The Ultimate Leftover Turkey Curry
A curry is the perfect lunch the day after a big turkey feast. It offers a beautiful contrast to a roast dinner and quite literally spices up turkey to new heights. Thai green curry is one of my all time favourite curries and works PERFECTLY with leftover turkey. First things first, let’s see what you’ll need:
Turkey Thai Green Curry Ingredients
Turkey – Leftover skinless turkey diced into large bite sized pieces. Thai Green Curry Paste – The difference between a cheap curry paste and quality paste is huge. You’ll find the the best green curry pastes at Asian stores or online. You can use supermarket pastes, but do consider adding some extras in to boost the flavour (more on this in the recipe card). Coconut Cream – You can use coconut milk, it’ll just be slightly less rich in flavour and slightly thinner in texture. Aubergine/Eggplant – It’s more traditional to use Thai Eggplant, but a regular eggplant subs just fine. Thai Basil – You’ll be able to find this in some supermarkets and definitely at an Asian supermarket. At a push you can sub regular sweet/Italian basil. Kaffir Lime Leaves – You’ll be surprised by how many stores sell these. They’re usually dried in the herb/spice section or Asian section. They of course also sell them in all Asian supermarkets, usually frozen. In my opinion there is no good substitute for these. They give that iconic flavour to the curry! Sugar – Balances out the spice/salt in the curry.
Can I use leftover chicken instead of turkey?
Yep! I’ve tried this many times with chicken and it works perfectly.
How to make Thai Green Curry
Honestly one of the easiest curries you’ll ever make, especially because the meat’s already cooked.
Fry the paste
An important step is frying the paste before you add any of the other ingredients. This will help release/develop the flavours. The difference is noticeable so I don’t recommend skipping this step! From there it’s just a case of adding in all your ingredients, giving it a good stir then simmering until the turkey and eggplant is cooked through. Shouldn’t take any longer than 15mins in total. Although if you’re using coconut milk you might want to spend a little longer simmering, just to reduce and thicken the curry. One other thing to note is the size of your turkey chunks. I recommend keeping them quite large, just so the chunks don’t turn to mush when simmering. If you’re using smaller chunks of meat or meat that’s been pulled, I recommend adding it near the end, just to avoid stringy turkey in the curry!
Can I use fresh meat in this curry?
Yep! If you want to make it from scratch you totally can and it’s just as easy. More on this in the recipe card notes. Process shots: heat oil in pot (photo 1), add paste (photo 2), fry for a few mins (photo 3), stir in coconut cream (photo 4), add chicken stock (photo 5), add aubergine/eggplant, basil, lime leaves, turkey and sugar and simmer (photo 6).
And there we have it! All my top tips for the perfect leftover turkey curry. If you’re after another delicious Thai recipe check out my Thai Fried Chicken! For more similar recipes check out these beauties too:
Leftover Turkey Recipes
Leftover Turkey Pasta Leftover Turkey Tacos Leftover Turkey Grilled Cheese
Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for the turkey curry shall we?!
How to make Leftover Turkey Thai Green Curry (Full Recipe & Video)
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