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Why You’ll Love My Recipe
Ready to blow the minds of your family and friends? Turn your leftover turkey into a show-stopping second act with Turkey à la King—a warm, creamy dish that feels like a five-star encore!
Thanksgiving is a fantastic excuse to get together with friends and family for a good time, a great meal, and a lot of fun, but most of us find ourselves with leftovers after the evening’s over and the guests have all gone home! This recipe for Turkey ala King is a fantastic way to make sure your juicy, tender oven roasted turkey doesn’t go to waste or get left to languish in the deep freeze!
Karlynn’s Recipe Notes
- Skill Level: This recipe is easy to make and will have you looking like a five-star chef while impressing your family and friends!
- Total Time: This recipe comes together with just 17 minutes of prep and 35 minutes of cooking time.
- Variations: This recipe calls for dried thyme as the major spice, but you can craft a callback to holiday flavors by also including sage and rosemary! Not interested in the pastry case? You can also serve this delicious dish over a bed of egg noodles or white rice!
- Tools: To make this recipe you’ll need a large baking sheet and a deep-sided skillet.
What You’ll Need for Ingredients
- Pimentos: Pimentos are a pepper that have a similar flavor to red bell peppers, but they’re sweeter and juicer, with a more complex taste. If you can’t find any at your local supermarket, you can substitute them for diced roasted red bell peppers!
- Heavy Cream, Cornstarch: These staples are used to create the rich, smooth, and creamy sauce base. Cornstarch acts as a thickener without altering the flavour, while the heavy cream helps create a luxurious texture that ties all the ingredients together.
- Vol-au-vent Puff Pastry Shells: Ready-to-use vol-au-vent pastry shells are puff pastry rounds that have already been cut and scored to make little cups that can be baked and filled without any extra work from you! If you can’t find any at your local grocery store, reach for a sheet of frozen puff pastry and get a pair of round cookie cutters (6 cm and 4 cm diameters work best) ready! Follow the instructions on the box for defrosting and rolling out the puff pastry and cut it into 6 cm rounds, then gently score the middles with your 4 cm cookie cutter, being careful not to cut all the way through. This will help form the lids of your little handmade vol-au-vents!
How To Make Turkey à la King
This is a quick overview of the recipe. The full list of ingredients and complete step-by-step instructions are in the recipe card below.
- In a large, deep-sided skillet, melt the butter and saute the onions, mushrooms, and carrots until the onions are soft, around 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, around 1-2 minutes.
- Pour in the turkey or chicken stock, wine, celery salt and thyme, cover and simmer for another 10-13 minutes, until the carrots are tender. Whisk together the cream and cornstarch in a measuring cup or bowl, then add to the skillet, making sure to mix constantly to prevent lumps, then add the diced turkey, peas, and pimentos. Add salt and pepper to taste, cover again and simmer on low for 10-15 minutes.
- While your mixture is simmering, prepare the vol-au-vent pastry according to the package instructions.
- To serve, place a pastry on a plate, remove the pre-cut centre circle and set aside. Ladle a scoop of the turkey ala king into the centre of the pastry, top with the reserved pastry lid, sprinkle with freshly minced parsley and enjoy!
Karlynn’s Tips and Tricks for the Perfect Turkey à la King
- Wine Not: This recipe calls for white wine. A good rule of thumb when picking a wine to cook with is to choose one you’d be happy drinking on its own! Avoid sparkling wines for this recipe, though, as they’re usually quite sweet. A crisp, dry white like a Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio are both good choices!
- To Wash or Not To Wash: Some folks will tell you that you should only ever dry brush your mushrooms before cooking them because they absorb water, but for recipes like this one where you’ll be cooking everything down for a good amount of time, don’t worry about giving your mushrooms a good rinse in a colander! All of that extra liquid will simmer out as you sweat the mushrooms down with everything else, so you’ll never notice a difference in taste or texture!
Storage Instructions
Unfilled, baked vol-au-vent pastries, can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days!
- Refrigerator: Store leftover filling in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat, simply add the food to a pan and cook over medium heat.
- Freezer: To freeze, ensure the turkey ala king mixture has cooled completely before transferring it to either an airtight container or a freezer-safe bag. It will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months!
More Delicious Turkey Recipes
- To make recipes like this one even more delicious and get the most out of your holiday bird, check out my How to Make Turkey Stock tutorial!
- Looking for other ways to use up leftover turkey? Give my hearty Turkey Noodle Soup a try!
- Not in a holiday mood? Use ground turkey to make my tender, moist, and delicious Turkey Meat Loaf!
Chop up those leftovers, throw that puff pastry in the oven, and get ready to impress your taste buds! I love having recipes like this one in my repertoire to give delicious food a new lease on life!
Give this recipe a try and let me know about your favorite uses for leftover holiday turkey in the comments below!
Happy Cooking!
Karlynn
Turkey ala King
What better way to use up your leftover Turkey than in an elegant meal like Turkey ala King? This delicious dinner recipe will make you look like a master chef, especially if you serve it a few days after an already successful Thanksgiving meal!
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup diced white onion
- 1 cup sliced button mushrooms, washed
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1 clove minced garlic
- 2 ½ cups chicken (or turkey) broth
- 2 tablespoons white wine
- ¼ teaspoon celery salt
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 cups chopped cooked turkey breast
- ½ cup frozen green peas, defrosted
- 3 tablespoons chopped jarred pimentos, or chopped roasted red bell pepper
- salt and pepper
- 12 vol-au-vent puff pastry shells
Instructions
- In a large, deep-sided skillet, melt the butter and saute the onions, mushrooms, and carrots until the onions are soft, around 5 minutes. Add in the garlic and saute until browned and fragrant, around 1-2 minutes.
- Pour in the turkey or chicken stock, wine, celery salt and thyme. Place the lid on top and simmer for another 10-13 minutes until the carrots are tender.
- Whisk together the cream and cornstarch, then whisk into the skillet, making sure to keep whisking until there are no lumps and the mixture is smooth.
- Mix in the turkey, peas and pimentos. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover again and simmer on low for 10-15 minutes.
- While the mixture is simmering, prepare the vol-au-vent pastry according to the package instructions.
- To serve, place a pastry on a plate, remove the pre-cut center circle and set aside. Ladle a large scoop of the turkey ala king into the center of the pastry, then top with the reserved pastry circle. Sprinkle with freshly minced parsley and serve.
Notes
Note: Cook times indicated do not include Puff Pastry shells, which vary depending on the brand and type you purchase. Check the cooking instructions on the box.
Nutrition
Calories: 4731kcal | Carbohydrates: 313g | Protein: 209g | Fat: 296g | Saturated Fat: 99g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 34g | Monounsaturated Fat: 144g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 607mg | Sodium: 5953mg | Potassium: 3745mg | Fiber: 19g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 25762IU | Vitamin C: 126mg | Calcium: 378mg | Iron: 23mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
David says
Why does the picture look like a biscuit and not a puff pastry? Is it best to use one over the other?
Shelly says
How many people would this serve?
Therese says
It was great, I added extra fresh veggies and duck fat it’s has no fat ,and no sugars it’s better then butter and I would
use Ghee it’s butter only it’s organic and grass feed cows. I did add extra spice it was really yummy.! Big Thanks Great recipe!