Leftover Turkey Recipes: Turkey and Roasted Poblano Enchiladas Verdes
Have tons of left-over turkey meat from a big holiday meal? After cooking a 14 pound turkey for just two people, we sure do! (Seriously, what was I thinking buying a 14 pound bird?) This post will begin a quick series of leftover turkey recipes that will hopefully not leave you sick of sandwiches. For our first post we are eating shredded turkey and roasted poblano enchiladas verdes. The enchiladas were rich yet bright in flavor from the mixture of the creamy turkey poblano filling paired with the tangy tomatillo salsa. Out of all the leftover turkey recipes I’ve made so far, this one has been my favorite. I believe T’s comment on the subject was “these enchiladas are the bomb”. ‘Nuff said.
1 tsp canola oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 poblano peppers, roasted, peeled, seeded and roughly chopped
1/4 cup heavy cream
3 cups shredded cooked turkey
about 5 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
2 green onions, thinly sliced
8-10 fresh corn tortillas
kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
1-2 recipes of salsa verde, (I suggest 2 if you like your enchiladas saucy!)
8 oz shredded monterey jack or pepper jack
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a rectangular glass or ceramic baking dish.
Add canola oil to a saute pan and place over medium heat. Once the pan and oil are hot add the diced onions. Saute the onions, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes or until translucent. Add minced garlic to onions, stir and continue to saute for another minute. Add roasted and chopped poblano peppers and the cream to the pan. Stir. Allow the liquid from the cream to nearly cook completely away, about 3-5 minutes longer, stirring occasionally.
While the veggies are sauteing, add the softened cream cheese and turkey to a mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatual, thoroughly mix together the shredded turkey and cream cheese. If the the cream cheese is at room temperature this should be relatively easy but if it's still cold you'll have to use a little elbow grease.
Once the cream in the veggies has nearly cooked away add them to the turkey and cream cheese mixture. Mix thoroughly. Add the cilantro and green onions and stir to combine. Taste the mixture and season as necessary with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper.
Place a clean, dry saute pan or griddle over medium heat. Once hot, heat 1 corn tortilla, about 30 seconds - 1 minute per side, until pliable but not fully cooked. Working carefully as the tortillas will be hot, place about 1/3 - 1/2 cup of the turkey poblano mixture into the tortilla in a line going down the middle. Roll the tortilla up into a tight, tube shape encompassing the filling but open on both ends. Place the enchilada seam-side down in the greased baking dish. Repeat this process until all of the filling has been used.
Pour lots of salsa verde over the enchiladas and cover with shredded cheese. (The corn tortillas will absorb a lot of the salsa while baking so it's advised to use a hefty amount!)
Bake enchiladas in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20-30 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve hot. Enjoy!
*Note: You can prepare the enchiladas several hours in advance and keep refrigerated until ready to bake. Just increase the baking time by 10-15 minutes to account for the chilled ingredients.
10 tomatillos, husked
1/3 of a yellow onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic
1/3 cup cilantro leaves
1/2 - 1 1/2 fresh jalapenos, roughly chopped (vary depending on how spicy you like it)
juice from 1 1/2 limes
2 tbsp water
kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, add tomatillos and cook for about 1-2 minutes until blanched. Remove from water. Roughly chop the tomatillos and add them to the bowl of a food processor or blender. Add all ingredients except salt and pepper to the food processor. Process until fully pureed. Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Will keep refrigerated for several days. Enjoy!
Oh yeah, bring on the leftover turkey recipes. I love enchiladas, and if you throw in some heavy cream… I love them even more
These sound sooooooo good! I’m really hoping you stuck a couple in the freezer for us to try when we get back
To borrow a line from the epic Rachel Ray, Yum-o!
okay, even i want to throw a brick at my head for that one.
But I’m seriously jealous about your leftovers! I know, to most people, they are a hassle, but I spent turkey day with the in-laws who I flew to see, so I couldn’t even bring any of their leftovers back with me! I am actually thinking of having another turkey day this weekend just so I can join in on all the leftover fun.
Or maybe a leg of lamb day….mmmmmmmmmmm. Great post, guys. I sure do miss Tyler’s witty comments, though. Come back, T!
Thanks! This one will save us. We roasted a 22 pounder. what the heck were we thinking. We started to panic about how to use the leftovers. this recipe is getting made TONIGHT!
Made up some of those turkey enchiladas and I must say for a white girl from virginia you know how to whip up some tasty mexican food!
i agree recipegirl! add a little heavy cream to pretty much anything and i’m a little happier! (except my diet coke. if you are reading this t-dog, i hope you know you’re a naughty man. diet coke and cream are bad!)
sorry nicole! we selfishly chowed down on these puppies.
leena, i’m glad you realized for yourself that a brick needed to be thrown at you for your rachel ray comment!
i say do a leg of lamb not a turkey! mmmm laaaaamb. baaaaaa baaaaaa
sweet jesus, cheila! a 22 pounder?!? that’s insane! let me know how the enchiladas turned out if you do make them!
hello my little latina kitten, yvonne! you commented! yay!
i’m glad my recipe didn’t totally f’ up your enchiladas. and you better hush up! i don’t want word to get out that i’m really a country bumpkin in disguise.
I made these with my leftover turkey. We had dinner that night, and I freezed a batch of 6 for later.
So they were totally awesome. The only part I subbed was I used my roasted tomatillo salsa verde recipe that I default to whenever I need a salsa verde. I make a similar recipe with rotisserie chicken quite a bit, but never thought to add the cream cheese, which was such a great texture/taste combo. Two thumbs up!
dude. the enchis were great. turned out awesome. thanks again! and yes 22 pounds was INSANE!
wow! urs simple tomato salsa is very simple and very tasty. It will be very tasty if added some quantity of butter.
This sounds soooo delcious. Thank you.