Curry Turkey Salad

Curried turkey salad with apple, raisins or dried cranberries, green onions, celery, cilantro, honey, ground ginger, curry, mayo and yogurt.

By
Elise Bauer
Elise Bauer
Elise Bauer
Elise founded Simply Recipes in 2003 and led the site until 2019. She has an MA in Food Research from Stanford University.
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Updated May 27, 2022
Elise Bauer
Turkey Curry Salad
Elise Bauer

Once again, we overdid it. I think no matter how many people actually end up coming for Thanksgiving dinner, we still make enough for 14 or more.

This year's T-Day dinner seated 6 Thursday night, and then a follow up for 7 Friday night, and we still had a massive amount of leftover turkey (and everything else on the menu)!

My father looked at me and asked, "what were we thinking?"

I don't know dad, but I do love being able to play with the turkey leftovers.

Leftover turkey curry salad
Elise Bauer

Creative Way To Use Thanksgiving Turkey Leftovers

Today I made a big batch of this curried turkey salad with our turkey leftovers for a light lunch with my parents. We had the curry turkey salad over mixed greens, though you could easily put between two layers of bread for a sandwich.

The cilantro is important here, I don't recommend omitting it unless you don't eat cilantro, in which case parsley will work as a substitution.

Do you have a favorite turkey salad made with leftover Thanksgiving turkey? If so please let us know about it in the comments.

Curry Turkey Salad

Prep Time 15 mins
Total Time 15 mins
Servings 2 servings

For this curried turkey salad I've used a mix of yogurt and mayonnaise. The yogurt provides the tang, the mayonnaise the creaminess. Feel free to substitute at will between the two depending on your preference.

Options: for a little more zing, add a little mango chutney to the dressing.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 tablespoon yellow curry powder

  • 1/4 cup plain yogurt

  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise

  • 1 tablespoon honey

  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

  • 2 cups chopped cooked turkey meat

  • 1 apple, peeled, cored, chopped and sprinkled with 1 teaspoon lemon juice to keep them from discoloring)

  • 1/4 cup raisins and/or dried cranberries

  • 2 tablespoons chopped green onion or chives

  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (can substitute parsley)

  • 1 rib celery, chopped

Method

  1. Heat the curry powder until fragrant:

    In a small skillet, heat the curry powder on medium low heat until quite fragrant. Remove from heat. Do not linger too long over the heat or the curry powder will start to toast.

    The point of this step is to heat it enough to release more of its flavor. You can easily skip this step if you are in a hurry.

  2. Make the curry powder mayo mixture:

    In a large bowl, mix the curry powder, yogurt, mayonnaise, honey, and ground ginger. Add salt and pepper to taste.

  3. Fold in the remaining ingredients:

    Gently fold in the chopped, cooked turkey, apple, raisins/dried cranberries, green onions, cilantro, and celery. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.

  4. Serve:

    Serve on a bed of lettuce greens or in a sandwich.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
572 Calories
27g Fat
42g Carbs
42g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 2
Amount per serving
Calories 572
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 27g 34%
Saturated Fat 5g 26%
Cholesterol 150mg 50%
Sodium 500mg 22%
Total Carbohydrate 42g 15%
Dietary Fiber 5g 17%
Total Sugars 35g
Protein 42g
Vitamin C 7mg 35%
Calcium 102mg 8%
Iron 2mg 12%
Potassium 605mg 13%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.