Leftover Turkey Stew with Mashed Potato Dumplings
Oct 02, 2017, Updated May 23, 2023
This succulent, creamy turkey stew features dumplings made with leftover mashed potatoes as a Thanksgiving-leftovers recipe to use up every last morsel of food you slaved over.
I think my favourite part of turkey dinner is leftovers. I use every last inch of the bird, absolutely nothing gets wasted chez moi.
The first day is a repeat of the whole dinner – mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, et al.
On the second day, I start getting creative, making something different altogether, like Turkey Pot Pie or my mom’s Turkey Chow Mein (which has nothing Asian about it other than the noodles).
I am supremely thankful to ever get turkey dinner invitations for Canadian thanksgiving, but whenever it happens I want to celebrate US thanksgiving again in November just to have the next-day meals I love.
It’s creamy (but not heavy – milk is used) and comforting.
The dumplings are like big, pillowy gnocchi.
I could eat a million of them in one sitting.
The recipe is flexible, toss in any leftover roasted root veggies you have, brussels sprouts, or green beans.
Just chop into bite-sized pieces. Any green veg should be added at the end, just to warm through, to avoid overcooking it.
Wishing you a wonderful and waste-free Thanksgiving!
Leftover Turkey Stew with Mashed Potato Dumplings
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 cups chopped onion
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 1 cup chopped carrot
- 6 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 4 cups unsalted chicken broth
- 1 cup whole milk
- 4 cups chopped leftover turkey
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 3 tbsp minced fresh parsley
- OPTIONAL: you can add 1 cup each of leftover green beans chopped and/or 1 cup leftover roasted root vegetable pieces
Dumplings
- ½ cup all-purpose flour or more, as needed
- ¾ tsp kosher salt
- 1 â…“ cup mashed potato cool or room temperature
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
Instructions
- Heat butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and carrot; cook until soft. Stir in flour to coat vegetables, then slowly stir in chicken stock and milk. Add turkey, bay leaf, thyme, salt, pepper (and optionally any leftover veggies you'd like to include) and bring to a simmer.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Add mashed potato and beaten egg, using a fork to incorporate. Knead gently in the bowl until a dough comes together. It will be sticky, but if wet to the point of falling apart (which may happen if you added milk or cream to your mashed potatoes), add more flour, a tablespoon at a time, until a soft, scoopable dough forms.
- Drop dough by golfball-sized pieces into the simmering stew. Cover and cook 15 minutes, until dumplings have nearly doubled in size and are springy to touch.
- Stir in fresh parsley.
Hi Jennifer!! I was searching the net looking for inspiration for leftover mashed potatoes and turkey. I came across your recipe and this post warms my heart!! You discuss the astonishing numbers of food waste in Vancouver. I live in London, ON and work for FoodFund. We procure produce that is FRESH but in surplus or imperfect – surplus or imperfect produce is destined for the landfill, dumpster or left to rot in the farmer’s field. Did you know that the Toronto Food Terminal receives 6,000,000 pounds of food everyday?? Did you know much of it is turned away by the major grocery chains because there is just too much or even though the produce is fresh, it does not meet perfect aesthetic standards? At FoodFund, we procure the surplus and imperfect but fresh produce from local farmers and the food terminal. FoodFund sells to our clients at a fraction of the cost. We are in the game of helping reduce food waste, saving people $$, educating people to understand that even though a potato or tomato or pepper or cucumber etc., is not the perfect shape we have been trained to buy at a premium price, once the produce is sliced, diced, chopped, chiffonade, baked, broiled, roasted, bbq’d, fried, stir fried, sauteed, simmered – it still a potato, tomato, pepper, cucumber etc. Another super kewl benefit with FoodFund, after we have fulfilled our client orders, our surplus produce is donated to the local Salvation Army. They in turn help to distribute to other agencies in need such as the Food Bank, London Vegan Food Bank, Men’s Mission, My Sister’s Place etc. The amount of poundage of food that is donated is equal or greater than the poundage of food purchased by our clients. Thank you for bringing attention to the problem of food waste and ways to help reduce the waste. You rock my world!! And thanks for the recipe – making it today!!
I just made your dumpling recipe!. It is without one little doubt the best recipe for chicken and dumplings I ever tasted!!!
And, I did what you said and added other stuff. I made green bean casserole on Thanksgiving day and put that in after sauteing the veggies. Fried onions and all!. Plus peas and corn. I used my left over roasted chicken stock. Added basil, rosemary, oregano, and thyme and fresh grated black pepper. The rest was your recipe. You must try adding left over green bean casserole to your recipe sometime. I was a bit hesitant about adding it but thought why not!!! It was amazing what it added to the taste!I
You get five big stars my friend! Have a nice Holiday season and stay warm up there in Canada!!!!
And thank you for this recipe! It is a keeper!
Barbara in Florida!?