- 2 c . Cooked Turkey Breast, diced
- 1/4 c . Chopped Pecans
- 1/4 c . Chopped Celery
- 1/4 c . Dried Cranberries
- 1/2 c . Mayonnaise, I use Hellmann's
- Salt and Pepper, to taste
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.
