Leftover turkey? Turn it into this delicious Leftover Turkey Jambalaya. Leftovers never tasted so good! Add a crusty loaf of French Bread and you have a delicious and spicy dinner.
It’s not even Thanksgiving yet and I’m already talking about leftover turkey. That’s the life of a food blogger. 🙂
I think I get as excited planning what I’m going to do with Thanksgiving leftovers as I do planning the big meal itself. Of course there has to be at least one meal of turkey sandwiches on squishy white bread with lots of Duke’s mayonnaise. But after that I’m ready for a meal that makes use of Thanksgiving leftovers but doesn’t taste at all like Thanksgiving.
Like jambalaya!
I think turkey tastes even better than chicken in Jambalaya. It has an ever so slightly bolder, gamier flavor that really stands up well to the spices in jambalaya.
Be sure to keep this recipe in mind if you have leftover turkey. And if you don’t have leftover turkey, just use chicken instead.
Try These Other Jambalaya Recipes:
Leftover Turkey Jambalaya
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Vegetable or Olive oil, divided
- 1 pound andouille or kielbasa sausage, sliced
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce, undrained
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
- 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce, I like the garlic flavor sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 cup long grain rice
- 2 cups diced turkey
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a Dutch oven. Add sausage and cook until browned. Remove sausage with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add remaining oil to the grease in the Dutch oven. Add onion, green pepper and celery and cook until soft, about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add garlic and cook 1 minute.
- Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, Cajun seasoning, Tabasco sauce, pepper, and thyme.
- Bring mixture to a simmer and stir in rice and reserved sausage. Cover and cook on low, stirring occasionally, for 20 to 25 minutes. I like to cook it uncovered for the last 5 minutes to help thicken it up.
- Stir in turkey and serve.
Nutrition
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I made this and it was great. Used leftover turkey breast. No problems. Easy, peasy. I used the pre minced garlic in the jar.
I rate this a 5+. Turkey gains a “funky” taste after the 1st day. This is the solution! It was so good and such a pleasant change from the dressing, potatoes etc….. You nailed it!!
I used pretty cooked rice…hubby didnt want brothy…scout liquids in half…added some shaved parmesan to my italian thick sliced garlic buttered bread and sure wish I could toss this photo up on here 😁 recipequite good as my base…and somethings you just don’t have exact ingredients… so i swapped n hey…popeyes sparkle seasoning.
Did great! I like yjisrevipefor my base of jumbalaya…ty!
Trying to use groceries I have on hand during these challenging times. I had a smoked turkey in the freezer. This recipe is on my list of recipes for processing a whole turkey.
I leave the rice out of the recipe and package the meat sauce in serving size portions then freeze. Freezes great! A real favorite! The rice is made fresh separately. Thank you!
This turned out quite nicely. I had to make mine in an electric skillet due to some range issues, and I think that ended up boiling off the liquid a little faster than otherwise, so I did have to add some extra broth to ensure the rice cooked all the way through. I wouldn’t have minded a little more seasoning. I did not have Cajun seasoning, so had to whip up my own based on found recipes, but that’s not unusual for me – I rarely buy seasoning blends as I find them too limited in their use. I also had run out of dried thyme, but I have a plant in my garden so I just used about a teaspoon of fresh leaves instead. My husband and I would definitely eat this again. The 5YO was less enthusiastic about it though did eat enough that we were satisfied.
Can I use already cooked rice in this dish
Made it and it was great. Instead of using oil, I cooked bacon, drained excess grease and then followed the recipe, except that I cooked some dried ghost pepper flakes with green pepper and onion.
Can I use precooked rice in this dish and if so do I still need the same amount of chicken broth
I made this tonight and it was delicious! My husband gives it 2 thumbs up and went back for seconds! I did it in the instant pot and it worked like a charm!
I found that if used the park boiled rice you do not need to cook it before adding it to the recipe. As far as the diced tomatoes go I use regular diced tomatoes and added a can of green chilies with it it came out awesome!! And I don’t care for Tabasco sauce so I use tapatioh instead it has much better flavor and it is hot as hell! LOL
This is such a great way to change it up with leftover turkey. Didn’t have kielbasa sausage so used pepperoni sticks cut into chunks. Wow! The flavor profile is insane! We just love this and will definitely make again.
This recipe turned out fantastic! There is so much flavor packed into this dish. We will definitely be making this again!
Thank you! I was wondering is it cooked or uncooked rice
This was excellent, but a note specifying “cooked” rice would have been ideal. Rice was crunchy following the recipe. I would definitely maje again with cooked rice.
I made this meal and my family and I all loved it, but I made the mistake of adding uncooked rice into the pot, instead of cooked 🙁
This is a keeper!! Made it tonight, just wonderful. Added a wee bit more bell pepper, Red that it. Hubby came home from a cold, wet weather golf game and was thrilled to have this meal. Thank you!
OMG- DELICIOUS! So happy to find this recipe. Thank you for sharing.
Made this last night, just the best for leftover turkey. Used fresh kielbasa and link andouille. Might use Rotel tomatoes for fire roasted to kick it up a notch. My husband is from Texas and he loved it but wanted it spicier.
Wanted something different besides Turkey salad and turkey pot pie…. which is what we ALWAYS DO! And this year we hosted so there was even more Turkey here than usual. So glad I found this recipe. Made it and it was definitely awesome!!
Turkey jambalaya i made this and it awesome only change i made was i used a jalapeno pepper instead of a green pepper had just the right spice . i do plan on making it again and again in the future .
I made this today and omg it was delicious! I used mesquite smoked kielbasas, Frank’s Hot Sauce, and Slap Ya Mama seasoning and the flavor was to die for. Thank you so much for the recipe. This will become an after Thanksgiving Day tradition going forward. 😄
I think you want the diced tomatoes to be undrained, not the tomato sauce. I may try this recipe after one round of left-over turkey. Came here for the spicy crab mac and cheese recipe.