What should you do with all that leftover turkey? ....Make these Crispy Turkey Nachos!!
I may just have to declare this as the best use for leftover turkey!!
(also declared the best thing ever by Lewis and Gracey. That's it. Nothing else beats it.)
We've got 13 people coming for Christmas dinner, and I was worried I wouldn't have enough turkey left over to eat:
- At least 3 turkey butties (with President butter (that's our special Christmas butter), mayo, a pinch of salt, stuffing and cranberry sauce, on soft white bread. Nothing healthy in there, but come on, it's Christmas!!)
- Turkey curry (did you see my Turkey Tikka Masala?)
- A turkey leg, nibbled, whilst stood at the open fridge door. Not quite Nigella style (I'll be wearing stretchy fluffy pyjamas and distinctly less makeup)
- These nachos!!
So I've ordered two turkeys, just to be on the safe side.
Is that enough? Should I order a third?? ????????
I got the inspo for these from my garlic mushroom nachos (who says you have to have a pile of saucy chilli on those nachos!!) and my crispy lamb salad - made with leftover cooked lamb, crisped up in the pan (sorry about the shockingly bad photo, I was only a few months into blogging. I'll definitely re-photo it at some point!!).
What's really great about this recipe, is that you can use those little shreds of leftover turkey. You don't need perfect slices. Toss the bits of turkey in a mixture of cornflour, salt, pepper and fajita spice, then fry in oil until crisp and golden. Then get those tortillas out and pile it all up with black beans warmed through with a little garlicky passata, some avocado, tomatoes, red onion, jalapenos and not forgetting a huge pile of melted cheese!
Turkey perfection.
The Recipe:
Crispy Turkey Nachos
Ingredients
- Leftover shreds of cooked turkey - ideally around 2 cups full
- 2 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch - the floury kind, not the grainy kind
- 1 tsp fajita spice
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 400 g tin of cooked black beans - drained and rinsed
- 300 ml passata (sieved tomatoes) - check for gluten free if needed
- 1 clove garlic - peeled and minced
- 300 g tortilla crisps (I use the cool Doritos) - check for gluten free if needed
- 100 g mature cheddar cheese - grated
- 50 g mozzarella cheese - grated
- 50 g Red Leicester or orange cheddar cheese - grated
- 10 baby tomatoes - quartered (I used mixed colour tomatoes)
- 1 small red onion - peeled and finely sliced
- 1 ripe avocado - stone and skin removed, chopped into small chunks
- small bunch spring onions - scallions finely chopped
- 2 jalapeno chillies - sliced thinly
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander - cilantro
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place the turkey in a bowl with the cornflour, fajita spice, salt and pepper, toss together to coat the turkey.
- Heat the oil on a high heat in a large frying pan (skillet) and add the turkey to the pan. Cook, turning a couple of times until golden brown all over. This should take about 6-8 minutes. Try not to turn too much, as the turkey won't brown as quickly. Remove from the pan and place in a bowl.
- Add the black beans, passata, garlic and a pinch of salt and pepper to the pan (you can use the same pan) and heat through for 3-4 minutes until bubbling. Turn off the heat.
- Pre-heat your grill (broiler) to a high heat.
- Layer half of the tortilla crisps in a large (ideally round) oven-proof dish. Top with half of the beans and half of the turkey. Top with all but a handful of the remaining tortilla crisps, the remaining beans and remaining turkey. Sprinkle the cheese all over the top, ensuring the tortilla crisps are well covered (if they're sticking out too much, they'll burn).
- Place under the grill until the cheese is melting and bubbly. Remove from the grill, decorate the edges with the remaining tortilla crisps, and place back under the grill for a few seconds to warm through and lightly brown them.
- Remove from the grill, then scatter over the tomatoes, red onion slices, avocado chunks, spring onions and jalapeno slices. Sprinkle on the chopped coriander and serve.
✎ Notes
Nutrition
Jennifer says
Just made these - really delicious. A few minor tweaks (used about half the oil to brown the turkey, added extra chili flakes and added the jalapeños before grilling). Served only with some cilantro and sour cream. Super yummy!
SC says
This looks yummy, off to buy turkey just to make this for dinner tonight. Great dish to put in the middle of the table for family to dive straight in.
Melissa | Bless this Mess says
I haven't had fried turkey before but I'm sold - these look incredible!