My one-pot mild Turkey Curry is a delicious way to use up those leftovers from Christmas dinner. It requires minimal work and adding potatoes means you don’t even need to serve it with rice, just toast up some Naan bread and you’ve got an easy winner for dinner!
My turkey curry can be cooked on the stove or in the slow cooker, which is perfect for days spent out visiting friends and family over Christmas.
If you have a toddler, weaning baby or fussy eater and are wondering how to adapt this recipe for your family, see here >
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FAQ’s For My Turkey Curry with Leftovers
What if I don’t have enough turkey left?
If you have much less than the 400g / 14.11oz cooked turkey left over from your Christmas dinner, don’t worry, you can bulk the curry out with a tin of chickpeas. Just add them at the same time you add the peas and courgettes.
Can I use regular white potatoes instead of baby potatoes?
You sure can! Just chop them into roughly 1 inch pieces so they cook through.
Can I prepare this Turkey Curry with Leftovers in advance?
Yes, you can prepare most of the ingredients ahead of time. You can chop all the veg and refrigerate (best to store the chopped potatoes in a bowl of cold water so they don’t go brown), plus you can measure out all the spices and flour into one prep bowl as they get added together. Those you can leave at room temperature.
Because of the left over turkey, how soon after Christmas Day do I need to make this curry?
Although this makes the perfect Boxing Day curry, you can keep cooked turkey for up to 3 days (Christmas Day + 2 days) in a resealable food bag or a food storage container in the fridge, so you could make it the day after Boxing Day if you like. Of course, you can freeze the left over turkey on Christmas Day and then make the curry anytime in the future you like (ideally within 3 months). Just ensure you defrost the turkey for 24 hours in the fridge before cooking.
What should I serve it with?
This Turkey Curry with Leftovers already has potatoes in so it doesn’t need you to cook an additional dish of rice. It goes really well with naan or chapati bread and we love to eat it with mango chutney.
Can I feed more people with this recipe?
Yes if you have more turkey left over. You will need to cook it on the stove in your largest pot. If you want to double up the recipe but don’t have double the turkey, you could use a can of chickpeas as well, adding them at the same time you add the peas and courgettes.
How can younger children help make it?
They can help you to measure out the spices and curry paste.
Can I Store Turkey Curry leftovers?
You can store any Turkey Curry leftovers in an air-tight container or resealable food bag in the fridge for up to 3 days (cook day + 2). You can also freeze them, just defrost for 24 hours in the fridge and reheat in the microwave, stirring halfway, until steaming hot all the way through.
For more on safe food storage and reheating read here >
What diets is this recipe suitable for?
My Turkey Curry with Leftovers is peanut-free (so long as the curry paste says so) and diary-free. You can make it gluten-free by swapping the flour for cornflour / cornstarch.
Adapting My Turkey Curry For Your Family
Eating together is beneficial for families of all ages and stages, for a multitude of reasons; nutritional, behavioural, psychological and for healthy family functioning. This section will show you how to tweak this Turkey Curry with Leftovers recipe for sharing with a weaning baby, toddler or a fussy eater, which will help make it easier to eat together as a family.
Keeping Picky Eaters Happy
If your child isn’t a fan of sauces or it’s the first time they are having curry, use a slotted spoon to dish up their serving so most the sauce can run off. Serve with mango chutney and toasted naan bread - kids tend to be fine with both these.
See more from me on fussy eaters here >
Making My Turkey Curry Suitable for Baby Weaning
My Turkey Curry is mild enough for even babies to enjoy. You’ll need to omit salt from the cook.
How to Serve to Babies & Toddlers
BABY-LED WEANING
You can quarter larger baby potatoes longways and dig those out for little one once cooked. You can also do the same with the carrots. Otherwise, chop as per the recipe and then mash their vegetables down with the back of a fork, removing the potato skins.
SPOON FED-WEANING
6 months
Add some curry to your stick blender pot or food chopper (if you have that one that purées) and whizz into a purée. Add a little warm boiled water to loosen as needed.
7-9 months
Add some curry to your food chopper. Use short sharp pulses to finely chop, checking and adding a little warm no or low-salt chicken stock or warm boiled water to loosen as you go.
10-12 months
Add just the curry to your food chopper pot. Gradually pulse, just a few times then check the consistency. It should lumpy with small turkey pieces. If it needs loosening, add a little warm no or low-salt chicken stock and/or curry sauce.
12 month + Transitioning Period
Shred the turkey pieces using forks and mash down the vegetables with the back of a fork (removing the potato skin first).
Toddlers
Chop the turkey into bite-size pieces and cut the vegetables into bitesize pieces.
I’ve also added these notes to the bottom of the recipe so you have them to hand when you come to cook. For more info on how I keep my family meals suitable for baby weaning, read here >
Other Recipes you Could Use Leftover Turkey in…
If you are looking for other recipes to use up turkey leftovers, you can also swap it for the chicken in many recipes, like these here. Just ignore all the cooking the chicken steps and add in the cooked turkey for the last five minutes of the cook.
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TURKEY CURRY WITH LEFTOVERS
Equipment
- Chef’s knife + chopping board
- Large cooking pot or slow cooker + cooking spoon
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- Salt & pepper
- 1 large onion small dice
- 3 medium tomatoes diced small
- 2 garlic cloves
- 160 g korma paste / mild curry paste
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 tablespoons plain flour (leave out to be gluten free)
- 2 x 400 ml can of coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon granulated white sugar
- 750 g baby potatoes little ones halved, larger ones quartered
- 2 medium carrots thinly sliced
- 150 g peas
- 400 g cooked turkey chopped or shredded into bitesize pieces
Instructions
- Take out the cold turkey from the fridge to bring up to room temp.
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan, over a medium-low heat. Add the onions and tomatoes and fry for 8 minutes, stirring often. Turn heat to low and add the garlic, ground coriander, ginger and korma paste and flour and fry for 1 minute, stirring frequently.
- Turn the heat up to high and add in the coconut milk, salt & pepper and sugar, stir until well combined. Add the potatoes and carrots, stir, increase heat to high and bring to the boil. Then turn heat down to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Then stir in the courgette and peas and ensuring it’s still simmering, cover and cook for a further 10 minutes.
- Add in the cooked turkey pieces, stir in gently, bring back to the boil then turn the heat back down to low and allow to simmer, uncovered for 5 minutes.
SLOW COOKER INSTRUCTIONS
- Fry the onion and tomatoes in your removable cooking pot for 3 minutes on a high heat, stirring often. Add in the curry paste, garlic, spices, salt and pepper, sugar and flour and fry for 1 minute, stirring. Transfer pot back into slow cooker base and add the coconut milk, potato, carrots, stir and cover. Cook on high for 4 hours, medium for 6 hours or low for 8 hours. Transfer the cooking pot to the stove and stir in the peas and courgettes. Bring to the boil over a high heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, covered. Then stir through the turkey, bring back to the boil over a high heat and turn heat low again, leave for 5 minutes uncovered.
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